A 50 ish woman called out from her white Jeep Cherokee and asked me to come speak with her. "I've seen you out here for a long time," she said as I walked up. "I always honk the horn and wave."
As I crossed the right lane to where she was, she reached out and shook my hand, introducing herself. I then pointed to John Fortier and told her he is a Korean War veteran actively involved in peace vigils. "I want peace but others don't," she said. "I want us to save our children (and not send them off to war)." As the signal turned green, I smiled and turned to step back on to the sidewalk. "Please be careful (of traffic), and thank you."
However, one cannot please everyone. A short time later, a 25 ish woman in a large sedan approached the vigil with her brights on which could send a blinding light across the cars in front of her and those coming opposite of her. As she stopped at the right light, I stepped into the street and tried to politely tell her to turn down her lights.
At first she looked away, cupping her hands on either side of her face so she wouldn't see me. It was obvious I was intimidating her, so I smiled, tapped on the side window opposite her and gently asked her to turn down her lights. I then stepped back.
She did turn off her brights and as the signal turned green she drove by looking away, carefully avoiding eye contact. I smiled and commented to John that we have no idea what alarmed her. Maybe it was strangers doing something unusual in hosting a candlelight vigil or maybe she had had a bad experience with men she didn't know but whatever it was, it may later occur to her she was treated courteously and we did her a favor.
But nearly all the responses were favorable. At one point, a 25 ish man walked up to the vigil and after reading the sign, profusely thanked us. Throughout the vigil we received many horn honks and waves of support and traffic was heavy as many people were doing their Christmas shopping.
It was ironic for in Baghdad, Christmas celebration was eliminated because Christians are being subjected to violence. Since the 2003 U.S. invasion, Christians have been under attack and many are trying to flee Iraq.
But thousands of miles away at our peaceful vigil, one of the nicest moments happened as the vigil was concluding. A red SUV stopped at a red light and the 40 ish driver read the sign and waved her support. But in the back seat, a 6 ish boy was so impressed, he beamed a 1,000 watt smile and waved like crazy, following the lead of his mother. He of course is too young to understand war but he was adorable and his precious acts touched our hearts.
And there is one more remarkable thing. In recent days, the Los Angeles area has been pounded by rain storms, virtually without stop. Yet as we prepared to start the vigil, the rain stopped and it was a beautiful clear crisp evening. No sooner did our vigil end then the skies opened up. It was quite a coincidence if you believe in coincidences.
Dick
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