Nine years
Has it really been nine years since Bonfire fell? It’s hard to imagine that it’s been that long.
There are certain days and nights that always seem like yesterday, no matter how old you get. You can remember exactly what you were doing, when you were doing it and those who were around you. For me, the night that Bonfire collapsed will always be one of those moments.
I didn’t go the memorial service in the early hours this morning. In fact, I haven’t been to the memorial that they dedicated several years ago. I rushed out there that night nine years ago after hearing the news and I don’t think I’m quite ready to go back yet.
Living in town and working on campus, I go past the old Bonfire site all the time. When I drive past, I think about the students today who have no idea what it was like to have Bonfire. My children will never really know what Bonfire was like – the early wake-up calls for cut, the bonds that were formed out on the stack and the exhilaration of tens of thousands of people gathered together in the dark to watch it burn. The fact that they’ll never get to experience those things for themselves makes me a little sad.
But they also won’t know it was like to be here nine years ago or through the painful days and weeks that followed. And for that, I am very glad.
As a Former Student who worked on Bonfire, there’s a part of me that very much wants to see it back on campus at some point in the future. As a parent with two children of my own, there’s another part of me that doesn’t think it’s worth the risk. I’m not sure what the future of Bonfire will be and I’m glad it’s not my decision to make. I don’t know that there really is a “right” decision as far as Bonfire is concerned.
I do know, though, that this day doesn’t get any easier as the years pass on.
wow, I remember hearing the news when it happened, and being concerned for people who I knew who were Aggies (especially my brother), but didn’t realize it had been nine years already. It must be a tough anniversary for everyone there.
I have ashes from the last Bonfire that burned. My suitemate had collected them in little jars and made Christmas presents for us the year prior to the fall. I thought it was kind of cheesy at the time, but now it’s kind of important to me.
I never went to cut or anything, I was very much a 2%er, but I do remember waking up the morning after it fell and being horrified. I still remember hearing In The Arms Of an Angel by Sarah McLaughlin with the voiceovers from the press conferences and every time I hear that song it makes me cry and think about the guy who was so crushed that he knew he wasn’t going to make it, he kept insisting that they get the other people around him first, they opened him up and his insides were like scrambled eggs, they kept him alive long enough for his parents to make it into town to say goodbye.
I can’t believe it has been 9 years either. It was horrifying and sad and I am still glad I didn’t have a Reload Crew shift that night. Since that was my first fall semester here, I never saw an Aggie Bonfire burn, and even if they bring it back I will never have the opportunity to as a student. I still don’t know how I feel about that.
That was a very difficult time for me as well. While I did not work Bonfire that year, I did my freshman year, and it was a very special thing. I can still remember driving home about 1am from the Kettle on University and looking over at the stack as everyone was woking on it. Little did I know in a short time it would be a disaster scene. I received one of those 6am phone calls form my Mother, where you know its not going to be about anything good. What I remember most is how quiet it was on campus. The only sound was of helicopters circling the campus. I too am on the fence about whether the University should bring it back. I would say this, though: It should only come back if it remains a student run, student built Bonfire. Anything else would be an insult to all those that died, in my opinion.