Mother of Parkland Shooting Victim Reflects on Her Gun Control Activism Two Years Later
As we arrive upon the two-year milestone since the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I am missing and longing for Alyssa with a heavy heart. While the many memories of Alyssa survive with me, I desperately yearn for new memories which will never come to pass: Alyssa driving a car, finding her first love, preparing for college.
Shortly after the shooting, I decided to turn my grief into action and Make Our Schools Safe.org was born. We empower students and staff to help create and maintain a culture of safety and vigilance in a secure school environment. Securing a position on the Broward County School Board provided another avenue for me to transform my tragedy into advocacy.
Finally, and likely to leave the most permanent transformation in the area of school safety is Alyssa’s Law. I remember texting Alyssa on February 14 after receiving word of the incident. I told Alyssa to run and hide, that help would be there soon. I was wrong. The help she needed never arrived. Alyssa’s Law requires all public school buildings to be equipped with panic buttons/alarms linked to local law enforcement. It passed as a law in New Jersey last year! We need to realize that time equals life. In the event of a crisis on school grounds, every minute matters.
I would gladly take back all the minutes and progress I’ve made in the past two years just to get another day with my Alyssa. I will forever wish that those 10 bullets had reached me that day…not my sweet girl.
