Double Take

Last Thursday at Bluefield College, the entire campus had no classes and we had what we call a study day. My roommate and I were sitting at our desks with our headphones in, doing our own thing, when I decided to check my Facebook page.

I was scrolling through my news feed, seeing what petty drama was going on and seeing who reached the next level in farmville and all those other silly little games, something caught my eye. One status. It read: "VT shooting?!?"

Shock hit me instantly. I tapped my roommate, Sara, on the shoulder. "Hey, has there been a shooting at Virginia Tech again?" I figured she would know because her boyfriend goes to VT, although he lives off campus. Sara's eyes got wide as she grabbed her phone to send him a text.

We checked local news channels, and sure enough, it was true. A policeman had been found shot in one of the parking lots. Soon, there was a second body found. We didn't know at the time, but the second body was the 22 year old from Radford University who had shot and killed the police officer, who had ran away and taken his own life.

I immediately texted my boyfriend, who was working in Christiansburg, and told him the news. The text I got back from him shocked me.

"Autumn, they haven't released his name yet, but I knew that officer. He's my co-workers husband. They've got 5 kids."

Tragedy struck me. Somehow, having a connection like that really changes the way you view a situation. Suddenly the mystery officer became a real person, with a wife and a family. It turned my stomach to think about it. I could not even begin to imagine the sorrow I would feel to lose someone I loved so much in such an awful way.

Call me crazy, but I even felt complete sadness for the young man who was so messed up that he took someone's life, and then his own. I can't imagine being in a place so dark where I could believe that that was okay.

Today was the viewing. I didn't go, but my boyfriend did. He called me as he was driving home. My boyfriend, Jeff, isn't easily discouraged or saddened, but he sounded so. . . distressed. Whether he'll ever admit it to me or not, I know he was crying. He has a huge heart for people, and knew the man and his wife on top of that.

So today, I reflect on life. That sounds quite cliche, I know. But in all reality, it's true. Everyone has their view of how someone should live their life, and even if you're living it perfectly, you can't keep tragedies like that from happening. Life is so so so short. I read an interview with the officer's wife and she said one of her first thoughts when she heard the news was "I wish I would have kissed him better this morning."

I don't want to live my life with a regret like that. Every day is a blessing, and I refuse to waste another day being upset about something that really doesn't matter. I'm focusing on the important things that God has blessed  me with.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -Albert Einstein