On Wednesday, April 17, the mother of slain Newtown teacher, Lauren Rousseau, met with over forty Keene State College Journalism students. Terri Rousseau has stepped out from her copy editor desk at The Danbury News Times to talk about her daughter, gun control, and the impact of losing a child.
Lauren was thirty years-old, and a first grade substitute teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Fourteen of the twenty murdered children were in her classroom, along with a special education teacher. In the midst of the two-hour meeting, Terri received a text message from a Virginia Tech mother informing her that the U.S. Senate couldn’t muster the votes to pass gun background checks legislation. Politics met heartbreak that day in the Media Arts Center.
Terri has said Lauren was having the “best year of her life” before December 14, 2012. She had brought copies of the funeral memorial card for every KSC student with a picture of Lauren. Underneath her smiling face is the inscription, “In her memory, please be a persuasive voice for peace on Earth.”
-Marianne Salcetti, KSC Journalism Professor – Public Affairs Reporting
It was the first time I had called my mom in almost two weeks. “Is everything ok?” were the first words she replied. It didn’t seem right for her to believe I would only be calling when things were bad or for some other unimportant thing. I told her I loved her. Not because I was sad, or because I was in a bad place, but because the people you love need to be reminded every now and then that they are all that really matter. I called her on April 17th, the same day I had sat in the second row and watched as a mother passed out pictures of her daughter that was murdered at Sandy Hook elementary school. My sympathy was not directed at the fact that she had lost her daughter, but at the idea that she lost what had given her life meaning.
After I called my mom and talked for a few minutes, I hung up and wondered what it would be like for that call to become impossible to make, and I guess we never really know until it’s too late. This civil debate between the gun culture and the anti-gun supporters has lost focus.
Both parties have become brainwashed with the idea that there is a winner and a loser, when in reality both are striving for the same thing. They strive to protect the people. The line between the sides needs to become blurred. A common goal needs to be set and will only be achieved with the efforts of both those who believe in guns and those who are against them. With this comes balance. With this comes freedom. With this comes America. On December 14th, 2012 Lauren Rousseau was murdered by Adam Lanza. It is in her name and the twenty-five others like her that we will remember as those who created a movement–the movement to become a better America.
-Lucas Flood, KSC student
What do you say to a woman sitting two feet in front of you, that has been through more tragedy then any one person could have ever imagine possible?
You don’t say anything, but as a journalist you ask those hard questions, that if you were put in the same position would never want to be asked. I asked questions, but all I could do was feel. Feel her pain radiating through the Media Arts classroom. Feel the emptiness that existed in her heart. Feel the love that was and will be there for Lauren.
This was something that, no matter how many months had already passed, was a fresh bleeding wound that hadn’t received treating yet. The strength in Terri Rousseau was beyond present that day. The strength of Lauren as well. Lauren was her best friend. The overwhelming sadness hits you like a ton of bricks that you imagined might be feathers. The heavy emotions want to take over your role as a journalist, but you are reminded to stay tough for the story. For this wasn’t just reporting on another daily event, this was an unmentionable display of what violence can and will do. It was not easy answering the questions we asked, it was not easy holding back tears, it was not easy passing around a picture of Lauren, and it was not easy to relive what happened, but it was more than appreciated. I believe with all my heart that Terri will continue to fight for her daughter, for the lives lost in Newtown, and for the kindness that she wants to be present in this unforgiving world. No one can explain why these events unfold, but in the bigger picture, sometimes you can see a reflection of understanding. I waited a minute to thank Terri for coming while holding her hand. In that moment I truly felt what terrible pain comes from losing someone you unconditionally love with every bone and ache in your body.
-Brittany Murphy, Equinox Staff