Warriors

Arapahoe High School is my alma mater. It is my brother's and it is even my dad's. We grew up in the Littleton community. I was a senior in 1999 when the tragedy unfolded at Columbine High School. I had peers that were affected.

I'm devastated for many reasons about what happened on December 13th. I'm sad that something so negative and senseless occurred in the the hallways of a place I loved. I'm sad that the Littleton community once again had to endure another tragedy.

I'm beyond devastated for the Davis family. I can't possibly imagine...

The Arapahoe High School shootings did not affect me on a personal level but it sure did hit close to home. As I ran an errand on my lunch break last week I had to go directly into what I consider "Arapahoe territory." All around were signs and messages throughout the community saying, "Pray for Claire." My old middle school had "We love you Arapahoe" on their sign and I know even Columbine High School put "We Are All Warriors" on their letter-board. As I drove through the area the true sense of community was palpable.

I then carried on about my business and my life. I'm pretty sure I complained about ridiculous first world problems. I'm certain I took for granted that at any given moment I could have picked up my phone and called out to any of my loved ones and they would be on the other end to receive my call. Then as I started to wrap gifts for my family on Friday night I tweeted how I had so many presents to wrap and no scotch tape to wrap them with!

As my tweet hit my timeline one hit right above it with details about a vigil being held for Claire Davis. I felt embarrassed to have just complained about something so trivial.

I know it is normal and just a part of human nature for us to carry on after learning of bad news, especially if we were not directly affected by it. So I'm not beating myself up for carrying on with my life but what I am hoping to do as I am surrounded by loved ones during this wonderful time of year, is to cherish it and not take it for granted.

I hope I can keep a clear perspective about what's truly important and when I start to lose that perspective I hope to be humbly reminded.

Arapahoe High School and the Littleton community will rise above this incident. They are Warriors.

My thoughts are with them all and especially with the families of the two lives that were lost.