There were many heart-rending moments at Saturday’s March for Our Lives in Washington. Certainly the speeches from the stage—from 11-year old Naomi Wadler, who spoke on behalf of young black women cut down by gun violence, to Parkland’s Emma González — whose speech and moment of silence, just over 6 minutes long, reflected the time it took for the shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to kill 17 students and educators.
But there were also amazing moments in the sea of people who gathered along Pennsylvania Avenue to show their support for tighter gun control laws. That was especially the case with two of those I interviewed that day. They did not know each other, and they will likely never see each other again—but for a brief few minutes they shared an emotional bond.
Meghan Mertyris had traveled from New Jersey to attend the march. A junior at Hunterdon Center Regional High School in Flemington, she was in the middle of explaining how African-Americans have long dealt with gun violence and that it was sad that it took a shooting at a predominantly white, privileged school for the gun control issue to take off.
As Mertyris, who is white, was speaking, Cynthia Sinclair happened by. An African-American nurse in Maryland, she couldn’t help herself. She had to give Metryris a hug and chime in. It was moment I was amazed by—and I’d like to share it with you. I hope you find it as uplifting as I did.