Student Union
- By Esha Sarai
Gravestones of Parkland Victims Revive Anguish of Mass Shooting
On what would have been Alyssa Alhadeff's 15th birthday, her mother wore her high-top black Converse sneakers to the cemetery.
Instead of a birthday celebration, Alyssa's friends and family gathered to unveil her tombstone.
Alyssa and her best friend, Abigail Price, shared a May 1 birthday. Standing next to Alyssa's mother, Abigail thought about the plans they made to leave school early and have their nails done.
"Instead of me hanging out with her," Price told VOA, "I'm here, looking at her tombstone.
"It's really sad."
Alyssa was one of 17 people killed on Valentine's Day by a shooter using a high-powered assault rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The past two months have been filled with national media attention, marches across the country, and talk about gun control in the United States. But in Parkland, the family and friends of the dead are still in the early stages of grieving.
Alyssa's tombstone is the first of three to be unveiled of Marjory Stoneman Douglas students in the Star of David Memorial Garden Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At the weekday unveiling, nearly 100 people joined Alyssa's family, all dressed in white and blue, at the family's request.
The rabbi read a prayer for Alyssa. Her father, Ilan, sniffled, adjusted his yarmulke, and took a deep breath.
"Alyssa, we miss you so much," he said to his daughter's tombstone.
Gesturing at the crowd around him, he said, "Look at how much you had an impact on people."
Ilan's voice cracked slightly.
"To all of Alyssa's friends: Do not hide in the shadows. Alyssa would not want that. Get up and start living. She'd want you to live for her, and be your very best."
Her two younger brothers — ages 10 and 13 — tentatively unveiled her tombstone, gingerly pulling the sheet and blue tape off the freshly cut stone.
"Our sweet Alyssa, we held you in our arms for a little while. Now we hold your bright soul in our hearts forever!" the stone reads.
Her friend, Kai Thomas, played "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa on a small speaker. Alyssa's mom, Lori, opened a small box, and a dozen butterflies flew through the cemetery.
"We were … kneeled down and looking at Alyssa, and a big yellow butterfly flew by," Lori said of the burial, held days after the mass shooting. "And we felt like it was a sign that Alyssa was OK, and that she was happy."
After the service, family and friends met up at one of Alyssa's favorite places, Deerfield Beach.
Thomas smiled as he talked about the girl he called his best friend, imagining her telling him to stop crying and enjoy the beautiful day at one of her favorite places.
"She would have laughed. She would have just giggled, 'Stop crying for me, come on, Kai.' "
WATCH: Stoneman Douglas Victim's Life Celebrated
Parents of Alyssa's friends handed out cookies iced to look like soccer balls, under a tent bearing the Parkland Soccer Club's logo and #PlayForAlyssa.
Alyssa's brothers ran into the ocean, the younger one wearing a bright orange surf shirt. Under the nearby pier, her friends used colored markers to write birthday messages to her on white kites.
A rainbow of messages floated above the bittersweet celebration on the beach.
"Happy Birthday Lyss Lyss," "Fly high, Angel," "I miss you so much."
VOA's Beth Mendelson contributed to this report.
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