I forgot. We arrived in Charlottesville yesterday and I forgot. We walked the outdoor mall and I forgot. We bought sea salt carmels at Whole Foods and I forgot. We ate dinner, and forgot. Dominique was searching on his iPad for “what to do” in Charlottesville, and it popped up. “This is where that girl was killed,” he said. I took a beat, and there it was. Charlottesville. Of course. We had heard it on the news so many times. The girl who was hit by the car. The girl who only wanted to end hate, her father told us on the news. Heather Heyer. Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville. It wasn’t an accident. It was pure hatred. She was killed, not only by the car that rammed into the crowd, but by every torch carrying, hood wearing, hateful person in that crowd.

People are killed daily in the name of hatred and become easily forgotten sound bites on the news. Forgotten, as another passes on the screen. I don’t want to become immune to this. Heather, I am sorry for what they did to you. I am sorry that I forgot. But today, I say your name. Heather. Today, I sketch your beautiful and hopeful face, and make my simple and small attempt to help end the hatred. In your name. In the names of all who have fallen in the attempt. In the names of each battlefield we pass on this Constitutional highway. In the name of love.