STRONGER TOGETHER

Hp Strong

for every community

My mom and her friends grew up swerving the roads of Sheridan and running around town with no care in the world. Working 9 to 5 and dialing each other‘s phone numbers on those old spiny phones. No social media, no way to compare or to get lost on the web going deeper and deeper into darker facts. Freedom. It’s what they had what they know. They rode their bikes freely downtown. Getting ice cream, playing sports, and enjoying life. There were far more gun laws and way more peace. My mom has grown up in Highland Park for 52 years now and this is the first time she’s ever been heartbroken and destroyed to see what it’s like now. She never grew up being taught what to do in a mass shooting. It was just the normal drills, oh no! what if there’s a fire! Just single filly and safely exit out. The shooting was not quiet it was not calm. It was a mess. People yelling “shots fired” a crowd all trampling over each other literally running for their LIVES. On the fucking Fourth of July. The day we so-called freedom or independence. Highland Park is not free. None of us feel independent. Right now we are dependent on each other in our community. Dependent on protecting our loved ones. Dependent on the news. And dependent on social media. Honesty we feel no freedom, no independence. What was once a town of love and laughter is now a town of exhaustion and sadness. Just another town that was stripped of its innocence. It’s been added to the normalness we’ve been added to the pattern. And if we don’t do something NOW we will continue to see this same pattern in other places. If we stop taking action after a week it’s just all going to go back to normal. It can’t go back to normal. This is not fucking normal. I don’t know what is going on with our country and I don’t know why the people think it is ok to normalize these patterns that are not normal. Little kids being stripped of their innocence at such a young age that’s not normal. Toddlers asking parents if the bad guys are coming, it’s not fucking normal. Adults fearing for their kids' life is not normal. Teens are not even surprised by the fact that this happened because they see it every day it's their generation but it’s not normal. So for whoever and wherever you live please note that this can happen absolutely anywhere at any time in any place no matter how safe your town may feel. No matter how rich or diverse it may be. No matter the religion no matter the political belief. We are all in danger. Even the Republicans with blood on their hands. They may have not murdered but they voted for that murderer to legally buy a gun, to ban women from not being in control of their own bodies. Why are the prisoners winning why are they getting away with this? So many people are trying so hard to accept who they are and to not be afraid of who they love and how they identify but instead they are worried because we live in a place where people die every day just for trying to be. All women want is to be in control of their bodies. Now that Roe versus wade was overturned women have no choice anymore. I have no choice. Your girlfriend, wife, and daughter have no choice. When the baby is born the blood is on your hands because they might not be healthy. If you voted for that it’s your fault those babies who couldn’t get a good life are because of you. I’ve been hearing my mom's friends complaining about the fact that they’re scared because their daughter sleeps in their bed now. You worry for your child's safety. The blood is on your hands. You voted for guns to be bought legally. You voted that for your child, your family, and your friends. Stop being so insensitive. Wake the fuck up this is the goddamn world we live in it. This is not normal. None of this is normal. If we don’t do something the patterns are going to increase PTSD in children will rise. We need to do better. We can do better, I know we can. Stop being scared. Be brave and fight for what you know is right. The only way to make a change is to use your voice, and speak the truth.