The actual number is higher in total days, but our local peace group has now stood vigil on more than 200 Friday nights. And we won't even count the Saturday mornings and other special days when we marched or stood vigil against the war in Iraq. The first of the Friday night vigils started even before the actual invasion. With a single exception for dangerous travel conditions, the group has been in place every Friday night since the inception. Some of our experiences have been described here and here.
We have grown slowly even though our numbers remain small. A usual Friday night or Saturday morning will see 12-15 diehard souls with a variety of signs. Even the signs have changed over time. This week they are much more pointed in the political messages including "BUSH IS A WAR CRIMINAL." And such standards as "SIGN YOUR GRANDCHILDREN UP FOR THE WAR." Most are the ordinary peace slogans like "OUT OF IRAQ" and "NO MORE WAR" or ''WAR KILLS." One main banner carries the current number of American dead. That number continues to rise with steady certainty. Each week we change the number and some weeks we change overnight from Friday to Saturday with the rate of death being so high.
Our group is not the only set of regular protesters. There are others near our area. There must be many across the country. All those folk are out trying to make any impression possible on the minds of the passing motorists. To that end we are all putting in our little part to stop the war and to bring America to its senses.
When ever will this end? At the start we thought maybe we'd be on that street corner at most a few months. Now more than four years later we wonder if we will ever have a chance to rest. Our real goal is to meet for coffee on Friday nights and reminisce about the old days on the street. Oh, how we all long for that day. Until then, we'll just keep on showing up and standing on the corner enjoying the support from so many and ignoring the obscene gestures and the catcalls from the few. So with the number over 200 and climbing we will be right back in place until we are no longer needed.
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