Where Was She From? Parkland. Yeah- that Parkland.
Blog by: Ann Glavan
I saw this little girl at the horse show whisper something to her dad a few minutes before he approached another photographer and I and asked if she could take pictures with us. He said she was just getting into photography and riding but really loved taking pictures and would love to hear any pointers we had. [My friend] Tricia and I were more than happy for a distraction from watching the millionth Hunter round of the week, so we gave her little tips on where to stand, how to set the camera, and where to focus.
She said her name was Kelly. She asked us where we were from and who we worked for, and we told her.
We asked how old she was. “13”
Did she ride much? “Just in summer camps, but I want my own horse. Either an OTTB or an Arabian.”
Where was she from? “Parkland.” Yeah- that Parkland.
To her, it’s just where she’s from. To the adults in earshot, it now carries the same weight as Columbine or Sandy Hook.
Her curiosity was endlessly endearing- she wanted to know why we stood at a certain angle to the fence, what was the correct moment for a good jump shot, and what were the hunters anyway, and if they’re totally separate from the jumpers then why do people always say “hunter-jumper” like it’s one word (Excellent question, kid. No idea). She’s excited to go to high school next year and take journalism, because then she can start taking pictures for the yearbook.
I was having a bad couple of days before Kelly wandered up with her dad; all the typical, banal, adult problems were just piling up. The truck broke down again. I made different mistakes at three of my four jobs. The pets, both canine and equine, were misbehaving. The fridge was empty and the hamper was full. I was grumpy and tired and approaching my 13th hour at the horse show when this perfectly timed reminder of what’s really worth getting upset about showed up.
We don’t need to get upset over all the dumb, little things that go wrong during the day- those will happen again, and that’s life. But we should be enraged over what happened in Parkland on Wednesday. I have no doubt that Kelly is a great kid who’s going to do awesome things in high school and beyond, and I’m willing to bet the 14 children being buried last weekend were too. School shootings cannot become some accepted, inevitable fact of life. They aren’t piles of dirty laundry or long work days. They’re entirely insane and preventable tragedies that we should be doing everything in our power to prevent.
Educate yourself on the issues, call your representatives, and protest. Have civil debates with people you meet who don’t think assault rifles should be banned, or don’t think we need more background checks, or gun control legislation. Do anything but think this is some inevitable consequence of American culture and something we’ll just have to live with, because kids like Kelly’s lives depend on it.
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