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“Do Something!” has been the rallying cry from Dayton since the shooting, and I can’t get it out of my head. When Governor DeWine started giving his condolences on stage the night of the vigil, he was drowned out by thousands screaming “Do Something”. It started with a handful of people and then the whole crowd yelled desperately to do something. He spoke the next day at the statehouse, and as he took stage you could hear a woman yelling at the top of her lungs “Do something!” before the door was quickly shut. When President Trump visited Dayton yesterday, many people pointed signs straight up at the hospital he was visiting painted “Do Something”. As his motorcade drove away, Kennede ran after it for as long as she could screaming in frustration as he waved to the crowd. Scroll ➡️
COMMUNITY.
I cannot stress enough how much I love this city.
Today Jeremiah had the morning off work and suggested we head to our beloved @stannethetart ☕️ There we ended up sharing a table with another little family. As we chatted over coffee and watched our little ones play together we realized we had so many common friends (including the previous owners of my home), our pastor, and her old youth pastor, among others. We may have even attended some of the same events about 15 years ago. @lisa.nicole.callahan
I ran into a sweet, loving, gem of a woman in the stairwell. If you know @natalieherr I’m one hundred percent certain you share the same feelings about her.
Then @jmorgan.atelier stopped me outside on the front porch, the first time we’ve met in real life, and gifted me with the tightest, warmest, hug. Like one from a childhood friend.
This city, this community, it’s beautiful. It rises in the face of adversity.
Today, hope lives. In the faces of new friends, old friends, and everything in between.
Dayton, we love you!
I don’t really know what to say about this. Tragedy is always hard, but hits close to home when it happens in your own backyard. After staying up til 3am texting all my friends in Dayton to make sure they were okay, I headed down there yesterday.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sound of a parent breaking down who just lost their child, or the look in the eye of a young man still in a sling from being shot who saw his friend get murdered in front of him.
This is a completely senseless tragedy and so many lives were taken because of one selfish person. But Dayton really came together. There were thousands who filled the street to mourn, support one another, and get angry. They shouted at government officials to do something, and that their thoughts and prayers weren’t enough. I did my best to hold it all together but lost it when they were reading off all the names of people who died and seeing their loved ones in the crowd collapsing with grief.
Hold each other tight. I love you Dayton. Scroll ➡️
B r e a k T h r o u g h t h e T a pe
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When I woke up this morning I looked at my phone and noticed a message from a friend asking if we were ok...it caught me off guard and my heart instantly dropped (which, sadly, is a feeling I’ve already experienced first waking up). I turned on the news and found out that there was a mass shooting in Dayton at the Oregon District. 10 were dead. I instantly felt sadness but then anger quickly became my strongest feeling.
Dayton can NOT catch a break!
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But there’s one thing I’ve learned the past 3 months...Dayton finds hope. They quickly dismissed the KKK rally with unity, they displayed an abundance of love for their neighbors during the Memorial Day tornados, and now with this horrific mass shooting, I know they’ll break through this emotional obstacle, yet again, and find hope.
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Help your neighbor reach that finish line of finally experiencing hope. We can’t do it alone.
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(Why on earth did I decide to start this sketch-a-day challenge?! I mean good grief...this has been a tough year.
Lord have mercy on us.)