On February 5th, at 1:45 pm, our community was ever changed. In the halls of Discovery Middle School, a 9th grade boy pulled out a gun and shot another 9th grade boy in the head. This all happened between class changes, halls filled with smiling faces and innocene. The smiles are gone, or at least for now. White ribbons surround the school grounds and make shift memorials now stand. It's heartbreaking to drive past, to say the least. I fight back the tears each time I see it.
The news hit the streets moments after the shooting occurred. Parents were terrified. Our community was in uproar. After all, Madison Alabama was just named the "Best Place In America to Grow Up". Within minutes, it was a national headline. Horror, grief and shock, right here in my backyard. How could this happen here?
Sadly, my daughter knew the shooter. They were in band together, when she was still in middle school.
Time seemed to stand still that night, and I"ll never forget it. There are moments in all of our lives that forever remain with us. I'll never forget the day the Uni-bomber hit Oklahoma City. I'll never forget the day the Space Shuttle went down, in the 80's. Most definitely, I"ll never forget 9-11. I know where I was when each event occurred. I remember what I was doing and what I was wearing. Strange, how that happens.
Rumors were flying of the young mans death. Unfortunately, he did lose his life. Two families have now lost their children. The shooter will more than likely be charged as an adult. More rumors were whipping via fingertips to the world wide web, claiming this was gang related. I almost had to chuckle at the thought. Not in Madison Alabama. The Chief of Police released the information yesterday. We are all stunned as it was discovered in fact, this was a gang related shooting. Seems as if there were 10 gang "wanna be's". Looks like they succeeded. What a sad goal for our children to dream of achieving. What has happened to our children? Can a home be truly so broken that this is what children look forward to in life?
I believe in my heart that our community can and WILL recover from this tragic event. I have seen the community come together, holding each other up. Within moments of the shooting, Facebook fan pages were appearing, praying for the victim and his family. There were over 10,000 fans in less than 24 hours. Today, there are nearly 30,000 fans in total. Oh the power of Social Media.
I"m so proud of the way our City Government has handled our tragedy. They have been very transparent through the entire event. They held a community meeting less than 48 hours after the shooting. In a packed auditorium, they reminded us all that we MUST get involved in our children's lives. Family first. Hearing that just reassured me that I am not the "crazy mom" that my daughter says I can be. She has no privacy and won't, until she is an adult. I read her text messages, emails and Facebook messages randomly. If I see a note laying around, I may just read that as well. I want to know what is going on my child's life. It frustrates my daughter, but I don't care. I love her and it is my job to make sure she is safe, from herself and her peers.
As soon as we heard that Todd Brown had indeed passed, my daughter hugged me and we both cried. More importantly, she told me thank you. "Thank you for caring enough to make sure I am doing the right thing". No thanks needed. It's my job.
Tonight after picking my daughter up from Band practice, she asked me if things like this happened when I was in school. "NO WAY" I told her. "Why", was her first statement. We lived a much simpler life back then. Mom's were just entering the work place and it was family first. We ate at the dinner table every night, together. That wasn't an option. Our parents knew where we were and what we were doing. We didn't have the freedom many children have now, because the parents are working to survive... We must find a balance between the simple life and our work lives. I'm determined more than ever that I WILL accomplish this goal.
Discovery Middle School Principal Sharon Willis says Discovery is "OK. We faced a tragedy and we are not going to let the tragedy define us. We need to learn to live with no regrets and the way you do that is to live passionately." Mrs. Willis is wearing a black bracelet that says, "No regrets" and plans to wear it for at least a year. She has ordered 1,001 "No regrets" bracelets for her students. Our city officials and schools are focusing on making sure our children do feel safe again. Our city is strong and we shall recover, in time.
Please pray for the families of both children, Discovery Middle School students and faculty and pray for our community. We need a few extra hugs right now and may for quite some time.
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