A recent guest column (“Placing blame does little,” Jan. 27) brings to light the continued shortsightedness people may have about the lasting impact a traumatic event can have on a person, a family, a community and a nation.

To say “nothing can be done about it and we’ve moved on” in essence says to “get over it” and it discounts the feelings of the many who experienced the tragic closing of the schools in Prince Edward County and who continue to live with the after effects of that devastating event.

For many, the closure crushed dreams, separated children from their families and caused them to be stuck in time.

I lived through that traumatic event and it changed my life forever. I was uprooted from my family, my school, my church and my community just to have the opportunity to complete my senior year of high school.

I believe Kristen Green’s book, “Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County,” is an instrument to opening a dialog and continuing the journey of healing so needed in this county and in this country. Kristen’s book is the story of the unexpected, for reaching and lasting impact of the closing of the Prince Edward County schools.

I found Kristen’s book not to be a platform for placing blame but an avenue for uncovering layers of hidden truths.

I commend her for the courage to tell her story even if it opened up wounds. Her book has opened the door for this community to move forward with the reconciliation project. The light of reconciliation was not to be a token gesture to appease a group of our citizens and was the recognition of not a moment in time, but was the offer of forgiveness and the light of hope and healing for a better tomorrow.

To move forward in the healing process we must deal with the painful truths of our past.

How else how can we experience true reconciliation?

I believe Green’s book and the Moton Museum are two avenues that allow the healing to continue. Both provide an opportunity to learn about the history of Prince Edward County — the good, the bad and the ugly.

Through both, citizens and former citizens of Prince Edward County get to tell their stories about how the closing of the schools impacted their lives.

We can choose to let this be an opportunity to bring closure and healing rather than to focus on divisiveness.

We can allow the truth to set us free.

Charles Taylor Sr. was born and raised in Farmville, and was directly impacted by the school closings in 1959. His email address is cajole40@cox.net.