Hampstead New Hampshire… a fallen hero and people filled with hate

HATE

Such an ugly word isn’t it?

Maybe I’ve been sheltered but I’ve never really felt that word before nor have I used it. HATE is such a strong lonely word…thinking about it makes me incredibly sad.

Today for the first time in my life I “felt” hate. Hard, Cold, Ugly, Hate and it made me more than sad, it made me mad and it brought me to tears.

My small town buried a war hero on Wednesday, a fallen child, a human being, who fought and died in Iraq. He was newly married and a real nice guy by all accounts. He gave his life and left behind a family who loved him dearly. I didn’t know him personally but I felt the incredible sadness of his death.

This is not a Political/Religious Post nor is it a War Protest post…please I ask that you don’t turn it into such. This is a post about Hate…simply hate.

I had the mid day shift in my office in Hampstead New Hampshire. My office is located right in the center of town…next to a church and school.
The funeral was scheduled for 1 pm. I believe nearly the entire town showed up and then some. At about 11:00 a.m. we were notified that there would be a protest, an anti-war demonstration and that they would be on the public walkway in front of our office.

They had a “right to protest and be heard” and we had no choice as to allow them to do their thing, freedom of speech, public property…they had the right.
To say we were upset puts it mildly…embarrassed that during a funeral of a local boy…people would do this…we just didn’t understand but we were resigned to whatever would happen.

I’ve seen news accounts of these types of things…but the TV was somehow a barrier a safe barrier. I know these things are very real but I never expected this.

It was small scale with only 3 protesters and many more police. I watched from the safety of my window…my insulation slipping away slowly.

I could not believe what I was seeing…what the signs said. I mean someone was being buried here, people, humans had broken hearts here and these people were spewing hateful things for all to see and hear.

Could these people possibly be local people?? I had to find out.
I took out my camera and went outside with another lady. Real ugly hate filled our little street corner. I made the mistake of saying “aren’t you ashamed of yourself doing this?” I can’t repeat what was said back to me by a woman who delighted in verbally attacking me. But I looked hate in the eye today…I’ve never seen what hate looked like, up close like that.

These 3 “people” were flown in by a “church” from the mid-west (Kansas) to spread the word…and it was sickening.

I can’t seem to shake the stench. I’m not sure what they were protesting and the reaction of the towns people was shock and dismay.

Some people drove by blowing horns and some gesturing with their fingers but nothing bothered these people.

Finally a man…very gruff looking came walking up, he seemed to come out of nowhere, carrying a huge American flag and he stood in our parking lot about 15 feet away from the protesters. He stood there holding the flag all alone.

We didn’t know what he was up to…was he one of them? Then the police came and talked to him…he stayed and held that flag tightly. Suddenly, other people joined him in our parking lot and they stood together with his large flag between them. They just stood quietly by, while hate was delivered in their direction.

Our parking lot crowd grew, the protesters seemed to shrink, maybe it was all my imagination but they seemed to get smaller.

Pride filled my heart, even while it was breaking, for the pain this group of protesters were causing.

After a while an officer went over to the protesters and they packed it up…apparently they only had a permit to protest an hour and a half. Then the people in our parking lot started to dissipate and our Admin. Pat went out to thank the big guy holding the flag. He told her all we can do is out number them.

Hate…what a waste of an emotion. I saw hate today and it was as ugly as I had imagined it to be. But, I have never heard nor imagined that such disturbing rantings could come from the mouths and hearts of fellow human beings. The stench is overwhelming and the sadness is suffocating. They left a part of me that will never be the same.

But the man with the Flag, he made me proud…I wish I knew who he was. I bet he was a local guy!