14 Years Later

I was torn about what to write today but I felt that this, being the 14th anniversary of Columbine, was what it should be. Also, considering what just went down in Boston I felt that I couldn't avoid it.

I moved to Colorado from Massachusetts in December of 1998, the middle of my senior year in high school. Four months later Columbine  happened. I remember we were at Safeway getting our lunch. I overheard one of the cashiers talking about what was occurring 20 miles away, just down the canyon from us. I panicked. I got back to school and ran into the security guard and asked him what he knew. I asked him if what I had heard was true. He confirmed that I had heard correctly. At this point, nothing had been said at the school and he told me that they weren’t planning on announcing anything until school was over for the day. I thought that was BS and so I grabbed my sister (a freshman at the time) and we went home where we watched the news all afternoon. I later heard that they did announce it and then put the school on lock-down.

At one point we heard that the people who attacked Columbine were on the way to our school. I had never been so glad that I went against school policy to sneak my sister out of school. As details unfolded I remember being in shock. I remember wondering why anyone would want to hurt their fellow students. I remember being so angry that this could have happened. I remember being very wary of kids wearing trench-coats and dark sunglasses. This was not like me. I have always tried to be friendly with everyone, whether we were friends or not, and here I was judging based upon appearances. I didn’t like what I had become but it happens when your world is changed in such a big way and you find yourself questioning what might have been. Eventually I stopped worrying about it, which I guess is a natural outcome. I didn’t live the attack and it didn’t stick with me like it would have if I had been there.

Until Monday, April 15th, 2013, when it all came rushing back. All of the feelings and all of the fear and all of the unknown. I heard about the bombs in Boston and flipped out. You can read about my reaction to it here. Now, five days later, it is the 14th anniversary of Columbine and it seems as fresh in my mind as if it was the 1st anniversary. I was not in MA on Monday, not even close (way out here in Wyoming…hi…) but I am still close to Colorado. My old city and my almost-most-recent one. Huge, horrible things happened to both of them in the same week 14 years apart. One when I was barely into adult-hood and one where I am fully entrenched.

There is one thing I know about both of them and one that I know will happen whenever we are faced with tragedy of a huge magnitude. They overcome. WE overcome. People join together and hold each other up and help one another. They let the evil of the world know that it can’t get to them. Whether memories are 14 years old or 5 days old, we will overcome. We will not forget but we will move forward and become better people. There will always be bad and evil in this world but it won’t win in the long run. We will stand together and support one another until atrocities like these fail to exist because they no longer serve a purpose.

New post about stuck and marriage:

http://lobotomyplease.com/2013/04/18/stuck-and-marriage/

Enjoy!

I've Moved!

I am the proud owner of my very own URL! I can now be found at lobotomyplease.com. If you would like to keep following me I will be found there. I will continue to post links to the other blog on this site so you can continue to read all about my adventures if you prefer to stay here.

Here is my newest post about a new recipe we tried:

http://lobotomyplease.com/2013/04/17/bacon-wrapped-breakfast-cupcakes/

I want to thank everyone for reading and supporting me while I was on blogger. It's been fun!

~Lauren

ARD Featured Piece - in Bloom

My best friend (and business partner, Heather) and I have been working on a new idea for our company Abby Rose Designs. It’s something we’ve had on our minds for months and it has finally come to fruition. We will be doing a Featured Piece of the Month and it will showcase a new piece of jewelry in limited quantities every month. For our first piece we created a necklace that has a rose quartz pendant in the shape of a rose. We found it quite fitting for the first month given the name of our company, obviously.

I must say, we have had a lot of fun with this endeavor! We started brainstorming ideas and it all flowed together so nicely from there. Our photo shoot was amazing and there were lots of laughs while we traveled around Evergreen, CO with our fabulous model, Krystle. Here are some pictures of our jewelry as well as some behind the scenes shots. Enjoy!

(Pictures won't upload and I am really frustrated!)

You can view and purchase the necklace here. It is available until 4/26/2013. Additional pictures are here!

Boston

Like everyone else I was horrified by what happened in Boston yesterday at the marathon. I lived in Wenham, MA, for two years in High School and I have always considered Boston my city. I moved around A LOT while I was growing up but MA made my heart feel home. Maybe it’s because my family had been in MA since the Mayflower and only left in the 1920s or maybe it’s that something about the state just calls to me. I don’t know the reason but my heart broke when I heard about the bombs at the marathon. Like a bunch of other people, I knew people at the race and I know people that work close to where the explosions happened. I was shaken, and the fact that I am in Wyoming made it much harder to handle the news. I wanted to be there so that I could be with the people that I care about and know first-hand that they are OK. I am so, so sad for the people who were injured or lost loved ones. It sucks that this happened in my favorite city. It’s selfish of me to have wished it happened somewhere else but it is what it is and I don’t think that I am alone in the sentiment wherever terrible things happen. Human nature, I guess.

The bombing was a senseless act of terror, plain and simple, and it is not ok. One thing I know, when the dust settles and people start to recover, is that we will all stand together and get through this. The people of Massachusetts are some of the nicest, most caring people I have ever met. I may not stay in touch with my old friends like I should but  I do know that if something were to happen they would be there for me. People may have preconceived notions about what Bostonians are like but the majority (because let’s face it, there are some bad apples everywhere), despite the sometimes gruff and sometimes brutally honest exterior, would give everything for someone who is suffering. I think that spirit was shown yesterday when the bombs went off and instead of running away so many went back to help their fellow citizens or continued running to donate blood to the victims despite just having finished a freaking marathon! Not just the people of MA but people from everywhere around the country and the world pitched in to help the wounded.  What a testament to our resilience!

Whoever committed this act will hopefully be found quickly and brought to justice. On the off-chance that we never figure it out, those who did this should know that those of us in this country DO stand together and support one another. We WON’T be torn apart because of senseless acts of violence. It didn’t work on 9/11, or during any other act of terror, and I pray that it won’t happen because of this or any other things that may be hard and that may happen in this country. The terrorists, whether domestic or foreign, will not bring us down. I hope we can stand united against the forces of evil in this world and move forward in a supportive way that helps our fellow man. I think we can prove to any terrorist that they can’t beat us no matter what they try.