“From Surviving the Unthinkable to Unraveling a Legacy: The Inspiring Life of Columbine Victim Anne Marie Hochhalter”
Anne Marie Hochhalter did, however, try to approach her remaining years with a positive attitude, according to her friends and family. After her mother’s death, she was supported by the family of another Columbine student who died in the attack, Lauren Townsend. Lauren’s stepmother Sue Townsend reached out to Hochhalter to deal with her own grief, but her family soon found that Hochhalter had become an “acquired daughter.”
“She brought a light to our lives that will shine for a long time,” Sue Townsend said, according to The Associated Press.
In 2016, Hochhalter also chose to reach out to the mother of one of the gunmen, extending forgiveness. In a letter to Sue Klebold, she wrote: “Just as I wouldn’t want to be judged by the sins of my family members, I hold you in that same regard. It’s been a rough road for me, with many medical issues because of my spinal cord injury and intense nerve pain, but I choose not to be bitter towards you. A good friend once told me, ‘Bitterness is like swallowing a poison pill and expecting the other person to die.’ It only harms yourself. I have forgiven you and only wish you the best.”
Hochhalter’s brother Nathan Hochhalter told The Associated Press that he knew his sister’s life would likely be shorter than normal because of her traumatic injuries, but her death still came as a shock.
“We didn’t think it would be this bad this soon,” he said.
Still, according to The New York Times, Nathan Hochhalter doesn’t think that it makes sense for her to be counted among the Columbine victims who died back in 1999. “She got an extra 26 years,” he said. “She was very independent, but it was not an easy 26 years.”
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