As this week gets started and people begin to get back to a normal routine, I wanted to take a moment and share my condolences with all the family and friends of the NIU shooting victims. The first of 5 funerals was held today. Hundreds paid tributes to Catalina Garcia as she was laid to rest in a pink coffin inside a Cicero church. The soft color such a shocking reminder of the very young life cut way to short. You can find details on services for Gayle Dubowski, Julianna Gehant, Ryanne Mace, and Dan Parmenter at www.chicagotribune.com.
For weeks, months, and likely even years to come many will be asking what led Steven Kazmierczak to this senseless shooting. Was it a mental health issue? Could stronger gun control legislation have changed the outcome? Did he slip through the cracks? I realize his family has lost and are in pain as well, but in this time and place he had some 'choice' in what happened on Thursday February 14th, the five victims did not. So for the time being, lets concentrate on remembering the victims, and what was taken away so tragically.
Please feel free to leave your thoughts about the victims here, whether you knew them or not.
Comments (1)
Amy, thank you for reminding me to give more focus on the victims, none of whom I knew. My first reaction when I saw the profiles on the Tribune website was to pass over it because of how it brings that sadness of it all closer to home. As an adult college student, I imagine the hopes and dreams they held before they were taken away from them. So beyond the prayers and condolences that we extend to the grieving friends and families, their lives are worth reading and thinking about, because they're really about core of society we really want to solidify and nurture.
Posted by Jim | February 19, 2008 7:11 PM
Posted on February 19, 2008 19:11