MOVEMENT MEANS MOVE

Sometimes a person has to take a stand for what’s right, but that gets more difficult when standing for a long time takes its toll on old legs. However, when young people in Tucson decided to join “March For Our Lives,”the gauntlet had been tossed to three of my friends and me to join the campaign for gun safety.

“Never Again,” resonates for Tucson, still traumatized, from the shooting rampage that led to the wounding of my Congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, and the people who were shot and died that day. They had come (Democrats and Republicans) to a shopping mall to meet and greet their Congressional Representative. That day, Democracy was at its best, and gun violence at its worst.

So, we decided to lend our 360 years of experience (plus the 27 years of one of my friend’s granddaughters) to join the two-mile walk, from downtown, to the Mall at the University of Arizona. We wanted to add our voices to advocate for sensible gun control and shout, “Never Again” to murder.

The decision had been made. Now what?

We knew that walking for two-miles with a crowd of people wielding signs would be daunting, so we decided to drive to the University, get there early, and have lunch before joining the tail end of the march. After we parked it took awhile to stroll to a pizza place. We sat outside, cheered,  and waved our slices of pizza at the hundreds of people who marched by.

After lunch, it was time for a five-woman-potty-break. By the time we all finished, the parade had passed us by.  Oops!

However, we did manage to be numbers 7995-96-97-98 and 99 in the 8000 person walk. We carried no signs but hiked to the Mall to join the rest of the teachers, students and other supporters. The young people, some of them victims of gun violence, spoke about making their schools, as well as the Nation, safer. Those voices were inspiring and powerful. They suggested that after well meaning people are finished thinking about the issue and praying about the issue—-they get out and vote for politicians who will support the sensible control of guns.

Then, as the rally ended,  and everyone was leaving, a very old woman finally arrived at the University Mall. She was panting, and walked hunched over her walker. She wore a large sign around her neck that said in bold letters: “BOYCOTT WALMART!”

Every story should have a happy ending.

Esther Blumenfeld