Wedding season is coming to a close...and it was definitely a busy one for us this summer! :-) Weddings mean showers...and I went to lots of those over the past few months. The craziest one I went to was for my freshman roommate from college, Cathy. Her family was throwing her a shower in Salem, VA, not far from Tech, and they had all sorts of surprises in store for her!
I got lost on the way to the shower, because Mapquest doesn't update road names enough, but I got there just in time for the Limo to show up. We were swept away in the limo, and no one would tell us where we were going. Forty-five minutes later, we ended up in Fincastle, VA, at an old mansion.
Had I not gone to the shower, I would have probably never gone to Fincastle in my life! There awaited us a wonderful lunch, with fun lady bug candles at all of the tables, and a ladybug cake.
I didn't know anyone there in the family, so it was a little awkward, but it was definitely beautiful! We also had another shower in Virginia Beach with Cathy's side of the family and 757 friends.
It was filled with lots of sushi, lots of purple, and lots of ladybugs, lots of pictures, and lots of love! I had never had sushi before, but I really enjoyed it! We worked on a scrapbook of memories for Cathy, so that she can remember all of her awesome friends and the times we've had together.
The scrapbook turned out great, and I finished it later to include pictures of the shower. It was so good that I wanted to keep it for myself! Ha! My mom made a beautiful cake for Cathy that looked just like a mini wedding cake. The great thing about having two showers was that all of her bridesmaids were able to make one.
Last Week the University unveiled a more permanent memorial to the victims of April. While a large, carefully planned and funded memorial will be eructed in a few years, the administration recognized the need for a more functional place for members of the community to gather and continue to grieve. The university is functioning, but the whole atmosphere in Blacksburg is slightly sedated from years past. With the beginning of football season, community healing can begin on a large scale, or at least provide a distraction from horrific recent events. Many students and faculty are plugging away, hardly affected outwardly, but everyone is struggling to some degree inwardly. 
The idea that the peace and sanctity of the classroom at Virginia Tech will never be looked upon the same is sad. Where ever in the world Angela and I end up, people will have heard of Virginia Tech. Not for football or engineering, but for a shooting. The biggest image I have had since the tragedy is that of RA's on campus. Angela was an resident advisor for three years, I was for two. We knocked on countless doors to ask the occupants to lower their noise level (usually infernally loud stereos... modern technology and old buildings sometimes do not mix). 
Our friend Stack, an RA in West AJ was killed doing an act we did without thinking, odd noises are so common in dorms. The memorial unveiled is appropriate in that it creates more space than was there before while it was an impromptu gathering site. On a sweltering day before classes started anew, 32 engraved Hokie Stones were uncovered to the sound of bell tolls. The band played a specially arranged version of Amazing Grace which incorporated 32 bell chords in the middle of the song. 
It was emotional for the Marching Virginians, as Stack was an officer in the band for several years and well known to all. We still can't believe that this happened here, at a place we felt so safe at. Virginia Tech is still educating and will continue to educate while investing in research. Such a sad chapter of the school's history has revealed, though, the resiliency that exists in Blacksburg.
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