If I’d been a more consistent blogger last year, I probably would have written this post then. However in a way I’m glad I didn’t.
Bonfire wasn’t one of the traditions that drew me to Texas A&M as I decided what college I wanted to attend, because I’d never seen it in person prior to my freshman year and just didn’t understand it. Which means, despite being a freshman in the dorms the push to get involved in Bonfire never pressured me into going out to cut.
Then I attended my very first Bonfire, and to say I was amazed is truly an understatement. The site of it burning and the heat radiating off it even at the distance we were at was unbelievable. By far my favorite Yell Practices while at Texas A&M were the ones held at Bonfire.
Junior year, my friend Ashley & I decided to take our small group out to Bonfire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows at one of the perimeter fires and watch the progress up close on the night of November 17, 1999. That year there was actually a burn ban and we didn’t realize it until we got out there, so all perimeter fires had been put out. We took a few group pictures and few pictures of stack and headed out, with no idea of what would unfold the next morning.
On the morning of November 18, 1999, I was awakened, like many of fellow Aggies, by a phone call from home asking me if I was okay. It was before 7 in the morning and I had no idea why I was being asked that. . . and then my mom told me that Bonfire had fallen. I was in shock.
It was a devastation I’m not sure I could ever fully put into words. I had never worked on Bonfire and didn’t feel entitled to the emotions I was experiencing. But with that said, Aggies are family, and if any Aggie is lost we all grieve for them. It is this very sense of family that made me fall in love with Texas A&M. Walking around campus that week was eerie; we didn’t know how to cope with the loss we’d just suffered.
As selfish and horrible as this may sound, I was relieved Thanksgiving was not far away and I had a reason to escape heartache and feel like I could breathe again.
This year on the 11th anniversary of Bonfire falling, it seems to hold even more significance to me. I think that has to do with my friend Bill.
These two people are very near and dear to my heart and I am thankful today (well and every day) to be able to call them my good friends, and to see how happy they make each other… had things been different that night Amber would have never met Bill, which also means that while Amber and I would have still been friends, she might not have ended up in Dallas and who knows if we would be the good friends that we are today.
However, to the 12 who died, I did not know you, but you will forever be in my heart… and you will never be forgotten.
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