DeKALB – Many students who attended the memorial Thursday at Northern Illinois University were in high school when the Feb. 14, 2008, shooting occurred.

They weren't on campus when word spread of a former NIU student walking into Cole Hall and opening fire. They didn't wait on pins and needles to learn who survived, and who didn't. And they have never had the chance to meet the five students who were killed five years ago.

But that disconnect didn't stop these students from coming together like a family Thursday.