Thirty-two

Not one victim did I know personally, but this morning I woke up and I could feel the loss. An enormous void has been left by the death of these thirty-two victims. And it is not just a void in the lives of those who knew them personally, but it is a void that affects all of us. To some they were children, parents, husbands and wives, friends and family, students and teachers. To the rest of us who did not know them, they were the promise of potential and progress. They were future engineers, teachers, psychologists. Graduate and doctoral students. Renowned researchers in mechanics and aeronautical science. Civil engineers. Environmental engineers. Computer engineers. People who were creating materials to be used in space exploration. Researchers in biomechanics working on ways to help those with cerebral palsy move. Teachers that had taught for over twenty years. They were seniors, weeks away from graduation, getting ready to share all that they had learned. They were freshmen that were nearing the end of their first year as college students. They were thirty-two of some of the brightest, the best.

These were not people who were wasting their lives or wasting their minds. These were the motivated, the dedicated, the hard working, the inspired. These were the people who were going to help make our lives better. These were the people who were going to contribute very good things to our world. Many of them had already contributed so much.

Don't you feel it? Don't you feel this inconceivable loss? Does it not break your heart to know that no more good can come from these magnificent minds? Does it not agonize you to know that everything they had to give has been taken from us? Yes, I feel it. And I grieve not only for the families and friends of the victims who loved them so much, but I grieve for every one of us who will never have the opportunity to benefit from what these brilliant lives still had to offer.

This is a great loss for all of us.