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Thoughts after a Tragedy in a Small Town<br />
by Christopher Young<br />
There was tragedy in the sheer amount of lives lost that day in our small town. There<br />
was tragedy in the homes of our families and friends who lost someone in that senseless,<br />
terrifying mass shooting that occurred down the road. There was tragedy in the thought<br />
that we would never recover, never learn to rebuild our lives and our city after such a horrendous<br />
act. The tragedy birthed memorials, Twitter hashtags, and media coverage like our<br />
town has never seen. It created heightened security measures, increased mental counseling<br />
programs, and even began conversation between community members and city officials on<br />
prevention techniques. Tragedy created a temporary, but very real spark of hope that maybe<br />
what happened here could change things for the better. But, as we all know, sparks burn out.<br />
Time passes, awareness dwindles, and people forget. I watched my town go back to business<br />
as usual, and I watched nothing get done. I watched a tragedy unfold in this town that only<br />
I noticed, a silent but deadly tragedy almost as horrifying as the first. It was that I knew this<br />
would happen again, somewhere else, to some other small town just like ours. The tragedy<br />
is that I would be forced to watch the nation care, but not enough to change.<br />
“Contemplation” by Nina Saldajeno<br />
7
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