How do you walk back into that building?

[pbray]

Like most people in the area, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened in Binghamton on Friday.


As I commented at the time, this is such a small place that everyone would know someone who was there or know someone who knows someone who was there.

And, indeed, I was right. The first name that caught my eye was Mary Pat Hyland, who'd occasionally taught classes at the American Civic Association. A former journalist, her descriptions of the ACA were widely quoted in the early coverage.

Years ago, Mary Pat and I were in an Irish Folk Dancing troupe together, in the days before Riverdance, when adults in Irish step dance costume drew puzzled stares.

Then there was Priscilla Pease, who was in the Spanish Language for Travelers class I took last winter. Priscilla sat in the row in front of me--a retired language teacher she was taking the opportunity to brush up on her Spanish. She'd talked about teaching ESL at the Civic Association, how much she enjoyed it, and how challenging it was to teach a class where students could join at any time so each session had to meet the needs of both beginners and advanced students.

I can't say that I knew her well, but I worried about Priscilla from the moment the news broke. Turned out that Priscilla was in the second classroom--she and her students were the ones who hid in the basement and eventually made it out safely.

As a writer, a vivid imagination is my stock in trade. But I'm drawing a blank as I try to put myself in the place of those who had once seen the ACA as a place where they enjoyed going, where they could get help or share their talents. If I were in their place, could I ever walk into that building again? Could I sit in one of the classrooms as teacher or student? Would I still volunteer to cook at the next ethnic dinner? How does one get past such an event?

Intellectually I've always known that there is no safe place. This kind of senseless violence can happen anywhere-- big city or tiny village, school, church, work place, nursing home, shopping center, anywhere people gather. But viscerally I didn't quite believe it could happen here. I don't think any of us did.

It's a lesson I wish no one ever had to learn.

Comments

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Terrible and sobering. Thank you for writing about this.