Only time will tell
Letter to the Editor

?Only time will tell.? As I look at my Ballston Spa High School yearbook and read that title verse, I think all of that time has told in the past five years since I graduated. A lot happens in just five years and some say that the 1st five years after high school are the most defining years of one?s life. I know they have been for me. But, the most defining moment was not when I graduated college, not when I married my high school sweetheart, nor was it when my husband & I bought our first home. No, instead it was on March 2, 1998. That was the day my friend and classmate, Suzanne Lyall, disappeared from her college campus.
Why was such a dreadful day the most defining moment in the past five years of my life? I will never forget that night, watching the news and seeing Suzy?s high school graduation photo accompany the story of a missing co-ed. ?Things like that don?t happen to people like us.? But, they do. Since Suzy disappeared, I look at life a little more closely. I treasure every moment with my friends and family. I stop to enjoy the little things in life. And, I practice safe habits, like always locking my doors. Suzy and I were not close in high school, but she was my friend. She influenced my life then and she still does now. She was always a smiling face, a friendly hello. She would help me with the computers in the library and I would help her giggle through French classes. She was ? and with God?s Grace still is ? a wonderful person.
When Suzy, I, and the rest of our class graduated in June of 1996, we were ready to conquer the world, we were ready to make our mark. Not two years later, Suzy was gone, leaving unanswered questions as her mark. In these past three years, my husband and I have grown close to Doug and Mary, Suzy?s loving and devoted parents. Through their love for their baby girl, they are making their mark on New York. They are working to make campuses safe for all students. We should commend them for their ability to use their pain for their daughter as a catalyst for the safety of other people?s children. Suzanne?s Law must be passed, not just for Suzy?s memory, but for the safety of New York?s college students.
So, in June of 2001, as we look back through five years of sweat, joy, and tears, we see our accomplishments, our downfalls, and we see our Suzy. As we look to the next five years, ?Only time will tell? what life will bring. We anticipate the day when Suzy is found. But until then, wherever you are and whatever you are doing, we love you, Suzy, and hope that someday you will be able to come home.


Ren?e S. Janack-Cook
Ballston Lake, NY 12019