Utöya 22 Jul 2011

Boy and I were visiting my mother-in-law.

We had just finished dinner and were waiting for coffee. I was watching the news out of the corner of my eye while engaging MIL in a conversation. I don't remember what we were talking about, but suddenly, reports of an explosion in Oslo caught my eye. The explosion had happened earlier that day. Then the news switched to something else, and coffee was ready.

I remember standing up to get my cup when the first reports came in.

I remember opening Facebook to see if anyone of my Norwegian friends had any news.

I remember seeing a friend sending warnings to not text or call their children on Utöya, as that would reveal their location to the killer.

I sat there, on the arm rest of a grey couch, in the white walled living room, a cup of coffee in my hand. Frozen in place as I could do nothing for the desperate children throwing themselves into the fiord to try and escape the man with the military grade automatic rifle.

I thought of all the parents, unable to call their children. Parents unable to do anything as a terrorist swept over the island, killing and injuring anyone he could find.

69 young people lost their lives on Utöya, killed by a xenophobic, islamophobic, and misogynistic terrorist named Anders Bering-Breivik. 110 people were injured.
8 people died in the explosion in Oslo. An explosion set up by the same terrorist.


Let us NEVER forget this massacre. Do not let those who died have died in vain. 


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