A wall of water moved north from the Gulf of Mexico, raining down on the Eastern third of the United States, southern North Carolina was no exception. Over two inches of rain fell during the day in Davidson, North Carolina, making my outdoor conversations with students nearly impossible. One student named Lauren, from Orange County, braved the weather while taking time to talk to me, and said she liked the mission so much that she would make sure everyone in her dorm would hear the message of kindness. In a couple of hours, I had only twenty or so conversations. I decided to pay a visit to the student union to see if there was more action inside. The place was packed, but I wasn’t about to leave Bogart outside with the way the squirrels were taunting him on the walk to the student union. Bogart and I went in the door and he was an instant hit, until that is, we got a look of, please remove your dog from this building kind of look. We exited stage left and beat feet for the bus in the heaviest rain of the day. Bad weather usually doesn’t stand in the way of us making connections with students, however today the rain won. Bogart, at times seems to give me looks too. The look today was, let’s pack it up for the day Bob. Therefore, we did.

Pulling on this campus, I knew parking a bus on the road ringing the Drillfield was going to be almost impossible. It was as if I was a NYC cab driver as I negotiated all the kids and vehicles crossing the roadway. Then it appeared, a construction site drive off the roadway with an open spot, well almost. A little parking creativity and I was in. Visiting the Drillfield at the center of the Virginia Tech campus on this beautifully sunny day in southwestern Virginia, one could see students heading in every direction to and from classes across it’s expanse. All is, as when I was here some two and one half years ago, except for the memorial. I had to visit the spot I stood in on the weekend following the tragedy. On that weekend, I respectfully stood well off to the side, silently letting people take as many Sow Only Seeds Of Love stickers as they wished. Many of the thousands talked with me, some hugged me, and some cried with me. Watching that slow procession of mourners for two full days were Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Family, Full teams in uniform, Friends, Educators, each having a profound impact on me. I watched raw human emotion, all the time realizing that I was a father of three children who would be inheriting this same world in a few short years. From this, I promised in my heart to each of those thirty-two that I would do something in their honor to have an impact on others. Thus was the beginnings of One Million Acts Of Kindness. Today as I walked by the thirty-two cornerstones, each from the same limestone which is used in the campus buildings, each with a victim’s name engraved into it, I did as I did during the memorial. I made a promise that a father’s love for his children and a wish for a safer world for them and for all children will inspire me to honor you through my actions, by creating an awareness of kindness for everyone. Engraved on a stone in the memorial it reads;   We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

What a great day of connecting with kids, some of them read an article in their school newspaper, The Collegiate Times, said I love what you are doing. One person remembered seeing me at the memorial, Liz Norment, the newspaper writer said she had five of my stickers from the memorial. Jessica who was on the phone with a friend, was relaying all the messages written on the bus to her. Bogart was a huge hit as well. He was dressed in his Diversity Jacket in honor of AIDS awareness day. Most everyone loved the idea. On this emotional day for me, we made contact with over six hundred students. It was a great day.