I attended my city’s one year anniversary gathering for the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy on November 21, 2022. The video starts with no sound but has sound later. At the end, an artist sand “Lean on Me.” She invited us to sing along.
I decided to paint some rocks with the words “Lean on Me” and “Waukesha Strong.”
I planned to leave them along the route for our Christmas parade. I have left my 15 rocks along our parade route. I also put some sidewalk chalk messages out for people to see. It is my prayer that this will encourage someone in my community.
While I was placing my painted rocks, I found someone else’s rock.
I posted pictures of this rock on the Waukesha County Rocks group that I am a member. The artist is not from Waukesha. She is from New Jersey and sent them to Waukesha as her way to send kindness into our city. Then, a local hid them.
This is one example of people outside of the state or country reaching out to my community. I have read that people sent donations to my community’s victim fund. Judge Dorow received fan mail from all over. I joined a Facebook group called “Waukesha Strong” and assumed that it would contain only Waukesha or Wisconsin residents. But, I was surprised to see empathetic statements from all over the country and world. TMJ4 has been airing Waukesha events such as our parade and the one year anniversary ceremony. The comments of support showed up there too. Thank you to all who have expressed for my community. I am so shocked and overwhelmed by the support.
I hope the people who lost someone or was present at the parade last year feels this massive outpouring of support.
