BLACKSBURG, Va. – Theresa Walsh knows better than most what April 16, 2007 will forever mean to Virginia Tech. The native of Binghamton, N.Y., was shot at but not hit by the gunman who killed 32 people on campus last April.
Now, the former Hokie softball player who stayed here to take an accounting job appreciates the Yankees coming to English Field to lift the spirits of the community.
“It’s very important to me, it has brought everyone together,” Walsh said. “It’s great day and a difficult day at the same time.”
When Walsh heard the Yankees were coming to English Field, she thought somebody was kidding. But when it wasn’t a joke, Walsh believed it was the Yankees being the Yankees.
“They always come through,” Walsh said. “Sept. 11 showed everybody the Yankees aren’t just about New York but every situation.
Hesitant to discuss deep details of the shooting, Walsh said the students’ world will never be the same.
“I don’t think it will ever be normal,” she said. “There is a new state of normalcy. [That day] was hard to deal with. It’s time to move on. It was surreal. It’s difficult to talk about.”