LITTLETON, Colo.—According to Greek mythology, beautiful spring flowers come from the souls of children slain in the spring of their lives.
Flowers were always in the dreams of Lauren Townsend, one of 12 children and a teacher killed in the Columbine High School massacre. An excerpt from the 18-year-old’s diary, used as her epitaph at the Columbine Memorial that opened late Friday, said she imagined herself as “a woman in the middle of a field of flowers kissing Jesus’ wounds.”
It took eight years to get the $2 million memorial built. But like the late-blooming Colorado columbine, the state flower, it was well worth the wait, said Tom Mauser, whose son, Daniel, 15, was killed along with Townsend.
“It’s a victory. It is going to bring a lot of comfort,” said Mauser after viewing the memorial.
“We went again today,” Don Fleming said Saturday. His daughter, Kelly, 16, was killed by teen gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in the April 1999 attack.
“And people were there with a sense of reverence. Some people were crying. People would sit on benches and close their eyes and say a prayer and reflect back on that day,” Fleming said.
“It’s like a museum. I can see myself coming here to think and reflect,” said Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis, who in his speech to the several thousand who attended the memorial dedication said he still has flashbacks of the horror when he leaves his office.
The massacre transfixed the nation. Dozens of satellite and other media trucks camped out in Clement Park near the school. A huge mound of flowers, toys, tapes and other memorabilia grew as the site became an unofficial sanctuary.
Then-President Bill Clinton got involved in efforts to build a memorial, personally donating $50,000.
“Columbine was a momentous event in the history of the country, even in the midst of tragedy we’ve seen the best, the best there is to see, about our nation and about human nature,” Clinton is quoted as saying on a hand-stacked outer circle of bricks at the memorial. Mortar was used only on the top, a design decision that makes the site look as if it had been there for ages.
Although the killings brought the nation together, they also spawned dozens of attempts at copycat killings, most foiled as everyone became more alert to the kinds of warning signs Harris and Klebold had given of their murderous intent.
Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech on April 16, considered the Columbine killers martyrs.
The Clement Park memorial, in a ravine on hills above the school, has a second inner circle with words from the parents of the 13 who died or quotes from the victims themselves.
Rachel Scott’s words could have been in the screenplay for the film “Pay It Forward,” which came out a year after Columbine. “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”
Sadly, as in the movie, the 17-year-old’s life ended in a series of candlelight vigils.
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Eds: The writer covered the Columbine massacre.
