The candle light vigil, held last night, went off without a hitch. Many showed in attendance, and many more through-out the world shared pictures of their candles lit on the facebook event page. What a beautiful way to show support and to remember Rehtaeh.

The vigil started out with a sacred tradition of smudging, administered by Dorene Bernard, followed by prayer and song. I’m not really doing the ceremony any justice in my description, as it was beautiful and when the drum beat, I could feel it flowing through me with their song. During the smudging, I could smell the sage, and it was like the air around me was cleansed, even though I didn’t actually get to part-take due to sticking myself in a back corner, allowing others to participate. That’s just me, trying to stay out of the way.

The crowd was regaled with spoken word and poetry, and then some words from family members and friends of the late Miss Rethaeh; all of whom touched my heart.

It was also good to hear the kind words of one young lady, Toni from Generation Change, a local non-profit organization started by one young girl who suffered the effects of being bullied for a long time. Leah and Glen ended things off with a few words each, and then a moment of silence. What a beautiful evening shared with beautiful people.

Speaking candidly, I feel blessed to have attended the vigil. I got to hear stories of Rehtaeh in life, from different perspectives, I got to listen to some beautiful music and spoken words in her name/memory. There was a Christmas tree which was decorated by those in attendance, and there were gifts put under the tree for the family, and a lot of presents under the tree for our brothers and sisters on the streets this holiday season. After the event, the items were collected by the OpSock Elves to take and prepare for the maritime branch of OpXmas. Seeing such caring people donate in memory of Rehtaeh, it really hit home for me, speaking as one Anon. For an emotional evening, this really lifted spirits.

As previously mentioned, there were a lot of people who showed up to the event; although it was NOT an Anonymous event, there were Anons in the crowd – only a couple brought out their masks, while many others did not. Just goes to show, no matter what, there will always be at least one or two of us in a crowd, especially surrounding the family of, and the memory of Rehtaeh. Forever united as one & divided by NONE.

Sending a Happy Birthday out into the Universe.

RIP Rehtaeh