Profiles of students
Nicole BernsJenna Broderick
Samantha Brunell
Dan Ciamprone
Patrick Korellis
Monique Caspillan and Lhee Santos
Desiree Smith
Kevin Sundstrom
Jillian Thomas
Lindsay Ullmann
Chris Werve
Profiles of victims
Gayle DubowskiCatalina Garcia
Julianna Gehant
Ryanne Mace
Daniel Parmenter
"We haven't come to accept what happened"
By Kimberly Pohl | Daily Herald StaffThe flame lit the day after Catalina Garcia died still casts a warm glow on the front room. Around the clock for nearly 10 months now, wax and electric candles have ensured the baby of the family is always a presence in their Cicero home.
"We find comfort in it and I don't ever see us turning it off," said brother Jaime, 26.
Cati, as friends and family knew her, was one of five Northern Illinois University students killed on Valentine's Day when a gunman opened fire on a lecture hall. The 20-year-old sophomore was studying elementary education.
Jaime knows his parents, Jacinto and Consuelo, will never return to NIU. They reluctantly attended a vigil shortly after the shootings to meet the other victims' families, but have since kept their distance from most events that in some way pay tribute to Cati: the first football game, the march against violence, the night Alpha Sigma Omega made her an honorary sorority member. Consuelo wasn't up to accepting her daughter's posthumous degree in May.
The Garcias, including Cati's older siblings Myra and Joel, made an exception to see a classroom at Cicero's new community center dedicated in Cati's name. A plaque reads "vive, ama y rie." Live, love and laugh - appropriate for the young woman friends say mastered the art of living. Plans are in the works to plant a tree on NIU's campus. A scholarship fund was established through Sigma Lambda Beta Fraternity. The first recipient wants to be a teacher.
Jaime shields his parents from the spotlight and is careful which projects he endorses. He shies away from groups he says likely won't be calling in five years.
"We're really humble people and don't want the attention," said Jaime, an NIU alumnus. "But this is a story that needs to be told. What's important is that everybody finds their own lesson in this."
Even though their Catholic faith tells them Cati isn't really there, being at her monument in Hillside's Queen of Heaven Cemetery helps them cope. On the 14th of every month, Consuelo takes a half day off from work to visit. Jacinto goes at least two or three times a week and they pray there before Sunday Mass. On nice evenings, it's routine to take a lawn chair and visit for an hour. They cut the grass and plant flowers beneath the wind chime, while Cati's brothers and sister may play catch or fly kites until the gates close.
"It's more peaceful and calm than anything," said Jaime. "You don't necessarily get sad when you go down there."
There they remember Cati, the beautiful "girly-girl" who loved to eat and hang with the guys. The silly entertainer who helped mentor Latina women. The future teacher who wanted to give back.
"We haven't come to accept what happened but we don't sit around and waste time thinking what if ... her decision to go to school, her decision to register for that class, her decision to be in that seat," said Jaime. "It is what it is."
