Until this past weekend, I had never thought that teenagers could be as religious and understanding as those who attend my school.
On Saturday night, we all received news that our beloved friend, Cody Ludwick, had passed away. I know it sounds so very cliche, but when I say beloved I mean that he never said a cross word about a soul and always had a smile on his face.
After finding out about this tragedy, there were about 80 students who attended a candlelight vigil in the front parking lot of East Rowan. But that was not the whole of it. All of the students prayed, shared stories of their memories and simply spent time with each other.
On Sunday, a student from East held a get together at his house to do the same.
We all knew that Monday at school would be hard. But we rallied together, having a red-out in memory of Cody, signing banners that will be passed on to his family and overall just being there for each other.
I can honestly say that when students decide in the middle of a class in front of their teacher and two of the guidance counselors that they need to pray that something amazing has occurred. Being a part of this instance was incredible. The entire class circled up, holding hands in the middle of Mrs. Basinger’s third block Advanced Placement English 4 class to pray for the entire Ludwick family.
My memories of Cody are not as incredible as some, but they are things that touched my heart.
When I first met him, he was this little boy who loved to sing and loved God, who was in eighth grade Honors Chorus with me. He never met a stranger, and could not have been nicer to anyone. The thing I remember most is sitting beside him in physics class this past semester. If he knew you were in a bad mood or you were not being very talkative or if he just felt like it, he would make some off-the-wall joke.
There have been many statements that have touched my heart but one that stuck out the most was something that was said on Saturday night — “for a while we were in the presence of an angel.”
Granted, I was not as close to Cody as some, he still touched my life in ways that cannot compare. The Ludwicks are in all of our prayers, and Cody will never be forgotten.
Anita Overstreet is a senior at East Rowan High School.