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  #1  
Old 04-19-2012, 02:41 PM
AGDAlum AGDAlum is offline
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Ole Miss Chi O story

"We Thought the Sun Would Always Shine on Our Lives" is a story by Paige Williams in the May, 2012, issue of "O" (the Oprah magazine) about the 1987 disaster that befell the Chi Omega chapter at Ole Miss. The chapter members were participating in a walk-a-thon. A truck towing a hay baler crashed into the women's escort car. Five sisters were killed and others were seriously injured.

It's interesting to read Williams' description of sorority life [for a magazine audience mostly non-Greek] and her reflections what membership has meant to her in the years since, and at the time of a chapter reunion in January, 2012.

"Every spring five mothers receive cards and flowers from women who are now mothers themselves. And a boy who once loved a girl writes a check in her name, to charity. Every autumn....[a] father drives out to Highway 6 to repaint the five white crosses....Unbeknownst to the parents of one girl who died, the mother of another leaves flowers at her grave, otu of gratitude that her own daughter lived....A marker bears all their names...'So faith, hope, love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.....
Losing them taught us that we were more resilient than we knew, in large part because we had each other. And after all these years of remembering those five girls frozen in youth....it's a gift to see them now forever in the company of friends."

I searched the O Magazine website but couldn't find the article. You can get it at your public library for free (or you can buy it on the newsstand).
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Last edited by AGDAlum; 04-19-2012 at 02:42 PM. Reason: clarify
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  #2  
Old 04-19-2012, 02:55 PM
chi-o_cat chi-o_cat is offline
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Thanks for the heads-up! I am definitely interested in reading the article.
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Old 04-19-2012, 03:04 PM
NutBrnHair NutBrnHair is offline
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I wish the author had been a bit more sensitive to the families of the deceased.
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Old 04-19-2012, 03:54 PM
shirley1929 shirley1929 is offline
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I googled it to see if anyone had posted the entire thing yet and found this blog entry about it:

http://www.atlawblog.com/2012/04/ole...edy-revisited/
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Old 04-19-2012, 09:32 PM
chi-o_cat chi-o_cat is offline
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I was at Target tonight and picked up O magazine....this will be my lunchtime reading tomorrow.
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Old 04-20-2012, 09:51 AM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NutBrnHair View Post
I wish the author had been a bit more sensitive to the families of the deceased.
I see what you mean. Good Lord. If there's anyone out there who doesn't know what a hay baler does, they can look it up. No reason to spell it out in such grotesque detail.
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Old 04-20-2012, 10:46 AM
NutBrnHair NutBrnHair is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl View Post
I see what you mean. Good Lord. If there's anyone out there who doesn't know what a hay baler does, they can look it up. No reason to spell it out in such grotesque detail.
Thank you.
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Old 04-20-2012, 03:25 PM
barbino barbino is offline
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I read this at the library and it is a very sad article. It was well written (although I second NutBrnHair's comment about sensitivity) and the author has won awards for her writing. I knew an alumn from this chapter who graduated a few years before this and wondered how it affected her. I think that it is very difficult to convey how something like this affects all those involved.
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Old 04-22-2012, 09:52 AM
DoctorD DoctorD is offline
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A friend of mine posted the Oprah article on facebook.


You can access the link here.
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Old 04-22-2012, 10:09 AM
carnation carnation is offline
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Now I wish I hadn't read it.
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Old 04-22-2012, 11:25 AM
AGDLynn AGDLynn is offline
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Read it last night on my Nook. Interesting how they handled it individually and collectively.
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Old 04-24-2012, 12:22 AM
sarahbear922 sarahbear922 is offline
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http://www.oprah.com/relationships/W...ige-Williams/1

Here's the direct link to the story online. Very sad
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Old 04-24-2012, 02:00 PM
NutBrnHair NutBrnHair is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Low C Sharp View Post
At the beginning of the story, before it got so dark, I was thinking, "I wonder what the Ole Miss KDs and Tri-Delts would have to say about Chi Os being the undisputed queens of campus."
"No matter the letter, we're all Greek together."

Now, is that better?
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Old 04-24-2012, 02:22 PM
Shellfish Shellfish is offline
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I remember reading about this accident afterward (though not in as much detail) but didn't realize that it's been 25 years already. I'd always think about it when I'd see people do fundraising activities, usually canning, alongside the road--it always seems to me to be fraught with danger.

Last edited by Shellfish; 04-24-2012 at 02:23 PM. Reason: Not dangerous to me specifically
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  #15  
Old 04-24-2012, 02:39 PM
NutBrnHair NutBrnHair is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shellfish View Post
I'd always think about it when I'd see people do fundraising activities, usually canning, alongside the road--it always seems to me to be fraught with danger.
Me too. After this happened, Chi Omega HQ did not ban chapters from participating in such things, but it certainly was strongly discouraged.
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