We will prevail.

Saturday, JD and I drove down to Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech/Florida State football game. We left Madelyn and Pierce here in Vienna with a babysitter. We had 16 hours away from the kids! What a treat! In addition, we visited one of my favorite places on this planet. JD and I both went to Virginia Tech, so the campus and surrounding Blacksburg community are very near and dear to our hearts. This was the first time we had been back to campus since the shootings that took place on April 16. I wasn't sure how I'd feel when I stepped foot on campus, but when we got there, I realized that things just seemed normal. People were excited about the game, playing on the drill field, perusing the bookstore, waiting in the endless line in the coffee shop...just like old times.

We visited the April 16 Memorial on the drill field, and it remains a very solemn place. Virginia Tech fans still file around it to pay respects and reflect on the events on that day, and yesterday, there were many Florida State fans as well. This is just something that transcends rivalry, and it was a great reminder of how nice people can be. I remember feeling very numb on April 16 and the days following as I watched the constant news coverage of the event. I finally allowed myself to cry as I watched the campus memorial service. Several university officials spoke, as well as President Bush and Governor Kaine. At the end of the service, Nikki Giovanni, a poet and professor at Virgina Tech, read a poem that she had written to commemorate the event. Here is some of what she read:

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.


We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it,...No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think we are and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.



After she read this, the crowd erupted in chants of "Let's Go Hokies.", and it was then that I finally let myself cry. I was sad but also proud in how my Alma mater was handling this tragedy.

Here are some pictures of the memorial:











And it wasn't all serious. We did go to the game and witness VT beat Florida Sate for the first time since 1975.

We will prevail. Go Hokies!