So much speculation about Dylan’s supposed crush on Rachel, but i think the real question is: If Dylan had been friends with Rachel would he have eventually liked her romantically?

Possibly, yes.  She was pure, kind and compassionate, down to earth, had a sense of humor and didn’t take her self to seriously.

And when I say pure, I mean by Dyl’s definition – genuine of heart.

 She was adventurous and engaging which are good qualities he needed in a girlfriend to bring him out his shell. She did not belong to any particular clique and associated with everyone.  On the other hand, Rachel took her faith seriously including her relationship with Christ and so dating had it’s limitations as she was saving herself for the right moment, which could very well have been marriage. I’m not sure how long she felt she had to wait before having sex with a boyfriend but I do know that her previous boyfriends were unable to progress very far with her. Though I think  Dylan would be absolutely ok with taking things slow and getting to know her and enjoy just being in his girl’s company. I just tend to think after a while, he’d be kind of ready to take things a step farther and so, he’d be possibly resentful of her religious piety after so much time had passed. He was already not a huge fan of the ‘Christian Way’ with it being waved before him regularly in the community.  Though I think Rachel wouldn’t be the type to constantly remind him of her faith at all and be very easy going and not forcing her religion on others..it’s just that eventually, there would be differences that would be deal breakers as with her commitment to Jesus and not going too far which would eventually rub most dudes the wrong way himself included.  I think Rachel would probably only have been happy in a serious committed relationship with a christian guy that shared the same religious values and understood her stance which was important to every fiber of her being or else..she’d have to make a lot of compromise and concessions to be with a guy that did not share the same devoted religious values as she did. 

Is it true that Dylan may have had a crush on Rachel Scott?

According to Rachel’s mom, Beth Nimmo, it is true from her point of view and Beth claims that Judy Brown corroborated with her on this.  And that is as far as the rumor goes.  Where Beth got this idea is curious.  Did Rachel say anything to her mom that she thought Dylan kinda liked her?  Did Dylan mention to Judy’s sons Brooks and Aaron that he was a bit smitten with her (I doubt he’d say a peep to them) or did it just appear to busy-body mom Judy that Dylan looked kinda blushing and awkward while having minute interactions with Rachel in theater class? Well, problem here is, there is no such specific information from an actual source that relayed this on to Beth and/or Judy. It seems to be Beth’s opinion and nothing more to substantiate it.  It could be they just assumed Dylan liked her for whatever reason.  No one else has claimed that Dylan had a crush on Rachel.  We have no way of truly verifying this with immediate sources like both of their friends.  I went into a bit of detail on this here.

I’m still confused about something, and I also hope I make sense. It’s said Dylan started school a year early, which is why he was ahead a year of Rachel Scott, who was a month older. But to graduate in 1999 after spending 13 years in school, that would have placed him in kindergarten in August of ’86 at 4, turning 5 the next month. If he had started kindergarten ‘early’ in ’85 at 3 going on 4, he would have graduated in ’98, not ’99. Is it possible Rachel didn’t start kindergarten until ’87?

If you’re still confused it’s because, well, it is kinda confusing..:)  Plus, we’re talking about how the US school system works.

 So, to spell it out a bit more clearly for those who don’t live in the US or those who do and are just confuzzled: 

Rachel Scott was born August 5, 1981 – she was 17 years old and was
a Junior in the 11th grade.

Dylan Klebold was born September 11, 1981, he was 17 years old and was a Senior in the 12th grade. 

They were the same age but Rachel was but one month older than Dylan yet one grade behind him — how is this possible?

This is because Rachel was born in August, which is the end of summer break, and Dylan was born in September which is the start of a new school year – so it’s sort of cut-off optional period for parents to choose for their child. 

In the US, if your child is born in August, like Rachel, or September, like Dylan, you have the option to start them in school when they are still 4 but turn 5 before September 30th or you can wait until the following year and start them around their 6th Birthday. Dylan’s parents opted to start him at the earlier choice, when he was 4, and hers waited until the following year when she was almost 6. The school year in the US starts at the end of August/beginning of September and ends at the end of May/early to mid June. Some schools here the US start school the Wednesday after Labor Day, first Monday in September, and ends in mid June. But in Colorado, they start at the end of August and finish up at the end of May. Dylan started at 4 (turned 5 on September 11th) years old and Rachel started at 6 years old.

I hope that clarifies a bit better. Initially, in a couple of previous posts, I stated that Dylan’s parents placed him in school ‘earlier’ and technically that is true; they opted to start him at 4 nearly 5 instead of waiting the following year.

Incidentally, prior to elementary school, Dylan started Foothills Day Care at age 3.  Poor little guy.. 

Why, why, why did JeffCo or whomever edit out the names in Dylan’s journal? From what I gather, he only wrote first names, and Eric’s name was left in. Privacy? But why would they need “privacy” if their names were already public, like Marla, Zack, or Kristen? In Dylan’s journal entry on August 10th of 1998, it says “I am ready to be with [edited]” and it just drives me crazy.

Well, he didn’t just write in first names all of the time they were full names in some cases. Eric’s name was left in because Eric was Dylan’s co-partner in crime and we already knew that not to mention, deader than a door nail.  As for the others, they are still living…so redaction is a way to conceal who they were/are in association with a infamous, dead mass murderer.  It is not a given that Marla or Kristen are mentioned as the girl/s that Dylan was in love with and referenced liberally in his journal but we can certainly deduce which girl we think it might be based on supporting evidence in the 11K.  We can make a pretty accurate guess that Dylan is referencing Zack when he’s talking about losing his ‘best friend’ since he found his soulmate (Devon) but there is no way to say conclusively because of the redaction.

We can really only make an educated guess at the redacted first and/or last names mentioned in Dylan’s journal but we can’t be certain.    And yes, the redactions were done as way to protect privacy even if it was futile that we’d figure out who Dylan was likely referencing over time.   Marla Foust has already dealt with people contacting her on social media harassing her about the possibility that Dylan was mentioning her as his love a few years back. This happened because an author played around with Dylan’s acrostic love poem and made a mere supposition that he felt strongly it as Marla who Dylan was referencing – just an author’s theory put forth and yet people ran with it and started bugging her. I’m sure Zack or Devon do not want death threats for having been very good/close friends with a murderer.  So, yes, the authorities redact names to protect privacy even if we do figure it out, we really just don’t know for certain as the full name has never been publicly revealed.  

Did Byron get fourced out of the house or did he just choose to leave? Where did he live then?

The official story is that Byron got ‘kicked out’ by his parents because of his drug use which was assumed to be marijuana based on the information volunteered in Dylan’s Diversion Program Intake Form.   It sounds kind of harsh but what this likely amounts to is that his parents probably asked him to leave and Byron acquiesced, seeing that he’d just graduated from high school and given his continued drug use despite their wishes that he would stop while living under their roof.  His parents were aware from the answers volunteered on the Diversion intake form that Dylan had tried marijuana and alcohol for the very first time with Byron and in their home. They probably both saw the writing on the wall that Bryon might influence Dylan to acquire a substance abuse habit of his own. Of the two sons, Bryon was not a academic achiever with any sort of definite career plans and they held out high hopes that Dylan would be the one to go to college and so likely wanted to guard against him following in his oldest brother’s footsteps.  Byron moved out in 1997 and moved in with a male roommate in Aurora, CO.   

rainflesh:

In the days before he died, I had hugged him and told him how much I loved him. I held his scratchy face between my palms and told him that he was a wonderful person and that I was proud of him. Had he felt pressured by this? Did he feel that he could not live up to my expectations?  

– I Will Never Know Why, Susan Klebold

Requested by @everlasting-contrast 🙂 I hope it’s similar to what you had in mind!

This is BEYOND beautiful.  and Oh, The Feels.   You captured the humanity in that moment between a mother, her unconditional love and pride in her full grown son, so evocatively.

Thank you sooooo much for fulfilling my request @rainflesh.  It far exceeds the expectations of what I had in my mind’s eye.  Amazing… ❤

I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to firearms, but what are crickets?

Eric refers to them as “crickets” and says they are his grenades.   ‘Cricket’ bombs are improvised explosive devices, also known as cartridge bombs or CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) bombs. They are made by taking empty CO2 canisters (like what might be used to power a BB gun), and filling it with gunpowder or flash powder and attaching a fuse. Over 90 of these and other small IEDs were made by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for use in the Columbine massacre. They carried these tiny bombs on their body in the pockets of their military bdu and cargo pants and duffel bags.

image

The CO2 device, commonly referred to as a kid bomb or cricket, also falls under the destructive-device classification in most state penal codes.

Bomb-makers construct this device from a small CO2 cylinder or cartridge of the type commonly used in BB and pellet guns, a swimmer’s life vest or seltzer bottles. Makers vent the CO2 cartridge by punching a hole in a lightweight metal closing-disk set in the neck of the cartridge, then enlarge the hole with a nail or ice pick until it’s large enough to admit a length of firecracker or model-rocket fuse. They then fill the empty CO2 cartridge with a fine grade of black powder or pistol powder, insert the fuse through the hole and typically secure the fuse in place with black electrician tape or epoxy glue.

When detonated, the confined powder explodes, ripping the cartridge body and sending red-hot fragments outward at up to 4,000 feet per second. Typically constructed by novice bomb-makers, CO2 cartridge bombs sometimes kill the maker when a short fuse doesn’t allow them enough time to avoid the vessel’s fragmentation.

Don’t assume an unexploded CO2 device lacks danger. Set up your perimeter, evacuate the affected area and call an expert to deal with the device. Don’t handle the device; resist the temptation to move it. Remember: These devices usually contain gunpowder, a substance that can prove very unstable under the wrong circumstances.

(p.s. it looks kinda like a metal tampon. 😉 )

That’s still good for them. They’re both happy now. Too bad Dylan couldn’t be in Zach’s same situation now. To think, companionship makes such a difference.

Yeah, it’s nice to know that Zack and Devon have stayed in touch.  It’s also nice to know that Dylan interceded as a guardian angel for the two and delayed them from a potential car accident in an oncoming snow storm as Devon mentions here.    Think Dylan still checks in and looks out for those close friends he cared about the most in his life. It’s the least he could do given how much he’d betrayed, hurt and disappointed them.