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August 3, 2020July 28, 2020

A Tale of Two Parklands

There are two Parklands. There is the cardboard cutout of the classic suburban dream. There is the latest installment in America’s long-running series of school shootings. There is that familiar, mind-numbing boredom. There is that wild, vicious intensity. There is the Parkland where I spent my childhood — and there is the Parkland where I lost it.

I assumed that the shooting destroyed the Parkland from before, swallowed it whole. I threw myself into college before it could swallow me too. But of course, the pandemic forced me to return. I cannot escape the gravitational pull of the past. As expected, my Parkland, the wasn’t-that-where-that-shooting- happened Parkland, was waiting for me. We walk circles together around my neighborhood, only to see the Parkland that I used to know, preschoolers and their parents playing games. That Parkland is yours now, and all I can do is wave politely as I pass by.

I imagine you sizing me up, guessing my age, what school I went to. Wondering. I know your questions before you ask them. Every survivor does. That “were you there?” hangs in the air between us. That “did you know anyone?” haunts our awkward back-and-forth. We students, we were all so watched. That ever-present elephant in the room has trampled over every interaction between Douglas students and Parkland residents for the past two and a half years. I grew so used to it, I didn’t realize how quickly people began to forget.

I never thought I would miss the days where well-meaning
— but ultimately condescending — adults would look at me whenever there was a loud sound, waiting for me to break down. But on this year’s Fourth of July, I wish Parklanders had maintained that hyper-awareness.

PTSD doesn’t just affect us when it’s convenient for you. It affects us when we hear fireworks sounding like gunshots. The #MSDstrong stickers seem more like mockery when paired with the distinctive stink of gunpowder. This year’s nearly nonstop display of fireworks demonstrates that Parkland has forgotten the victims it vowed to remember.

I ran outside on the Fourth of July, enraged at my neighbors, spitting out every curse I could. I yelled at the top of my lungs, yelled as though I was dying. You’d think I’d gone insane. I think I did. All I know is, this town is eating me alive, and I must scream. When I told off my neighbors for lighting fireworks, they said, “I didn’t know.” Part of me wants to scoff at this excuse. How dare you not know! But thank God you don’t. The other part of me remembers that I used to be like you.

The Me from Before reminds me that I love fireworks. Not loved, love, present- tense. I miss them even now. I used to beg my parents to take us to the beach to watch them. The big boom reverberating in my throat, the bright colors lighting up the smoke of their predecessors, the collective oohs and ahhs, filled me with such awe. I am both starving and nauseous. I long for that which makes me sick.

To my surprise, my neighbors sent me a card and flowers the next day, apologizing. They meant no harm. I still don’t know how to feel about it. Yay, they care! Of course, they couldn’t know how the saccharine sympathy we received after the shooting only intensifies survivors’ guilt. Again, they mean no harm, and yet, harm is caused. To be honest, I don’t know that there is a right way to handle this. How can you do right in a situation so fundamentally wrong? I wrote them a letter in response, saying this:

“We need to cultivate conscious empathy. If you live in Parkland (or Coral Springs), you live in the aftermath of a school shooting, even if you personally did not go through it. Over 3,000 students were there. We live among you, and you live among us. No one gets the luxury of opting out of our past. It wasn’t just the 17 deaths the day of the shooting. Two survivors died by suicide after that. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on how to support each other, or at least how not to cause harm. The stakes are higher than you can imagine.”

I can’t return to Your Parkland. Slowly, the victims and their families are moving away, and new families take their place. Like a hurricane, old branches fly off. New growth takes over. If you look close enough, you might notice a slight gap where a tree crushed the branches, but this is Parkland. Soon enough, landscapers will shave down the irregularities and plant something suitable to keep the real estate values high.

So what can we do to bridge this aching gap between us? Octavia Butler once said there was no single answer to the difficult questions she raises in her writing. “Instead,” she said, “there are thousands of answers — at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.”

By LMF

Publisher’s Note: Celebrate as one.

July 4th is a celebration, and fireworks have always been a major part of it. As a community, we can find possible solutions for residents with PTSD, so they too can celebrate our nation’s birthday without stress. Send in your ideas to publisher@theparklander.com, so we can make 7/4/2021 a better experience for those of us still healing.

July 6, 2020July 28, 2020

So much more than a parade

“Listen,” my mother said, “here it comes.” I heard the sound of drums and then horns in the distance, my first glimpse of a marching band. This was my first Fourth of July parade.

That morning was warm and sunny. At home, my mom told my dad to “hurry up,” we had to get there or we wouldn’t be able to see. My dad hoisted me up in his arms and then up over his head so I straddled his shoulders.

Off we went. We didn’t have a car, so it seemed like a long walk before I was on the ground and sitting on the curbstone across from the Everett Mill building in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Before long, a man came by selling balloons. My mom bought me an ice cream bar from a car and a crowd began to gather on the other side of the street ad behind us, three deep. Many of them held small flags.

As a young child, the Fourth of July was just a day for a parade with marching bands, girls twirling sticks, local Boy Scout troops trying to walk in step, policemen marching, some soldiers or sailors, and fire trucks at the end of the parade. There was music and flag waving and cookouts and summer fun.

At some point, however, I began hearing about the Declaration of Independence and that Thomas Jefferson wrote it. School textbooks were of little interest to me; they seemed so dull, even boring. The books had dates and dry facts: John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 and became the second president of the United States in 1797. No history teacher stirred my interest, either.

I was out of high school before I really felt, understood, and appreciated that these men — many who were men of wealth and means — had so much to lose and literally risked hanging as traitors guilty of treason. Still, they boldly and courageously signed their names to the document that accused King George III of multiple offenses and declared their independence.

Who knew what would happen next? A group of colonies had declared war on a powerful nation with a mighty military. The colonies had no army when they took on King George.

In August 1776, British troops, some 34,000 of them, were prepared to invade New York. About a year earlier Patrick Henry told angry colonists meeting at St. John’s Church in Richmond Virginia: “Give me liberty or give me death.” The sentiment grew among the colonists.

The Declaration of Independence was born during the summer of 1776. It did not flow unimpeded from Thomas Jefferson’s pen. He was the original wordsmith, but over 17 days, a committee and representatives at the Continental Congress made more than 80 changes to Jefferson’s draft. They voted for independence on July 2 and released the final signed declaration on July 4.

John Hancock, the first to sign it, stressed the need for unity when he said, “We must hang together,” to which Benjamin Franklin added, “Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

They pledged to each other “our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

They knew independence would not come easily. John Adams said “the object is great which we have in view, and we must expect a great expense of blood to obtain it. But we must remember that a free constitution of civil government cannot be purchased at too dear a rate.”

The king called them traitors. They called themselves patriots. The colonists did indeed shed their blood and win their independence, setting the stage for the creation of a unique government that persists today, in spite of social upheaval, unrest and pandemic.

And, on a much smaller scale, they saved me that space on the curb in Lawrence, Massachusetts so many years later, and the right for my mother to say, “Listen, here it comes.”

by Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson is a retired news reporter and congressional aide who is now a freelance writer.

June 29, 2016January 21, 2019

Fourth of July Fun

Fourth of July fun

By David Volz

The Fourth of July is a time when people get together to honor the nation, spend time with family and friends and to watch fireworks.

Parkland Mayor Michael Udine said he enjoys the Fourth of July. “It is a great celebration of American Independence and a nice holiday.”

Coral Springs Commissioner Larry Vignola said, “We celebrate our independence in on the Fourth of July. Coral Springs will have the best and safest fireworks show. We want people to come to Mullins Park and have a good time and be safe,” he said.

Coral Springs will be offering a large family event at Mullins Park from 6to 9pm. During the early evening, people will be able to enjoy some family time at the park. There will be food trucks and an interactive disc jockey. There will be inflatable slides and a bounce house. Civic organizations will offer hamburgers, funnel cakes and other treats. At 9pm there will be a big fireworks display.

“This is an event that families truly enjoy. We get a big crowd. People should bring blankets and chairs. We are hoping for good weather,” said Joan Dowling, superintendent of the Coral Springs recreation department.

Pompano Beach will celebrate the Fourth of July with live music, featuring Chain Reaction, a Journey Tribute Band. The party starts at 6pm followed by a live DJ and fireworks at 9pm. It will take place at the Pompano Beach Fishing Pier and Public Beach.

Tamarac will host a Fourth July All American Celebration at the Tamarac Sports Complex at 9901 Northwest 77^th Street. There will live music by the Free Radicals. There will be food trucks on site and a kid’s area with face painting, inflatable rides, interactive games and arts and crafts. The fun starts at 6 pm with fireworks at 9pm.

Boca Raton will hold a Fabulous Fourth Celebration at 1000 Northwest Spanish River Boulevard at the Spanish River Athletic Facility at Countess deHoernle Park. It will start at 6:30pm with family activities, a live band at 7pm and fireworks at 9 pm.

The City of Parkland does not have a fireworks display or family event on the Fourth of July. Udine encourages residents to attend one of the nearby city’s fireworks displays.

The Fourth of July celebrates the legal separation of the original 13 colonies of the United States from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The actual separation took place on July 2, 1776 when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence explained this decision and Thomas Jefferson was the main author. This document was approved on July 4 after Congress debated it and made some revisions. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin wrote that they signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, however most historians believe the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on August 2, 1776, according to Wikipedia.

The Fourth of July also known as Independence Day is a federal holiday. It is also a major summer holiday when many people have family barbecues and enjoy evening fireworks displays. Most of the events take place outdoors. Community leaders will often appear at Fourth of July events and praise the United States and its citizens.