It has been five years since the massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School claimed 17 lives, an observance that is different from previous ones.
This milestone is the first since loved ones of those lost were able to leave the very public stage that has been their cage since Feb. 14, 2018.
While there are cases related to the shooting still moving through the legal system, the prosecution and sentencing of the killer concluded 15 weeks ago. This ended five years of high-profile investigations, legal controversies and political debate that kept the victims’ families in the news and their faces on screens seen by both neighbors and strangers around the world — a cycle of pain and frustration on top of unthinkable grief.
