Lucero Alcaraz, Treven Taylor Anspach, Rebecka Ann Cranes, Quinn Glen Cooper, Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, Lucas Eibel, Jason Dale Johnson, Lawrence Levine, and Sarena Dawn Moore
Yesterday, as I was driving home, I noticed the flag, in our little town, at half-staff; I looked at the seemingly idyllic setting, for the flag, and for a few moments thought about what an October morning feels like in a school classroom.
October is not the very beginning of the term, where you are nervous about what the professor or teacher may be like and you are wondering if you will enjoy or just tolerate the material, nor are you at the point where you feel sorry you picked the seat next to that person who will not be quiet, ever, or convinced that you actually know more about Robert Frost than your professor ever will; instead you are feeling comfortable – you know what the class requires, you are still curious to see how well you understand Robert Frost’s poetry, and quite happy that the person next to you always says good morning and asks how you are – certain they will share notes with you if you ever miss a lecture.
College, especially before mid-terms or finals, is nice and exciting, offering the student so many possibilities, and propelling you to think about the future.
On Thursday, October 1, 2015, in Roseburg, Oregon, an evil man, decided to end the lives of Lucero Alcaraz, Treven Taylor Anspach, Rebecka Ann Cranes, Quinn Glen Cooper, Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, Lucas Eibel, Jason Dale Johnson, Lawrence Levine, and Sarena Dawn Moore.
These individuals along with nine others, found themselves at Umpqua Community College, pursuing their dreams and goals, innocently living their lives, neither desiring nor causing harm to anyone. They were friends and family members, loved by someone and making plans for a future; but suddenly hated by a man who decided he had the right to inflict pain upon them and those who mourn their loss and agony.
He asked his victims if they were Christians, using their faith as a tool to determine whether he would shoot them, clearly a man without imagination or understanding. The Christians killed that day know: “. . . that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: For we walk by faith, not by sight: We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. ~ Corinthians 5: 6-8 ~ which in no way will today lessen the loss felt by those who loved them and have needlessly lost them; though it will give them hope.
I went back today to photograph the flag. I have noticed other flags are no longer flying in a position of memoriam, I suppose life will only cede so much time to death, but for now, let us pause and remember Lucero Alcaraz, Treven Taylor Anspach, Rebecka Ann Cranes, Quinn Glen Cooper, Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, Lucas Eibel, Jason Dale Johnson, Lawrence Levine, and Sarena Dawn Moore.
