UVA Memorial

It’s not the kind of thing you want to happen to anyone. But whenever you hear about a mass killing you wonder if you will ever become involved. Before Thanksgiving there was one at the University of Virginia. That’s where our grandson goes to college and the closest thing we have come to knowing someone near an event like this. When we lived on Capitol Hill there was a mass shooting at the Navy Yard - a few blocks from our house at the time. My husband read about the event early in the morning and we contacted our grandson just to see how things were. He was sheltering in place and ended up driving home - luckily it is only one hour away. It was a very sad situation soon to be outdone by another mass killing somewhere else. When we drove to visit family for the holiday we first stopped at UVA in Charlottesville to get the tour of the campus. I thought when we finally took the tour with our grandson it would be a joyous occasion. Instead, it was quite solemn walking along the football stadium where the football players played and where the memorial flowers and tokens abounded. Our grandson lives near the stadium so that’s where our tour started. All along the campus route there were reminders of the event. The campus was also empty because of the holiday - so it was even a bit more eerie, but beautifull all at the same time. It’s hard to think that this tragedy will not affect the school’s reputation. It just makes everything seem a bit more sour.