Letting Her Go – Jessica Ridgeway Memorial Park Dedication

What a special day it was during the Jessica Ridgeway Memorial   Park dedication this past Saturday.  The sun was shining bright and there was a wonderful, cool fall breeze in the air. The park itself was filled with people from the community, Jessica’s family, volunteer workers, Jessica’s classmates, and tons of smiles! Although there were tears shed by most, the overall feeling on the anniversary of her disappearance was that of joy through remembrance.

I personally was touched by the events and circumstances of the Jessica Ridgeway case as were so many other people in our community and company. One of REMAX Alliance’s offices is located just a few miles from where our precious Jessica lived, and so the loss of her life hit most of our staff and agents over there pretty hard.  In an effort to show our continued support for the Ridgeway family and the City of Westminster, a few of our agents and staff got together on this special day to remember Westminster’s little girl!  

Believing that community and family come first, I was very happy to see the enormous outpouring of help and generosity for the Ridgeway family, as well as the Westminster Police Department.  During the ceremony, as the speakers addressed the crowd and the Ridgeway family, I have to admit it was hard to keep it together, but seeing a smile on the face of Jessica’s mother as the dedication ribbon was cut, for me, made the whole emotional experience worthwhile.  If I am completely honest, I have to say since Jessica’s disappearance, I have felt a bit jaded by the world and a little scared of what people are capable of.  Again for me, and I’m sure for so many others who attended the park dedication, it was a way of finding some closure to this horrible event, and reaffirming the belief of goodness in man.

Please check out our short video from the Jessica Ridgeway memorial park dedication.