21st Century Teetotaler

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Photo of the Week: Sunset

In Memoriam: Cassie René Bernall

Born November 6, 1981

17 years old

Cassie Bernall was a junior at Columbine. Her parents, Misty and Brad Bernall, called her "Bunny Rabbit" and said she loved to go rock climbing in Breckinridge. She had recently visited Great Britain. Her favorite movie was Braveheart.

Cassie, like many her age, had recently struggled on her teenage road to self-discovery. She rebelled against her upbringing, trying out the Goth scene and even getting into witchcraft for a bit. She had issues with depression and anger. She experimented with drugs and alcohol. When she was 15, her mother found notes Cassie and her best friend had been writing to each other in which they discussed killing their parents and teachers. Cassie's parents transferred her to a private school at that point. Cut off from her friends and angry with her parents, Cassie spiralled into depression, writing poems about suicide.

Eventually, Cassie made new friends and she found support at her church where her parents had insisted she attend youth programs. She found her way back to religion after attending a church summer camp in 1997, where she became a born-again Christian. That fall, her parents allowed her to transfer out of private school and into Columbine High where she did well in class. She got into Shakespeare and photography. Life was getting better for her.

Then came that fateful day in the library.

According to witness statements and the Columbine Report, Cassie hid under the table she'd been sitting at with her friends when teacher Patti Nielson entered the library and told everyone to get down. Cassie had her hands over her face, perhaps so she wouldn't see what was happening. The gunmen were actively shooting other students nearby.

Just after killing Steve Curnow and injuring Kacey Ruegsegger, Eric Harris went to the table where Cassie and freshman Emily Wyant were hiding. He slapped the top of the table and said to the two frightened girls: "Peek-a-boo!". He then bent down, pointed his sawed-off shotgun under the table and fired once, shooting Cassie in the right side of the head. She died immediately.

For a long time after the shootings, it was believed that she was the girl in the library who one of the shooters asked at gunpoint: "Do you believe in God?". It was thought that he shot her because she said "Yes". The idea was inspiring to many, including her mother Misty Bernall, who went on to write a book about her daughter titled She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall (published Sept. 1, 1999).

It came out later that the conversation occurred between gunman Eric Harris and surviving victim Valeen Schnurr, something that Val and others present have verified. Emily Wyant, who was hiding beside Cassie during the shootings, told the FBI and Rocky Mountain News the real story. RMN and the Denver Post sat on the revelation as unconfirmed until September 24, 1999, preferring to run the story of Cassie as martyr. It wasn't until Dave Cullen, a reporter for Salon.com broke the story on the 23rd that the news outlets ran the true version of what happened. Two weeks before, the Post had been using the martyr story to promote Misty Bernall's book.

When it was still believed that Cassie was the "girl who said yes", she became a martyr to the cause of Christianity. Her mother said she couldn't think of a more honorable way to die. But: "I keep thinking about the things I need to do for Cassie," Cassie's mom told the Oprah show in 1999. "And then I catch myself... I don't need to do that. The Lord is taking care of those mom things I used to do."

Cassie was buried in a white coffin that attendees at her funeral could sign. Her mom wrote on it: "Bunny Rabbit, my friend, my buddy, my daughter, my mentor. I will love you and miss you forever. I promise to take good care of your kitty. I know that Jesus is elated to have you in His presence... Your courage and commitment to Christ have gained you a special place in heaven, and I am proud to call you my daughter. I love you so much, Mom."

Despite the fact that she didn't say anything to either of the gunmen, the story of the girl who said "yes" still inspires people all over the world. Her family prefers to think of her as that girl. Cassie was laid to rest in Golden Cemetery in Golden, Colorado.

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Thunderstorm in Iowa October 30, 2024

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Photo of the Week: Alpha and Omega, Part 2

Second Spring

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Photo of the Week: Alpha and Omega

Back in the spring my daffodils and California poppies were the first flowers to bloom and now in October they are the last to bloom. Below are pictures of the lone daffodil that is blooming.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

In Memoriam: William "Dave" Sanders

From aColumbineSite:

Born October 22, 1951

47 years old

William "Dave" Sanders was a computer and business teacher at Columbine for 25 years, and coach of the girls' basketball and softball teams. He left behind his wife, four children and five grandchildren.

His students said he was a teacher, a friend, a mentor and an inspiration. When the gunmen started firing outside the school he ran to the cafeteria and sounded the alarm. He, along with two of the school's janitors, helped get more than 100 students out of the path of danger by herding them away from the shooters. He saved untold numbers of lives that day.

By the time the gunmen arrived, the cafeteria was nearly empty thanks to him. He was in the upstairs hall trying to get students safely hidden in classrooms when he was shot by Eric Harris. He was hit in the torso, head, and neck. With assistance from teacher Rich Long, he managed to get to a science lab (listed as UA24 in the Columbine Report, and SCI-3 on blueprint maps of the school) where he bled to death waiting for help that 911 dispatchers told students who were helping him was coming, but never arrived.

Trying to get help up to Coach Sanders, teacher Doug Johnson wrote a sign that student Deidra Kucera posted in the window: "1 BLEEDING TO DEATH". The sign was ignored. Despite their attempts to save him, Dave Sanders died nearly three hours later from blood loss. His last words were reported to be: "Tell my family I love them."

Dave's daughter Angela said at his funeral: "What you did in that school on Tuesday was an amazing act of heroism. Even after you were hurt, you continued to be the brave, selfless man we all know you are."

Dave was buried in Littleton's Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens. Since his death, Coach Dave Sanders has had a softball field at Columbine and a scholarship named after him to honor his memory and posthumously received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. A highway also bears his name.