Alex Pretti memorial visit
A day after the tragic killing of Alex Pretti Stephanie and I decided to visit the memorial site with our daughter Elsie, Eva, and Chip. It was so surreal to visit a place that such tragic event had just taken place. When we arrived there were 50 or so people around the memorial that had been created at the site of his killing. The 1st thing I noticed when I approached from across the street was the smell of scented candles that were burning around the memorial. It was very quiet aside from the media outlets that had already been gathering from around the world. We heard at least four different languages being spoken by the journalists. As we stood at the site more and more people began to gather. Some with offerings, some holding signs of protest and of love, and others just silently paying their respects. Occasionally someone would speak to the crowd that had gathered. Some spoke words of hope others with built up anger from what was happening in the community and society as a whole. After a couple hours a couple hundred mourners had gathered, and we decided to make our way back to our vehicle a few blocks away. As we began to load up our car a gentleman came out of his home to say Thank You for supporting his community and proceeded to share some stories with us. As we said our goodbyes he gave us all hugs. This single interaction made the entire trip seem worthwhile. These are a few images of what we saw.
