I was a kid when a classmate was shot and killed. That trauma lasts. [Washington Post]

Police block off the road leading to the scene of a school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex., on Tuesday. (Sergio Flores for The Washington Post)

Her killing occurred in Texas three decades before a school shooting in Uvalde claimed 19 children and two teachers.

I am shaking as I write this.

I am thinking of them. I am thinking of her.

I am grieving for their parents. I am grieving again for hers.

I am a mother of two trying to make sense of the elementary school shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Tex., not far from where I grew up. I am 13 again and walking past my classmate’s casket after she was gunned down at a birthday party in San Antonio.

The trauma from Tuesday’s shooting, in which a gunman killed at least 19 students and two teachers, won’t just be far reaching and long lasting. It will reach further and last longer than anyone will be able to see. I know that not because of any studies or expert opinions. I know that because I lost a classmate to a mass shooting in Texas three decades ago.

To read the entire May 25 column by Theresa Vargas, click here.