Hope for Our Future

By Mala Cunningham, Ph.D.

Tonight I was walking on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia to meet some friends. It was a beautiful night in Cville [that’s how locals refer to their beloved city!]—the weather was warm and soft. I was strolling along feeling unsettled and slightly anxious as I looked up and saw the signpost for 1st Street and it hit me that I had only three more short blocks to walk before I hit 4th Street—the scene of the murder and the scene of one of the terrorist attacks on Cville August 12, 2017.

I was feeling apprehensive, sad, and tearful. How would I react and how would I feel as I came to 4th Street? I didn’t know. My heart was heavy. I felt tense. I looked around at the people having dinner in the outdoor cafes, playing chess at Mudhouse Coffee, and walking their dogs—just normal people out on a beautiful summer evening. I wondered if they felt the same way I did? Things seemed out of sync on the Mall; as if our beautiful walking mall would never really be the same again—there just seemed to be a heaviness in the air, a trepid, lingering combination of energy that included sadness, shock, hate, disturbance, and upheaval. The peace and ease that once permeated our beautiful Downtown Mall had been placed in a blender, turned up on high, and the contents had been flung all over the walls in a violent and twisted manner. I continued walking as tears welled up in my eyes for the inhumane manner which humans treat each other.

All of a sudden out of the blue this teeny, tiny little whiff of an adorable, sweet 4 year-old little girl walked up to me and in a very tiny little voice said, “Here is a flower for you.” I stopped dead in my tracks and looked down and my heart melted into a million pieces of love.

I knelt down and said, “Wow, thank you so much. That is so kind of you to offer me a flower.”

She said in her tiny sweet voice, “You’re welcome.”

I said, “That is so special of you to offer me a flower. What is the occasion?”

This precious little bundle of love didn’t understand my question so she looked over at her mom (who was standing a few feet away) and her mom answered “Just to spread the LOVE.”

“OMG! Thank you!” I was so grateful to this beautiful mom and her beloved child who were standing on the Mall and handing out flowers to strangers.

I could finally take a deep breath again and this time the tears that sprang up in my eyes were for a different reason. These were the tears of a sad heart that had been broken open by a sweet little girl offering a flower, “Just to spread the love.” I held the flowers close to my heart as I stood up, deeply thanked them, and continued on my journey down the Mall. My spirit and heart had been lifted a bit and as I approached 4th Street I realized I wasn’t cringing as much. I took a deep breath and looked down the street. I saw a large memorial site filled with flowers and signs and lots of people lingering around in various states of sadness, tears, disbelief, and despair. I walked over to the site of the makeshift memorial that had been made over the weekend and with a prayer on my lips and deep love in my heart I placed the flowers that the little girl had given me on the place where Heather Heyer was murdered.

Yes, I was sad and in shock and disbelief, but I also had a special gift that was reactivated in my heart. I had hope that even though our world has tilted on its axis and chaos and hate flooded our city, I knew without a doubt that the resiliency and love within our community is far, far greater than any hate that tried to tear the fabric of our bonds and community apart. I had the gift of pure love; the innocence of a precious child; and the kindness of strangers—really, fellow Light Workers.

I knew there was hope for our future, a glimpse and a promise that a new sun will rise again. There are little girls (and boys) who will offer flowers to strangers in the name of love. I am so PROUD of you Charlottesville! We’ve been handed a huge challenge and the whole world is watching us. And we are standing tall, we are standing in love; we are letting the world know and see that we have a loving and dignified template for handling the hate and chaos. And sometimes this love template comes in the form of a precious little girl handing out flowers. Our tilted axis just righted itself a bit.