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Here are my most vivid memories from Blacksburg this week.
Just driving around town- there were so many signs of love and support for the Hokies. Tommy McDearis, the pastor of Blacksburg Baptist Church gave me so much hope. He was busy getting ready for the ceremonies, but took a chunk of time to talk to me about what his parish was doing- but also about his role as chaplain for the Blacksburg police department. He actually was at the hospital on August 16, 2007 when ambulances arrived after the shootings- and he had the difficult task of notifying some of the family members of the fallen Hokies. Nicole White of Smithfield

and Lauren McCain of Hampton were the two victims from Hampton Roads.

I met one of Lauren McCain's friends at the student center. She was leaving a note in a 'blessing box' that will be given to Lauren's family. The boxes for all 32 victims' families will be sealed in a tradition of a healing, protective amulet with the intention that it not be opened. Lauren's friend was still visibly upset about her loss and was gracious enough to tell me a little bit about Lauren off-camera. She misses her infectuous smile the most. It made me think of one of my best friends from college- who is still one of my best friends today. I can't imagine having to go through that pain of losing him.

The memorial site on the drill field filled up with flowers and mementos as the hours went by. It's tough to walk along that group of 32 stones without getting emotional. One note to a victim read :"I miss having you in class with me."

On Wednesday, April 16th, iIt was amazing to see all of that candlelight during the vigil. I only got close enough to drive by it- and you could still tell there were thousands of people out there paying their respect.

It was amazing to see all of the students sporting their maroon and orange shirts, shorts and flip flops. I have never seen so much school pride!

   It's been a long week for the Virginia Tech family.
   We had a crew of eight WAVY & Fox43 employees in Blacksburg working on stories related to the commemoration.
   It was our intention to cover the events of the week in a non-intrusive way, and respectfully honor the fallen Hokies. I've heard from quite a few people who say that's exactly what we did.
     If you missed our coverage- you can still check out our reports from Blacksburg - by clicking on the special link at www.wavy.com and www.myfoxhamptonroads.com
   As poet and Tech professor Nikki Giovanni said last year- "We are Hokies. Hokies will prevail!"   This week, the Virginia Tech family proved just that.

foxywavy's Blog

Hokies Will Prevail!

foxywavy

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