Keeping Notes

No pictures or projects to share today, just something weighing heavy on my mind.

A few months ago my 8th grade class held a 40th reunion.  They set up a facebook page where former students connected with each other.  

Although I didn't attend the reunion, I have truly enjoyed reading the fb page and reconnecting with some of my former classmates. 

Now to be totally honest, I have a terrible memory.  While I can remember like it was yesterday the smell of formaldehyde and dissecting a frog, or sitting in the library with massive headphones on listening to 8 track tapes, I have a really hard time remembering so many of the other things my fellow classmates remember.  For that matter, I have a hard time remembering some of my former classmates.

Well this morning a former classmate, a woman, wrote about a bullying incident that has haunted her all of these years.  She was the butt of an awful joke, and she has asked for an apology.  

Given that I don't remember the incident, or even the girl very much, it made me start to wonder about the other people involved, the perpetrators or for that matter, the bullies.  Do they remember?  Do they know the obvious permanent pain they've caused this person?  Maybe not.  They may not even know they are who the message is intended for.  So often it seems people are unaware of the consequences of their actions.  

This message comes the morning after a 12 year old boy in Roswell NM, took a gun to school and shot another boy in the face, ( the intended victim), and another little girl, (possibly an unintended victim).  The shooter was a victim of bullying.  At 12, this is how he dealt with the pain.

And this school shooting comes the day after another shooting in a Florida movie theater where a young father was killed for texting during the previews.

And now I've listed two major topics in this post, bullying and guns.  I'm sure bullies have been around since the beginning of time.  And I really don't have a solution, or really even a valid point to make.  I'm just touched with an awful feeling that I can't seem to ignore.  And a wish that we could all be aware that our actions in a brief moment may have consequences that last a lifetime.