{"id":1817,"date":"2007-02-12T18:14:55","date_gmt":"2007-02-12T23:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2007-02-12T19:24:03","modified_gmt":"2007-02-13T00:24:03","slug":"remembering-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/2007\/02\/12\/remembering-james\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering James"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“As we remember James, we hope for peace, strength and courage to rise above the sadness and confusion.”<\/p>\n

This afternoon at Lincoln-Sudbury there was a rememberance ceremony for the boy who was killed at the high school on January 19. In the three weeks that have gone by the kids at that school have truly risen to the occasion, and things have gone back to normal as much as they possibly can. I didn’t quite know what to expect during the service, and the reason I went, besides being part of the service, was because my son plays in the concert band (as did James) and I wanted to see him. I didn’t see him, I was in the wrong seat, but my other son, Matthew, who was next to me claimed he saw Michael’s head. I believe him.<\/p>\n

With a picture of a young James projected on a large screen, the service began with Katie Lee Crane, Minister of the First Parish Church in Sudbury telling us to remember what happened that day. Where we were when it happened, how we heard the news, words that were exchanged…I knew him…I didn’t know him…What if it was me…I’m glad it wasn’t me…I can’t believe this happened…I wish this never happened. I have to say she cut to the core very quickly and I didn’t expect it. Then the concert band played a fittingly somber version of Amazing Grace. I wish I knew who did the clarinet solo, she was so moving. <\/p>\n

Two teachers and a student got up to speak and things got very intense. The first teacher, who is Michael’s social studies teacher, Ms. Meskoob, got as far as saying she knew how much she loved her students but didn’t know how much so until she lost one. Then she broke down completely, leaving James’ Spanish teacher to read what she had written. Dan, James friend, put his arm around Ms. Meskoob. Very touching moment. Each of them said something from each of James’ teachers…their last interactions with him, the type of student he was. And everyone talked about his smile…how he enjoyed a good laugh. Most heartening was when Dan read remembrances that students handed in about James. James was a Patriots fan and was excited about the upcoming Patriots Colts game, which he never lived to see. Another talked of his helping them with homework in Science and Math, of which he was an excellent student. The overall impression I got was that James was a quiet, kind kid who smiled easily and took things in. There were several that he read and frankly I don’t know how he got through it. But he did. Once Ms. Meskoob regained her composure she said some closing words. By this point we were all sobbing, but only I had a 10 year old next to me patting my back. <\/p>\n

The minister then offered a moment of quiet time to “reflect on what we are feeling at this moment”. It was helpful as it gave us a chance to catch our breath. She invited anyone up to say something they might want to say. This part was kind of creepy. This boy got up and he looked just like the killer except he didn’t wear glasses. The killer’s name is Jack and this kids name was Jack. He said they were in Spanish class together and he didn’t know him that well but wished he had. His words were nice but his resemblance to the boy who did it took my breath away. And then the minister asked us to remember that losing James wasn’t the only tragedy in this. That Jack was a tragic figure as well and we need to remember him and his family right now. And to think about what circumstances in his life allowed for this to happen. The service closed with the Band playing something called “Aeries’ Theme” from Final Fantasy, which was a favorite of James’. <\/p>\n

Afterward there was a reception and I got a chance to speak with Dr. Ritchie, our stellar superintendant\/principal, and thank him for all he’s done. Boy has he aged in 3 weeks. He said he couldn’t take credit…he gave the credit to teachers and parents and of course his students. He chatted with my Matthew for a little bit “Which school are you in” he asked. “Peter Noyes Elementary, 5th grade” answered efficient Matthew, which brought a smile to Dr. R’s face. “We’ll see you in 4 years”. <\/p>\n

On the way back to the car, Michael pointed out the bathroom it happened in. I could envision the scenario, as it was off the beaten path a little bit, next to a girls room and a utility closet with the library nearby. Not many classrooms nearby. I could see where it would be an abandoned area at 7:20 in the morning. “There were teachers standing here and here” Michael pointed out to us, “you couldn’t come down here”. Matthew shrugged. We all looked at the floor as if there still might be evidence laying around. To anyone walking into that school it would be just another hallway. <\/p>\n

And so closes another chapter. There were no family members of James there. They have kept such a low profile through this whole thing. No negative comments to the press or anything to the press for that matter. ‘How do they get up every day’ a mother asked me as we were walking out. I said they have no choice, they have two other children they are raising. But it’s a valid question…when the shock eventually wears off, and the cards stop coming in, and the press goes away, then what? I suppose that’s when the grieving begins and gravity kicks in and you go on just because that’s what you do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“As we remember James, we hope for peace, strength and courage to rise above the sadness and confusion.” This afternoon at Lincoln-Sudbury there was a rememberance ceremony for the boy who was killed at the high school on January 19. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-la-rad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3285,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions\/3285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}