Empty chairs at empty tables...

Last year in reflection of the 5^th anniversary of the tragedy that took place at my beloved Alma Mater I wrote this and while at the time those words felt like they would forever illustrate how I felt on that tragic day, it appears that the tragedies that have happened since have re-opened the wounds and have caused me to step back and reflect, sadly, yet again. 

Terrible things seem to keep happening; innocent lives have been lost in the most innocent of places – a movie theater, a city-wide race, on Main Street, in schools…

We are losing family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and children and what confounds me most of all is we are losing them at the hands of family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and children…how can this be?  We can talk all day about the weapons used and the, perhaps, unnecessary access to them, but what are *we* doing to ensure that our family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and children are happy, healthy and well?  If there is one thing I’m certain of, it’s that every one of us has an obligation to one another. When will we recognize that the way we treat others, regardless of how well we know them, makes a lasting impact? A lifelong friendship can be as impactful as a simple act of kindness to a stranger…of this I am certain.

We hear about awareness. We should be aware of our luggage in an airport, of suspicious objects in a train station, strange packages in a building and yet how often are we asked to be aware of those around us? The student sitting by themselves at lunch, the co-worker constantly distracted, or the passenger on the metro sad and crying? We've all come in contact with them and we've all been guilty of turning a blind eye.

In memory of the 26 lives lost in Sandy Hook, the lives taken in Boston yesterday, the 12 lost in Colorado, the 32 Hokies lost, and all the other innocent souls taken by senseless acts I vow to be aware of those around me and to make a concerted effort to be kinder, more generous, and more forgiving.

Six years ago I would have thought that there could be nothing worse than what happened on my campus and yet I was sorely mistaken. When will it end, when will we finally put the arguments and debate aside and look deeper to find a common cause and purpose? We’re already too late…

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken, there’s a pain goes on and on…Empty chairs at empty tables…now my friends are dead and gone…here they sang about tomorrow…and tomorrow never came…

In the table in the corner, they could see a world reborn and they rose with voices ringing and I can hear them now…the very words that they have sung…became their last communion…in this lonely barricade….

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken, there’s a pain goes on and on…

Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will meet no more…

Oh my friends, my friends don’t ask me, what your sacrifice was for…

Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will sing no more…