As the victims’ loved ones learn how to live their lives in the wake of the Aurora shooting, one local father knows all too well their pain.
John-Michael Keyes lost his daughter, Emily, in the Platte Canyon High School shooting on September 27, 2006. Watching the events of last Friday in Aurora brought back terrible memories.
“It was horrifying. It was just absolutely horrifying,” he said.
Keyes knows the range of emotions victims’ loved ones feel.
“Confused and puzzled and you can’t get it,” he said. “It doesn’t fit in your head.”
After a life changing event like this he said there is no closure, but there is a choice.
“We had no choice in the events of Platte Canyon High School,” he said. “But we learned in the days and the weeks and now the years that have followed that we can choose our response.”
Keyes and his wife choose to honor Emily’s memory. He hopes these victims’ loved ones can eventually do the same.
“Time distances the wound, but I think the scar is important as a reminder,” he said.
Resources: “I love u guys” Foundation – in honor of Emily Keyes