Sometimes it feels as if the bad guys are winning. It can be increasingly difficult to find any positive news out there.
Stories of anti-Muslim attacks, anti-gay attacks, and increasing xenophobia are dominating the news.
Now the Boston Globe has a powerful story of love and support that will renew your faith in the decency of everyday people.
A lesbian couple from the suburban Boston town of Natick recently went away on vacation. They have lived in the town for years, and were comfortable in their home, and with the people in the community.
They trusted that everything would be the way they had left it when they came home from their trip. That wasn’t what they found.
Cari Ryding her wife, Lauri, said that whey they returned from a summer trip they found that the front porch of their house had been pelted with eggs. The rainbow flag that they put on display after the Pulse Nightclub massacre had been stolen.
The couple was shocked and fearful. They cleaned up the mess quietly, but notified police about the vandalism. Nobody in the quiet neighborhood had seen anything, and there were no suspects.
What happened next is the part that will lift your heart.
One of the neighbors on Strawberry Hill Rd. thought that it would be a good idea to contact The Rainbow Peace Flag Project, a local organization gives away rainbow flags to Natick area residents. She wanted to show support for her friends, and for the gay community at large.
One by one, the couple’s neighbors began to ask for the flags, and the gesture of support quickly gained momentum.
All the kids in the neighborhood signed on to the project, too. They spent their free time riding around on bikes to deliver the flags.
On Sunday morning, just four days after the hateful vandalism had been discovered, Cari and Lauri Ryding walked around their neighborhood. They looked at almost 40 beautiful rainbow flags, proudly displayed on front doors, fences, flagpoles and garages.
One of the people who displayed a rainbow flag was 85 year old Lois McGillivray, a resident of Strawberry Hill Rd. for 50 years. She said:
“This is a place where nobody bothers anybody, no matter how you want to live, as long as you’re not digging up the garden and throwing the dirt in my yard.”
Isn’t that the best response to mindless prejudice you’ve ever heard?
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
