An Ocean of Blue

Today was the most emotionally drained I've been in a long time. I seriously came home and crashed. But when I woke up, I knew what I was going to write this about, and that is the absolute unity that Union Grove High School was invvolved in today. Let's all be honest- we are just like every other school. We have feuds, we hold grudges. This group of people doesn't like that group of people; you're mean to me so I'm going to be mean back. We have our 20 or so friends that we like and hang out with, and we either dislike or ignore everyone else. Don't deny it, because you know it's true. We dislike on principle, and that's strong and hard to put aside. But simply the fact that, as I walked into the commons area and was hit by a sea of blue was enough to bring me to tears. It was the most amazing sight I've ever seen. For those of you who don't know, blue was Jeremy Hawkin's favorite color, and a mass text message was sent around instructing people to wear blue in his memory. It was the fastest moving text I think I've ever seen- I recieved it from about 6 people and sent it to everyone in my contacts list.  People that profess to hate each other were all a part of it. What truly hit me was when I saw all of the people I was fighting with, the people I claim to dislike, all wearing blue just like I was. It's a grieving process. For everyone. It's knocked us all onto the same level- we're all hurt, we're all confused, and we're all a little scared. But it's okay, because it brought us together. You know, I didn't know Jeremy Hawkins. But if he loved people anywhere near as much as everyone said he did, It's my opinion that he'd be proud that the tradgedy of his death was able to bring us together. I think he'd be glad that, if it was in fate's cards that he had to die, then at least it had a positive impact. Thank you Jeremy, for everything you've taught us, and everything you're still teaching us. It means a great deal.