A place of comfort, strength and hope.Byline: Matt Cooper Matt Cooper may refer to:
SPRINGFIELD - It was a warm Wednesday afternoon at Thurston High School Thurston High School is located in Springfield, Oregon in Lane County. Their mascot is a black colt. Shooting On May 20, 1998, student Kipland "Kip" Kinkel killed his parents, William and Faith, both Spanish teachers at local high schools. , the kind of day that makes you glad for the end of one season and the start of another. In fact, among the hundreds who gathered there, perhaps the only thing sought more than a new season would be the two boys who brought them all to this open patch of ground in one corner of the campus. Exactly five years after shootings at the high school caused a community and a nation to recoil recoil /re·coil/ (re´koil) a quick pulling back. elastic recoil the ability of a stretched object or organ, such as the bladder, to return to its resting position. in horror, a memorial was dedicated to students Mikael Nickolauson and Benjamin Walker, both killed in the attacks, and the 25 who were wounded. Many have endured an open-ended season of grief and mourning dating to that horrible day in May 1998. Wednesday was one to consider a new beginning. "That's why I came here," said Glenda Miller, whose son, Josh Pearson, saw his best friend, Mikael, shot and killed. "After today, I'm not going to deal with this anymore. I'm done with this now." Miller spent much of the presentation weeping and wrapped in a hug with Michael Nickolauson, Mikael's father, each quietly consoling the other. Later, they went to the curving white wall that represents the school fence where thousands of flowers, candles, crosses and teddy bears once collected; they crouched there close together, small and childlike child·like adj. Like or befitting a child, as in innocence, trustfulness, or candor. childlike Adjective like a child, for example in being innocent or trustful Adj. 1. while encircled en·cir·cle tr.v. en·cir·cled, en·cir·cling, en·cir·cles 1. To form a circle around; surround. See Synonyms at surround. 2. To move or go around completely; make a circuit of. by onlookers and TV news cameras. Diana Alldredge, one of the parents who revived plans for the memorial last summer after an earlier effort failed, called the fence "a magnet of compassion" while speaking to a crowd noteworthy for the attendance of at least six of the students who were wounded. But the memorial is ultimately about Ben and Mikael, Alldredge said - "we will never be able to hear their laughter or see their precious smiles again. "Because of those two young men who were cut down, we decided we absolutely had to have a memorial." "Life is truly and dearly precious, but unfair," added Don Stone, student-services coordinator and former football coach. "As a coach once told me, don't ever be afraid to tell someone you love 'em. Ben and Mikael - we love you dearly." The memorial, a $45,000 project built on the back of a community that quickly donated the money and services, is ringed by fledgling pine trees and earthen earth·en adj. 1. Made of earth or clay: an earthen fortification; an earthen pot. 2. Earthly; worldly. berms soon to be covered with grass. A meandering walkway walkway Rehabilitation medicine An instrument used to measure the timing of foot contact and or position of the foot on the ground leads to the center, where a tall basalt basalt (bəsôlt`, băs`ôlt), fine-grained rock of volcanic origin, dark gray, dark green, brown, reddish, or black in color. Basalt is an igneous rock, i.e., one that has congealed from a molten state. column dedicated to Nickolauson and Walker stands. Nearby is the wall, with colored tiles inlaid in·laid v. Past tense and past participle of inlay. adj. 1. Set into a surface in a decorative pattern: a mahogany dresser with an inlaid teak design. 2. : 1,481 gray for the student body on the day of the shootings, 25 red for the injured, seven white for the heroes who stopped shooter Kip Kinkel Kipland Philip Kinkel (born August 30, 1982) is an American spree killer who became the youngest person in Oregon history to receive a de facto life sentence without parole. and two black, for the slain. "May we all understand the life changing impact of violence," the plaque reads, "and may this place extend the comfort, strength and hope that comes from a caring community, state and nation." Kelsey Nickolauson, 13, struggled to find that comfort, seated on one of the benches and reading the tribute to his big brother. Kelsey is a cheery cheer·y adj. cheer·i·er, cheer·i·est Showing or suggesting good spirits; cheerful: a cheery hello. cheer kid by nature, chatty chat·ty adj. chat·ti·er, chat·ti·est 1. Inclined to chat; friendly and talkative. 2. Full of or in the style of light informal talk: a chatty letter. and pleasant, and he came to the dedication wearing jeans and a snazzy snaz·zy adj. snaz·zi·er, snaz·zi·est Slang Fashionable or flashy. [Origin unknown.] snaz Spider-Man shirt. The memorial is a "real nice place to hang out," he said. If he ends up at Thurston High, he'll visit as often as he can. Then Kelsey started crying. He brushed the tears away, declared himself "fine," stood up and walked away. He touched the plaque once, softly, as he left. Michael Nickolauson, a slender, soft-spoken man, also struggled to say how he feels as both a father who lost a son and a member of the group that brought the memorial, at last, to reality. Another grieving grieving Mourning, see there parent offered a hopeful thought for the day. Linda Kluber, Ben's mother, didn't attend the dedication, but wrote in an e-mail, "I hope the memorial brings the 'closure and healing' that is being looked for by some. "For the survivors and firemen and police to have a place to go to reflect if they want is also a good thing." And for the students themselves. Betina Lynn, 23, still has bullet fragments in her hip; for years, she couldn't come close to the high school. That changed Wednesday. "It's really important that we have a place to mourn mourn v. mourned, mourn·ing, mourns v.intr. 1. To feel or express grief or sorrow. See Synonyms at grieve. 2. , a place to grieve, and just kind of move on from it," Lynn said. "For the first time in five years, it's a lot more comfortable for me to be this close to campus." THURSTON MEMORIAL TIMELINE December 1999: Thurston High School Principal Larry Bentz forms a committee to build a memorial to the victims of the May 21, 1998, shootings at the school. Groundbreaking is slated for spring 2001. February 2000: Committee issues a questionnaire and launches a Web site for public input on design. July 2000: Committee addresses debate about whether respected teachers Bill and Faith Kinkel, the shooter's parents and two of his victims, should be named. Committee says the names of students Ben Walker and Mikael Nickolauson, both killed in the attacks, will appear, as will those of the Kinkels. November 2000: Committee releases final design and reverses itself, deciding not to include names for anyone killed or wounded. January 2001: Committee reverses itself again, announcing that Walker and Nickolauson will be included, but not the Kinkels. Completion is slated for September; an anonymous donor plans to contribute $150,000 to the $250,000 project. August and September 2001: It is announced that the memorial will not be built by this fall, and that fund raising has amassed only $1,800. The committee eventually dissolves. Summer 2002: The parents of some shooting victims revive plans for the memorial. January 2003: The group announces it will complete the memorial by the fifth anniversary in May. The project is $45,000, less than one-fifth the original cost. May 21: The memorial is dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the attacks. CAPTION(S): Glenda Miller and Michael Nickolauson say a prayer at the new Thurston Memorial after the dedication on the five-year anniversary of the shootings. Nickolauson's son Mikael was shot and killed in the Thurston High School shootings and Miller's son, Josh Pearson, was Mikael's best friend. Thomas Boyd Thomas Boyd may be
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