It rained like the sky couldn’t help itself. Not a drizzle. Not a little shower. A downpour, relentless, unapologetic. And still, we stood.

A quiet stand in the name of love, even as the rain poured down upon us.

No chants. No shouting. Just bodies in stillness. Eyes forward. Signs raised like quiet declarations. A banner stretched wide, its message bold and simple:  Silent Vigil for Peace.

Some held umbrellas — quiet shields in the storm. Others stood with only a hat or hood, letting the rain wash over them. The umbrellas didn’t hide us; they simply shaped the silence, offering just enough cover to keep the ink on our signs from running too soon.

We didn’t flinch. We didn’t scatter. We let the rain do what it came to do. Let it baptize our backs, soak our jeans, blur the ink on cardboard signs. That just made the truth run deeper.

The world passed in a hurry. But some didn’t just pass. They saw us.

Car after car, windows fogged and wipers racing, people leaned in — and then answered. Horns blew, short happy bursts,  not in frustration but in recognition. In affirmation. A rolling symphony of headlights and hope singing:

We see you. We stand with you. Kindness matters. Peace matters. Love matters.

This wasn’t a protest. It was presence.

It wasn’t a performance. It was proof.

Proof that love doesn’t need sound to be heard–just people willing to stand for it, soaked, yet unshaken.

When it was over, we folded up the banner. Umbrellas closed like wings. The signs wilted in our hands like soft flowers, edges curling from the rain. But the message didn’t fade.

It never does.

Because love doesn’t fade. It shows up, no matter the forecast.

And so do we.