‘It seems like yesterday': Parkland remembers the fallen 6 years after massacre

Seventeen white doves took flight from a parking lot in Coral Springs on Wednesday afternoon. Families and friends of the 17 victims killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School watched the birds and appreciated the symbolism. The annual gathering at the Eagles Haven Wellness Center, which includes an emotional candle-lighting ceremony, has become a tradition.

Does the community support evident at events like that actually help those who are still grieving?

“It does, we always say our friends, family, the community have always been our backbone through all of this, we couldn’t handle it, stand up on our own,” said Gena Hoyer.

She lost her son, Luke. Tony Montalto lost his daughter, Gina. 

“Unfortunately we are a group that is bonded together by tragedy, but it’s fortunate that we have each other to lean on,” Montalto said.

“Yeah, we have been close for all these years, about a week after all this happened at that first get-together and we’ve stayed together all this time, we might not agree on all the things we’re doing, but we certainly have each other’s backs,” added Luke’s dad, Tom Hoyer.

Max Schachter’s son, Alex, was just a freshman. I asked him if the hardest part was imagining what Alex would be doing now.

“Yeah, I can’t help him along the way, I look at how I’m with my other kids and it’s very sad, and I’m here six years later but it still seems like yesterday, the pain is still raw,” Schachter said.

Lori and Ilan Alhadeff are forever grieving the loss of their daughter.

“It doesn’t get easier, I’ll be honest, this year Alyssa would’ve been 21, so a very special day in a child’s life, and we were at her gravestone, toasting to her 21st, which is horrible,” Ilan Alhadeff said.

In another tradition borne from tragedy, Broward County Public Schools held its annual, district-wide day of service and love. At every school, kids did artwork promoting remembrance of the victims, hope, and kindness. At 10:17 in the morning, every classroom in the district heard the superintendent read the names of the victims over the intercom.

“We all pause across the district, and it’s a reminder to everybody that Broward County is a community and regardless of where it happened in the community, it’s important that everyone remembers, understands, honors, and also, never forget how important school safety is,” said superintendent Dr. Peter Licata at one of his stops Wednesday, Coral Springs Middle School.

One of the teachers there, Betty Opthof, taught Cara Loughran, who was among the 17.

“Cara was amazing, she was kind, she was everything that we want our children to be,” Opthof said. “So for me personally today is a day of remembering her as well as the other fallen students, but also a day of moving forward in a way, as I tell my kids, all the time, we should be better than the past, leading with kindness, we need to let that hate out of our heart.”