A mother’s sad prayer

Two high school seniors holding guns were making a scene. When Sue Klebold heard that one of the shooters were her son, she pleaded to God that he would kill himself before hurting more students, before being shot and killed by the police. Dylan Klebold died as Sue prayed for. The Columbine High School massacre in April 1999 killed 13 and injured 24 people.

Contrary to what the world said, Sue’s son was not a monster. However gruesome the crime he perpetrated, Dylan Klebold was neither a monster nor a devil. Dylan was much beloved by his kindhearted and generous parents, who prayed for their son everyday and taught their son to think of others first.

How could Sue’s darling son commit such horrible acts? The culprit was in his brain—a brain disease that stops the owner of the brain to control his own thoughts, depression, and suicidal tendencies anybody could fall prey to. “The sad and horrible truth is that nobody knows when we, or people we love, might be afflicted.”

Sue Klebold wished she died instead of the people killed by her son. “A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy” is a writing of remorse and atonement for the victims and the bereaved families. At the same time, it is the account of love for her son.

No matter how atrocious the crime her son committed, Dylan was still her son. Sue regretted again and again that she prayed for her son kill himself. She also wanted to ask Dylan’s forgiveness for “having been totally unaware of what was going through his mind” and “having been failed to provide support for Dylan whom he could rely on.”

This is why Sue Klebold is so eagerly involved in suicide prevention. She desperately wanted to help young people who were mentally ill because, from a broad perspective, they were all her children.