Shine from the Shelf to Social

At ease soldier! . . . #walking #toysofinstagram #toysoldiers #losttoys #losttoysofinstagram

Then other times you just have to stop and smell the lilacs. . . . #lilac #myhometown #midwestisbest #smellssogood

Sometimes you have to go off the beaten path a little. . . . #hartvillewy #roadsideamerica #thatswy #thatswyoming #roadtrippin

Road-tripping through Wyoming. Happy photo Friday! . . . #photofriday #wheatlandwy #thatswy #westwinds #hotelsigns

Howdy Friends, How are you feeling today? Today marks the last day of school for both of my girls. It’s bittersweet with the tragic events in Texas. Add in all the high school graduations and my oldest moving onto high school next year, and I’m longing and reminiscing about the good ole days. But even back in the “good ole days,” these heartbreaking events were unfolding. September 11, 1991 — My freshman year. I was in science class on the 3rd floor when I heard several loud bangs. Writer and fellow alum Orrin Johnson described it as “hearing several basketballs being dropped on the floor.” Rumors flew around about a pipe bomb in the building. We were evacuated. And I remember gathering with my class in a parking lot with no clue what was going on. When they dismissed us, my friend Kristen and I walked over to the nearby junior high. Once there we used a phone to call my dad to pick us up. There were no cell phones in those days. And 24/7 news coverage on CNN wasn't a thing. But neither were lockdown drills, robocalls, and texts. Kris and I went home and watched it all on the local TV station. A SWAT team swarmed our high school. I still have the newspaper clipping with a photo of them on the roof and rappelling down the sides of the gym. Later, we found out that a junior, Ryan Harris, had brought a sawed-off shotgun to school. He held 22 students in a math class hostage for 4 hours. (Just a few rooms down the hall from my science class!) He was inspired by Stephen King’s Rage, where a misfit kid kills a teacher and takes a class hostage. We were the lucky ones. No one was hurt because a football player took advantage of Harris setting his gun down to light a cigarette and then grabbed the gun. It seemed unfathomable back then something like this could happen in my podunk town of South Dakota. But it's an all too familiar scenario now. Every time a school shooting happens, I think back to that September day and count my blessings and wonder. I'm not sure what the answers are to make it stop, but I do think it starts with caring and sharing your story. What's your story?