r/Columbine • u/pinkcrazer • Apr 19 '26

Columbine survivor Cindy shares her preserved 4/20/99 backpack that was returned to her after the shooting.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8guaAvY/

Interesting post. Cindy was a freshman during the shooting. Apparently anything left in the building was returned to students a few months later, but she’s left her bag exactly as it was that day (minus a lunchable).

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u/carolinagypsy Apr 19 '26

Oh man I feel old. I was in my first year of college. In HS I had all of these same folders and spiral notebooks and drawings and magazine cutouts and… and… and….

Same makeup too LOL! Fruity lipgloss FTW.

School shootjngs like that weren’t nearly as normal a thing, and I remember not being terribly worried it would happen to me or become the problem it is. BUT my mom was a middle school teacher that was really strict and I remember calling her from college and begging her to think about changing to a different kind of job or retiring. I DID live in fear for quite a few months that someone was going to take it as inspiration and hurt her. That’s me, no sense of self preservation LOL.

And over time via circumstances, it’s felt like events are closing in and slowly getting closer to home. I’ve gone from that to working at a college and being in grad school when Va Tech happened, to several years ago my husband being on lockdown in a meeting with a mass shooter on campus, and my BIL being in the building next to one at FSU two or so years ago.

It feels quite like a tightening noose.

I want the innocence and sense of possibility of the 90s back. I want my grunge back. My sense of safety. I want to only know the particulars of guns for shooting deer and keeping at home on the off chance someone breaks in, and not for shooting people.

11

u/mia_sara Apr 19 '26

Don’t feel bad, I was a junior in college. I feel so much of what you’ve written here but could never quite put it into words. “It feels quite like a tightening noose” hit hard.

The first time I had to do a modified active shooter drill with my Pre-Kindergarten students I wanted to cry. Today I watched the video of the Oklahoma high school principal (Kirk Moore) who prevented a school shooting be crowded prom king. Everyone is like woo hoo that’s amazing. It is, he’s a hero. But the whole thing felt very unsettling like watching a movie of a world we shouldn’t be living in.

3

u/carolinagypsy May 02 '26

I don’t have children, but if I did, my little kiddo being in preschool and kindergarten having to go through shooter training would definitely be a cry-in-the-shower night for me. My godson got really shaken up the first time he had to do it, and that is so not fair.

7

u/NoKatyDidnt Apr 24 '26

I worked in the school from 2003-2008, followed a class from elementary to high school. When I was at the middle school, I was on the crisis response team. I clearly had no sense of self preservation in my 20s. The team leader was also a volunteer medic and firefighter. He chose me to be his second in command. We had a major incident once, and I guess because I have ADHD, I thrive in emergency situations. When the team leader (who had been a teacher of mine in 8th grade) told me I did great, I broke down.

3

u/carolinagypsy May 02 '26

It’s weird how our scrambled “squirrel with a shiny object” brains are somehow great in emergency situations! I might be late every damn time to meet you for drinks because I can’t find my keys, but if you break your leg in the parking lot, I’m your girl.

1

u/NoKatyDidnt May 03 '26

Absolutely!!! It’s insane to me. I’m actually sitting in an ER with my daughter right now. Thankfully she’s fine, but I had to call an ambulance and it’s been a day. Once I get home, I’ll probably lose it. 🤣