What I Remember

Ten years ago today the Aggie Bonfire fell at 2:42 am, killing 12 students. Every Aggie remembers exactly where they were when they first heard the news, exactly how they felt when they saw the first images and probably what they did that entire day.
I remember Dori coming to tell me that Bonfire had fallen and my first thought was again? Bonfire fell in 1994, my senior year. The centerpole snapped and the entire stack tipped over. I don't even remember if there were injuries, it was simply taken down and rebuilt - in three days. Aggies can accomplish just about anything when they want to.
As I turned on the TV and saw the images on every channel, I quickly realized this was nothing like before. They were already reporting dozens injured and some deaths. I didn't know what to do and I had to go to work. Soon after I got to work, my friend Jeff, who worked for a dealership just down the street, arrived with coffee and muffins. He was a year younger than me, a Beta at A&M and although we didn't know each other in school, we had mutual friends and had become friends through work. We sat in the kitchen and watched the coverage. By 10:00, my friend Clint, who worked upstairs, had wandered down to see how I was doing. Clint didn't even go to A&M, but he had tons of friends from high school who did and he had been to visit plenty of times. By lunch, I went home for the day. I was so torn as to what to do. They were asking people to stay away, but like everyone else, I had such a strong need to be with other Aggies, to be in College Station. It was a Thursday and I wasn't supposed to leave for Thanksgiving until the next week. I decided to stay and attended a candle light service at Highland Park United Methodist Church that night. It was a silent service, just a place to gather and reflect and pray - giving Aggies a place to be together. HPUMC is huge church and it was standing room only.
As the news sunk in and the weekend came Aggies were still sticking together. You would find yourself talking to anyone with a ring on everywhere you went, just to have contact with someone who felt the same way you did.
Like most Saturday nights, I was out with my girlfriends, at our usual places. Shannon decided we would wander across the street to The Beagle, not a regular spot for us. The girls teased me a little, knowing my love of Three's Company (I still watch the reruns when Blake and I are up late at night). We saw a few friends, hung a out a little while and soon I was approached by a guy with an Aggie ring. We talked about Bonfire, the fact that I was going to CS the next week and I went over to his friends (one of which I had been eyeing since we walked in). I talked to Kelly a little more, managed to change the pace and start talking to Will instead and by the end of the night had switched numbers with him. I like to think that good did come out of Bonfire. Will and I might have met another time and place. We hung out at a lot of same the places, but The Beagle was most appropriate.
The next week I did go to College Station. I went to the game and watched A&M beat Texas. We sat on the third deck of the zone. It's probably the only time I ever sat on the third deck in my life. I remember the Texas fans sitting next to us wearing maroon ribbons on their shirts. I remember the flyover with the jets in missing man formation and it being almost too much to handle. I remember Ja'Mar Toombs scoring a touchdown and tears running down his face in the endzone. There were lots of tears during the game. The Aggies played with heart and the Longhorns players and fans showed nothing but sympathy and class.
I hate to think that there will never be another Bonfire on campus. I went to Bonfire for years. I have so many great memories of going and then finally being old enough to go by myself and then taking Rachel and Ryan. I would hate to never be able to take my own kids.
Everyone seems to be writing blogs and Facebook posts about Bonfire today. Something about ten years and it still seeming like yesterday just makes you need you to say you didn't forget.
Ten years later and I still have not been to the Bonfire Memorial. Maybe I'll take the kids next week...

http://bonfire.tamu.edu/