A cheerleader or athlete dies, and the whole student body wears their favorite color. They organize events like marathons or fund raisers. They weep collectively for the loss of such a wonderful person, who they never really knew or never met, but that they have heard of. The story is covered on the news and remains in the forefront of people’s minds for years.
They live forever.
A special education student dies in the school building during a normal class in a normal school day. The students all wear the deceased’s favorite color. Someone doesn’t check their Facebook and doesn’t get the chain message and wears something else. The same students who once bullied or looked down on the special needs student now scorn the one not wearing the color of support. The story is not on the news, no events take place, the school grieves and moves on.
They live for a while.
And then we lose someone no one knows. A member of the student body, but with a disease no one understands. She fades away into the night. No one knows how her mother wails, or how her sister is jarred awake at 2 AM. They barely notice the absence of her sister the next day. No one feels the family’s pain. No one shows their support. No one bothers to find out her favorite color, let alone wear it. They forget in days, if they ever knew at all.
She lived while she was alive.