{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-story-js","path":"/story/the-parade-that-changed-g/","result":{"pageContext":{"data":{"id":"-8d46bd57-bac9-519e-87e7-605934eb93e7","authorFirstName":"Gabriella","storyTitle":"The Parade That Changed Us All","photo":{"asset":{"url":"https://cdn.sanity.io/images/nr9digz2/production/6e6b28bc59a2a25fe81eb005891c007d73e57fc3-1500x1000.jpg"}},"audio":{"asset":{"url":"https://cdn.sanity.io/files/nr9digz2/production/4c3441ae14127a2713b4ce6c8554b40f960a6d6b.mp3"}},"secondLanguageAudio":null,"school":{"name":"Greendale Middle School","city":"Greendale","location":"Wisconsin"},"tags":[],"_rawText":[{"_key":"b78d36f9e6da","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"8ee9244de7360","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"I had always thought America was a happy place. That the people in it respected one another and that we come together as a community. I knew there were occasional hardships, but overall I thought America was a place for people to love one another."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"6413d222a732","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"c906d36f6d240","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"b882180951dc","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"b74e6067e54a0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"November 21st, 2021. My mom, stepdad, and I were at Bob’s Furniture looking for a mattress. I had just gotten a new bed frame and we were testing out the mattresses when all of a sudden my mom’s phone rang. “Alyssa” was the name on the phone."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"5ba64c2b12d9","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"6bb6d9dada070","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"2cb112f6626c","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"5895610bd6cc0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"“I wonder why she’s calling,” we thought."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"b262886442df","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"e3647ad83ea70","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"a49629c59369","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"5c129890668a0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"I could hear my sister weeping faintly from the phone. I immediately knew something was wrong. Before I could find anything out my mom hurried us to the car."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"fd7dbddf2f91","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"0f1e94e95f710","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"d5d74833c894","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"756035f9de730","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"“We have to go pick up Alyssa,” said my mom."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"2217b42369d2","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"129f37e8325f0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"586c176c54d9","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"d9df44377be90","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"“What’s going on?” I questioned."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"825cc4f8d3ea","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"49d4893af4930","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"b4c686c616ba","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"9ba2560fa33f0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"No answer. I figured it was something important that I’d find out later, so for that moment, I kept quiet. I knew this was a stressful moment for my family even though I didn’t know what was going on. It felt like the longest drive not knowing where we were going and why my 23-year-old sister was crying. Finally, we arrived at a bar. She came out with her hands over her face and started explaining what happened. It was hard to understand with the sobbing, but I made out some of what she was saying. I heard something about Jackson getting hit and not knowing if her cousin will be ok. My stomach dropped. I remembered seeing him at my stepsisters’ family parties. He was shy, but always had a smile on his face. I did not think it was as serious as it turned out to be."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"cc8d5fef9b12","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"379dd28840230","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"428dffc4010a","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"a82a78f99d480","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"A week went by. I found out that Jackson had died. I saw the stories all over social media, so it wasn’t hard to find out how he had gotten hit. He was walking with his baseball team in a Christmas parade. No one saw it coming, but all of a sudden a car rammed through crowds of people. It was a nationwide story. I saw people posting about wearing jerseys to school. #Jerseysforjackson was going around. I know I was not related to Jackson because he was the cousin of my stepsisters, but this made me so happy for him. When I came to school that day and saw that almost everyone had jerseys on, it truly warmed my heart. I know this is not even a little bit of the justice he deserved, but I’m glad that we could come together as a community to celebrate his life."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"7d6070d0c16a","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"1261c4ae7c2b0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"b16a237a4004","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"afa910d20f630","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The funeral was the hardest part of this whole situation. I remember seeing all the people that were big strong adults before cry like kids in the dark. I remember seeing all the children on his team look devastated because they would never get to play with Jackson again. I may not have known Jackson the best, but that funeral felt like I was very close to him. The worst part of the funeral was his casket getting taken out. Everyone sang take me out to the ball game in a depressive tone. It was nice to see everyone coming together to sing that, but it was very heartbreaking."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"b9db972b9668","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"be81996b8c5a0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"a4e930b0aa4f","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"9ba304ed623b0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Through these challenging times, I saw people come together as a community, but I also witnessed that not everything in America is flawless and bubbly. Sometimes, people do evil things, but as long as we come together as a community, we can build people back up. America is happy, but I have realized that this is not always the case. My view on America has changed, but not in a bad way. My view of America changed in a way that it is more realistic, but still a happy view."}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"},{"_key":"1a606a29c921","_type":"block","children":[{"_key":"d5dc5b4817500","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"\n"}],"markDefs":[],"style":"normal"}]}}},"staticQueryHashes":["3309388390","890781507"]}