Devon Adams post

I feel a little funny about posting this because I generally prefer to respect the privacy of all those affected by Columbine. But she did make it public and it is so powerful that I thought it was important to share.
I saw this on another site. It's a Facebook post written by Devon Adams. Before posting this here I did investigate to make sure it really came from her and I was able to confirm that it did. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to post a link to her FB page.

"Trigger warning: April 20th, death, and anger.

As the anniversary draws closer, I've come to this realization: speaking in euphemisms about shootings is harmful.

I didn't lose my friends, they were shot, murdered, killed. It wasn't a tragedy, it was a massacre, a mass shooting. There were real people who had their flesh and muscles and organs and bones torn apart by bullets. They shot some in the back of the head, execution style. They shot some looking straight in their faces. They shot some randomly.

Even those of us who walked away without bullets in our bodies live with the trauma. Nightmares of our families being gunned down. Fear of large groups. Seeking places to shelter when walking down halls. Never being able to fully relax. Being unable to watch TV or browse social media as they can cause a panic attack. Forgetting what the word happy is supposed to mean.

If we do not face the reality of what these mass murders are really like, we will never address the problems that cause them. If we distance ourselves from the destruction, we will never take action.

We, as a society, have repeatedly stood by as children are murdered and done nothing. Ask yourself why you are okay with that. And, if you say, "but I'm not!" then ask yourself what you will do to try and stop it from happening again. Because you either act or you are complicit. Period.

Because we need to be real about the solutions as much as the problem.

Rant over."

Yep...she's right...we can only approximate the trauma of real massacre survivors...we would never REALLY want to know what it's like, because then we'd have to be in a massacre.

thelmar wrote:

Forgetting what the word happy is supposed to mean.

I can't begin to imagine what Devon's been through after all these years. She was Dylan's best friend, and she lost him; some of her friends have died in the massacre; and she lost them, too. I wish her all the best.

(i know this is a years old post but)
god, what a poignant and important statement. i think in researching the tragedy i and others often "forget" that the shooting was an attack in which peoples' children were lost in an act of pointless violence. it genuinely makes me feel bad because at times i feel like i'm treating the lives and traumas of those affected like it's a spectacle. sometimes, i rlly wish she published more of her works she created after the tragedy but also i get why she wouldn't (reminding her of what happened/triggering memories). her poetry for the 10th anniversary of art from ashes is really great, too. we truly can't know the pain that she and other survivors/those affected have experienced and i just wish them the best in healing.