To prepare for the Panic! At The Disco show, Meredith volunteered to cut over a thousand paper hearts. Last night our family joined a handful of others around the stadium who passed out hearts and explained their purpose to anyone within reach.
“When the band plays Girls/Girls/Boys, shine your light through the heart to show your love. We’re going to fill the stadium with light!”
Many of the people who took our hearts knew exactly what they were for. A few didn’t know, but were excited to participate. (A few more thought we were selling something, so they quickened their step while staring into the distance.)
My favorite:
A boy who looked to be 17ish approached me and asked for a heart. When I handed one over, he said, “Thank you. I’m gay!”
The result of the heart cutting efforts?
A stadium rainbow that nearly drove me to tears.
Like holding up lighters, but with a clever dash of politics.
(My camera isn’t the best for photos, and doesn’t even come close to capturing the rainbow.)
I love that my kids listen to good music.
I love even more that they’re getting their activist feet wet. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>
Thank you. I’m having a rough broken-heart kind of day with my daughter coming home devastated as her BFF told her today she thinks being gay is wrong and my poor daughter fears she’ll never have friends who love her gay brother. I wish we lived closer together!
You’re a pretty awesome woman/Mom!! I got chills just looking at the pics!! Glad you had such a great experience!!
Oooooooh, this is good stuff! I wish our daughters could be buddies! xoxo!
And now I’m crying.
You’ve got some pretty spectacularly awesome kids.
It makes my heart happy to see kids (and their grown-ups) doing these things.
I just came from my grandson’s talent show at his elementary school tonight. All the singing and dancing and piano and cello playing and other wonderful exhibitions of talent were great. But the grand finale was the director announcing that tonight’s show was dedicated to a boy who is an alumni and is now in middle school, and who was recently diagnosed with cancer. All the cast and crew (first through fifth graders) gathered to sing “Lean on Me” to his family, especially to his younger sister who is their classmate. There were no dry eyes in the house.
These are the people we are counting on to make the world better every day they walk upon it. They will do it.
OK, I was on the verge after seeing your pictures; leave it to Grammy to put me over the edge into full flood mode here.
Truly, when we worry about the world today? I have such optimism that our children and our children’s children will be better stewards and inhabitants than we are right now.
Onward!