Part Of A Wall

This is part of a wall. It is on 34th street in Gainesville, Florida. The entire wall is known simply as “the wall.” College towns name things like that…simply.

This wall in Gainesville- the cool thing is that everyone paints it. Constantly. Anyone and everyone is allowed to paint it. I’ve painted it three times. You never know how long it’s going to stay up. One of my “paintings” was painted over the very next day.

There was one part of the wall that went untouched. Actually, as evidenced in this photo, it is still untouched. It serves as a memorial. Long before I went to college, a man went on a serial killing rampage. Some of the grad students in my sorority were freshmen when this happened, and they told us what life was like during this time. One of the girls I went to school with lived in the same apartment complex as the killings. Even six years after it happened, this event was well-known among students, and still a part of our lives, even if it happened when we were in middle school. Since it was put up in 1990, the memorial has been untouched out of respect. Sometimes, college kids do things right.

I read this today, and it reminded me of what happened well before I went to college. Seeing the wall reminded me of my college life.

That's just what I'm thinking this evening.