On the third anniversary of the Dawson College shooting, Anastasia De Sousa's family marked the solemn occasion by attending a memorial mass at the Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Laval.
On Sept. 13, 2006, 18-year-old De Sousa was shot to death and 19 other students were wounded when Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire at the downtown CEGEP, before turning the gun on himself.
Nelson De Sousa, Anastasia's father, says it has been difficult to move on.
"I miss her presence -- her presence at the table, coming to church with us...just the every day, noisy complicated life every teenager has," he said.
Louise De Sousa, her mother, says it has been a struggle to try to understand the tragedy.
"The way I look at it, there's a mission. For some reason, God is putting us to go through (this)," she said.
Following the service, family and friends visited De Sousa's grave. Many were dressed in pink -- her favorite colour.
Patrick Luck, a friend of De Sousa's, became emotional as he stood by her grave, which was surrounded by pink flowers.
"I try not to think about it too much...it just automatically hits," he said.
Dawson opts for quiet commemoration
The staff at Dawson College chose to keep commemorations be "low-key, solemn and personal."
"The terrible act of violence that took the life of first-semester student Anastasia De Sousa...left an indelible impression on the many hundred members of the Dawson Community who witnessed the events of that day and lived through its aftermath," reads a statement on the school's website.
The gate at the school, at 4011 de Maisonneuve W., was left open for people who wanted to leave flowers at the foot of a tree that was planted in De Sousa's memory on the first anniversary of her death.
Officials say the flowering almond will be at the center of a "Peace Garden" that will be inaugurated in 2011, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting.
