Does 13 March 1996 mean anything?

It’s unlikely, unless it was the day you got married, picked up your winning lottery cheque or landed your dream job.

Or had children in the village school in Dunblane, Scotland.

It was the day the name Dunblane became famous for all the wrong reasons, like Lockerbie and Hungerford in the 1980s. When the simple act of going to school proved deadly for 16 young children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor.

Hungerford had shown that small-town Britain was not immune to American-style massacres. But Dunblane was even more painful because it involved young children.

We’ll be hearing some of the stories of those whose lives were devastated by Thomas Hamilton 10 years ago this week. The BBC’s website yesterday interviewed Dr Mick North, whose daughter Sophie lost her life that day. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4795260.stm). And the Guardian’s family section today tells the story of Pam and Kenny Ross, who lost their daughter Joanna. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/family/story/0,,1728042,00.html)

For them, 13 March 1996 will live forever.