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Domestic violence awareness month
Local officials, members of the law enforcement community and family members gathered in Earp Park on Monday to remember those who have lost their lives to domestic violence.
The mood was somber as those gathered waited for the ceremony to begin. Some loved ones talked, some shed a tear and there were a lot of hugs given to those who had lost someone close to them. Several people took a photo of the silhouette of a loved one that was displayed along with their name.
Martha Sander, executive director of the Council on Families in Crisis, welcomed the crowd and said, "Today is a national day of unity. All over America today there will be ceremonies, candlelight walks and people gathering to speak out against domestic violence."
A technical glitch meant that music had to be played over a car stereo, but people in the crowd didn't seem to mind as they listened to "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce. Sander read a list of the victims of domestic violence whose silhouettes were displayed. All 10 of them were either from Vernon County or had ties to the county.
The song, "I Hope you Dance," by Leann Womack, was played before the group walked around the half-block nearest the park. Sander spoke briefly to the crowd about domestic violence before beginning to release the balloons everyone had been given.
Most of the group had a white or purple balloon. The purple signified a survivor or family member of a victim of domestic violence and the white signified the life of someone lost to domestic violence. Each balloon had the name and age of a victim on it and the names were read before the balloons were released.
Some more hugs and good-byes were shared after the event, and one man asked Sander, "Why?" She didn't have the answer for that. She said that is always the hardest part, trying to understand why. "There's no answer to why," she said.