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A Columbine tribute that very few people have seen

"I thought, 'how can I feel sorry for myself after what happened to those people?'"
Credit: Tom Cole, KUSA

KUSA — The reaction was universal and unique.

On April 20, 1999, people in our community and our state were shaken and heartbroken by the Columbine High School shooting.

Sadness, anger, and shock overwhelmed many people. Mike Bowers remembers the late 1990s as a difficult time for himself personally.

“I was in despair, depressed and probably wallowing in self-pity,” he said. “When that happened, it actually kind of snapped me awake. I thought, ‘how can I feel sorry for myself after what happened to those people?’”

Littleton was Bowers’ hometown. This was personal to him. He wanted to do something to remember the victims.

He thought of the doves released at one of the memorial services and he contacted his friend Ray Shaw, a wildlife artist in Southern Colorado.

Shaw initially hesitated.

“There was enough pain out there for everyone I didn’t really want to be a part of all that,” Shaw said.

It took some convincing, but after several discussions, Shaw agreed to do the painting. He decided to call it “The Healing.”

Bowers asked Shaw to paint the doves with the victims’ faces hidden inside. During the painting process, Shaw felt compelled to write a poem about the painting and the feelings he hoped to evoke.

“Everybody has their own thoughts on why things happen and I think they’re all pretty right, but we all have to get together,” he said. “We can’t fight each other and bring together peace and equality.”

Bowers admits he couldn’t really afford the painting all those years ago. He had the down payment, but he had to ask his mom for the rest.

It was eventually appraised for close to $70,000.

His initial thought was to give it to the community, but due to the intense investigation in the years following the tragedy, no one expressed interest. So, the painting has been hanging in his home. He’s hoping by sharing it now, someone will be interested in it.

“It’s quietly hung here on the wall for a long time and I think it needs to surface,” he said.

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