By Patricia Mazzei, Feb.14, 2019<\/p>\n
PARKLAND, Fla. \u2014 On a day nobody wanted to remember \u2014 or forget \u2014 several people in maroon T-shirts emblazoned with #MSDStrong found their way Thursday to a place of solace: a flower garden outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that, at the first anniversary of one of the nation\u2019s deadliest school shootings, has sprouted to celebrate life.<\/p>\n
A paramedic planted flowers in little plastic pots. A woman knelt to drop off a bouquet. A teenager strummed his guitar and sang. Then, he wept.<\/p>\n
At 10:17 a.m., the time the local school district set to commemorate the 17 lives lost on Feb. 14, 2018, a man took off his purple cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoment of silence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The crowd bowed its head.<\/p>\n
[Read how the Parkland massacre has <\/em>changed the lives of the survivors<\/em><\/a> in their own words.]<\/em><\/p>\n Thursday could not possibly be a normal day in Parkland, Fla., where a still-grieving community coped by embracing the pain of it all.<\/p>\n Stoneman Douglas scheduled a \u201cday of service and love.\u201d Teachers organized community service projects, but attendance was voluntary. School buses arrived in the morning nearly empty. After early dismissal, students with school IDs hanging around their necks \u2014 a requirement since the shooting \u2014 streamed by the flower garden. Most hugged. A few cried. Therapy dogs brought in to help students heal last year came back down from Philadelphia for the anniversary and frolicked around the teenagers\u2019 legs.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter here, we\u2019re going to the beach,\u201d said Julia Brighton, a 16-year-old sophomore who was in the first classroom attacked last year. Two of her best friends, Alyssa Alhadeff and Gina Montalto, were killed. So was her neighbor, Alex Schachter. Julia said she could not see herself going to school on Thursday \u2014 only spending time with friends.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I\u2019m alone, I get in my head. It\u2019s like having a weight on you,\u201d she said. \u201cI surround myself with a lot of positive people.\u201d<\/p>\n In the evening, hundreds of people attended an interfaith vigil at nearby Pine Trails Park, an echo of the one a year ago, when the sound of gunfire was still fresh. Some people held single red roses or white carnations, which in any other context would have symbolized Valentine\u2019s Day, a holiday that in this community may never be the same.<\/p>\n \u201cValentine\u2019s Day has forever changed for us,\u201d said the Rev. Randy Cutter of the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, a town neighboring Parkland. \u201cBut it\u2019s still about love \u2014 not romantic love, but the love that we have in our hearts for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Tears were plentiful, but so were the warm greetings among friends and neighbors happy to at least be together. As the sun went down, a crowd, hushed except for the sound of sniffles, listened to the victims\u2019 names recited from stage.<\/p>\n [<\/em>School safety. Gun control. Red flag laws. Read more on how America has responded to the Parkland massacre over the past year.<\/em><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n Many of the victims\u2019 families made a joint public appearance on Wednesday after meeting with Gov. Ron DeSantis. Some of the families have pushed for the state to hold more local officials accountable for what happened.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve had a year to fix Broward County and make our schools safer,\u201d said Max Schachter, Alex\u2019s father. \u201cThis is ground zero, and they continue to fail us.\u201d<\/p>\n