1 Day Blog Silence Honoring Victims of Virginia Tech Campus
If you're new here, you may want to sign up for email alerts or to subscribe to my RSS feed. Enjoy Life in the Fast Lane!
April 30th is the day that many bloggers have decided to follow Steli’s initiative to honor those that lost their lives in the Virginia Tech Campus massacre with a day of silence for the blogosphere. This silence is in respect for the dead, and to use this day to think about what happened.
Our prayers are with those that have lost the dearest thing to them — those that they love.
But I’m not going to pay my respects by remaining silent today. I choose to speak out.
I’m not going to carry on over the issues of guns and violence either; there’s plenty others out there doing it.
I choose to pay my respects this day not only for the victims and their families of the Virginia tragedy, but also to those that have paid the ultimate price of violence with their lives, others that have been victim to bloodshed, carnage, and those that have lost one dear to them.
People in general have become desensitized to violence and others’ suffering. My plea is to all who know someone suffering over a lost one to reach out to them in their days of pain.
I myself have lost a brother, sister, mother, father, and a sister, in that order; one sister lost her life to a drunk driver. I was the one that found my father lying dead on his hallway floor with no one to cry out to for help but the 911 operator on my cell phone. It’s a lot more horrifying of an experience than one could ever imagine unless you’ve lived it yourself — a day lodged in my memory that I will never be able to erase; he was the most dearest person in the world to me.
I merely bring this up to state that I know the agony that death brings to those that remain behind. There’s no going back — you can’t change the course of events thinking ‘what if’, or ‘if only I / they…’, yet you still can’t stop yourself from doing it.
The pain goes even further when others you hold close to you shy away from you — no phone calls, no visits. And those that do come around often feel too awkward to stay or talk for long because they feel uneasy.
The reason that many feel uneasy about being around someone mourning is that they don’t know what to say or do. They haven’t lived the experience to understand, or know. My advice here is to tell you what to do.
Don’t just state that you’re there for them if there’s anything they need or want you to do for them and then avoid them. Words are empty and meaningless unless they’re acted upon.
The one and most important thing that you can do for someone suffering is to BE there. I don’t mean in spirit, I mean physically. Let them cry while you comfort them in your embrace. You don’t even have to say anything, there’s not much TO say. Don’t even try to say anything just to say something for loss of words. Just be there to give them the love that they so desperately need. The rest will just flow naturally if you let it.
So I leave you with these words for thought not only for today; I hope that I may have touched someone to think more of giving of themselves to those that you love when they need it most.
My heart goes out to all the victims’ loved ones of the Virginia tragedy, and everyone else in sorrow of a lost one.
Tags:one day blog silence one day of silence tragedy Virginia Tech
Well said, Deborah. Being there is important and something that makes the most difference in the lives of people who have lost someone, no matter the circumstances behind their death.
None of us have the right words for any given time. Chances are those words won’t be remembered, but your presence will.
You’re right Matt. We remember those that were there for us when we needed the emotional support. It isn’t forgotten.
Moment of silence, day of silence- these are gestures, and gestures are fine but no match for true compassion, which takes work. You are on the money, Thanks
Thanks for the post. It is nice to know that you are remembering what is really important.
Pribek and Cade:
Thank you. It’s good to hear others that feel the same way.