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Memories,
Meetings and Milestones
It's hard to believe that three years have passed since the Columbine
shooting. So much has happened since then. I also can hardly believe
LFC is still up and running. When we originally organized back in 1999,
I thought we may have been around for perhaps a year or two at best,
but somehow we are still moving on through so many new crisis like 9-11,
and recently again, an even more deadly school shooting in Germany.
Since then, all of us that have met with more challenge than we ever
could have imagined even in April of 1999. Such events give even more
meaning to our mission of healing, which has already reached far beyond
Columbine.
On the business front, now that we have received formal recognition
as a non-profit entity from the Internal Revenue Service, we have finally
reached the point where we are legally able to distribute our funds
that we have been collecting for the last two years through our CD and
poster sales. Our greatest challenge at this time is to find the best
opportunities remaining where we can still meet the needs of the Columbine
families that we are most able of satisfying.
Part of our new challenge is that the majority of their needs have already
been met through all of the funds collected by other non-profit sources
since the tragedy. We will keep you informed of our progress in this
area as we will make every attempt to fulfill the fiduciary aspect of
our mission statement. Our
Board of Directors meet on May 7th when we will begin the process of
fund disbursement.
Regarding our online publication, LFCNews Online, I wish to inform our
readers that we have decided to change our quarterly format to bi-annual.
While we have chosen to keep LFCNews alive and continue playing a vital
role in the Columbine community and beyond, our limited resources have
forced us to take a look at what we can feasibly do and still maintain
the high standard that our readers have come to know. Part of this is
due my involvement with other Columbine related commitments, primarily
with the new web project for www.racheljoyscott.com
which I am honored to serve a leading role in its redesign and future
direction. In observing the wonderful response we continually receive
from teens around the world from both websites opens many possibilities.
One opportunity we have is to merge our similar efforts into a new online
publication with content similar that of the printed version of Rachel's
Journal, which ended it's operation nearly two years ago. We feel there
is a strong market for such an online publication, especially from a
Columbine perspective and we are researching the feasibility of this
and other equally meaningful options and will keep you informed of any
changes or evolutions in the months to come.
For the present, I hope you enjoy this 3rd anniversary issue of LFCNews
where our feature story focuses on the Rachael Lampa/LFC connection.
Few are aware of how God amazingly brought so many different entities
together under such tragic circumstances to produce a tool that has
brought much healing in our community and beyond. We are especially
honored to have worked with this young lady who continues to rise on
the Christian charts and has even reached the cinema in the newly released
film, "Joshua". All of us at LFC wish Rachael continued success in the
years to come.
As we bring to you another anniversary edition, I can't help but reflect
on what happened on April 20th of this year when after the memorial
at Clement Park, my daughter and I visited Chapel Hill to visit the
gravesites of Rachel Scott and Corey DePooter.
While standing over Rachel's grave sharing some quiet time together,
traversing contemplatively among the thirteen wooden crosses standing
there was Don and Diedre Flemming, parents of Kelly Flemming, who also
lost their daughter at Columbine. While I knew this was a difficult
day for them, I could see a certain peace, a strength within them I
could not fully understand. Don and I caught each other's attention,
approached one another and embraced. Something inside compelled me to
ask him a question that burned in my mind.
"How does a parent endure such a loss?"
I expected to hear a response uniquely exclusive to a level of grief
I could never understand. Instead, he gently answered, "You accept
it."
We embraced one last time and he rejoined his wife who was visiting
one of the crosses. His words continued to echo inside me as my daughter
and I headed back to the car. I reflected upon the loss of so many innocent
lives, not only at Columbine, but the many we have seen recently in
New York and around the world. Lives, young and vibrant caught in the
storms of our troubling times.
I thought again on what Don shared with me that afternoon. I've heard
that practical wisdom before, but somehow it meant so much more now.
It is in "accepting", as he so poignantly put it, that we are able to
endure, heal, and live as we were meant to live.
Recently, Rachel Scott's mother, Beth, kindly gave me a tee-shirt that
bears the words of her remarkable daughter who possessed wisdom beyond
her age. It simply states: "Tommorow's not a promise...but a chance."
I believe this sums up how we need to view each day in our life, regardless
of the challenges we face. It is in accepting whatever comes our way
that we can only live each day as if it were our last. Thank you Don
and Rachel for that powerful reminder your lives so clearly demonstrate
at a time when we need it most!
God bless and have a great summer!
Michael Tamburello
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