NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hundreds of people linked arms and formed a human chain throughout Nashville on the one-year mark of the Covenant School shooting, in an event organized by the group Voices for a Safer Tennessee.
As they linked arms in places like Centennial Park, this movement, organizers say, was not just for Covenant. It was bigger, for people like Annette Lake.
Annette was there Wednesday to raise awareness of mental illness and the hundreds of lives lost to preventable firearm tragedies each year.
Annette has lost both her father and son to suicide.
"It's tragic, this whole tragedy opens up a wound for us that, people are in pain, we don't know what causes that pain. we walk past each other every day and we don't know someone's hurting," Annette said. "We're not here alone, even though sometimes we feel very alone in whatever we're going through, and we can only make change if we unite together.
She says she envisions a world without gun violence, and with help for all those with mental illness.
She knows for now, it's a dream. But one day, she hopes it becomes a reality.
This is a story I immediately went home and showed my boys - young athletes with big dreams. The Vanderbilt football team's success has stolen the spotlight - what I love about Steve Layman's story is he reveals the individual hardships it took to get there. As Clark Lea says, "we all have scuff marks." This team proves perseverance pays off!
- Carrie Sharp
