We stood, at the end, together.
We stood, making loving hearts with our fingers.
We stood in solidarity.
It was quite a moment.
The sanctuary was filled with like minded humans of all faiths
and ages.
There were smiles and there were tears and there was love.
There was so much love.
We sent cards with that love,
from our hearts to those bruised and battered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal...
known as Mother Emanuel...
and we all needed our mothers right then.
Celebrating determination and strength and reminding ourselves that we are not alone,
singing Amazing Grace.
It was not enough.
It was everything.
It was something.
It was what we could do, then and there.
It was a sunny Saturday morning, just like the last one I shared with Christina-Taylor.
I know she would have loved to join me.
I miss her, each and every day, just as they will be missed.
Let them be remembered.
Let them be an inspiration to us all.
Let us act for change.
Let this be the last time we gather together to remember those taken - not lost, not gone, not passed - TAKEN.... MURDERED.
Let us not gloss over the horror, as hard as it is to keep it front and center.
It's a necessary step if we are to move forward, together, to make a change.
They are missed.
They are not forgotten.
They are in our hearts.
They inspire action.
Every Town for Gun Safety.
Get involved.
Do it now.
They deserve your attention.
(Thanks to Jocelyn Strauss for the photos)
So beautiful and poignant. I will be honest and say that I'm tired of these types of events. Not in that I don't think we should remember people, it's that we shouldn't NEED these types of events because gun violence has been diminished. I know we don't live in a perfect world, but it's emotionally exhausting to constantly see people being gunned down. This shouldn't be happening in our society and I'm scared because it's becoming normal. This should never be our normal.
ReplyDeleteI hope we have learned from this shooting, but I don't think we have. It's frustrating to want to do something to prevent the next one and to constantly be hitting a brick wall. Until our legislators do something to fight this epidemic, we are going to keep seeing this happening.
Sending hugs!
Megan xxx
Exhausting is exactly the right word, Megan. I've stopped going b/c I can't keep crying in public, especially on Sunny Saturday Mornings, but this one spoke to my heart, as a thing CTG and I would have done together, in solidarity with people who were doing nothing more than their ordinary tasks.
DeleteWe keep the pressure on, bring new people into the fold, and make changes.... or so I hope.
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I know you tire of needing to do this. But you inspire. I know you tire of inspiring. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteAnd because of people like you, I continue to do what exhausts me. CTG deserves it. Charleston deserves it. Caren Teves and the other Aurora relatives and survivors deserve it. So, I plug on, when I can, hoping to continue to make changes myself and inspire others to get involved. Thanks for the love, Nerthus.
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