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Some may be a tinge gray. Others might be frayed on the edges. Quite a few have been taken down and replaced with new ones.

But they remain. Thousands of them.

When you drive through our village and the communities around it, the white ribbons wound around trees trunks, as well as lampposts, fences and even some mailboxes, have become more than mere fabric.

The white ribbons for Kelli are now a fabric of our own daily lives.

We began putting them up within hours of hearing about the Oct. 27 death of the beautiful, ever-smiling 14-year-old Lyons Township High School freshman from Indian Head Park. If there was nothing we could do to make sense of the evil that lurked and skulked in the shadows of everyday humanity, we could wrap our arms around a tree, secure a knot and know that this ribbon or bag was a simple reminder of stolen sweetness.

Staying power

Together, the ribbons have not only marked the landscape, but marked our communities as united in a common thread, both literally and figuratively.

They have stayed up as the leaves fell and fluttered to the ground, as the lights, bows and trimmings of Christmas were put up and taken down and as fresh white snow clung to the ground and branches. They will likely remain tethered to trees and posts as the first buds emerge and as green shoots sprout from our lawns within a few weeks.

The white cups, too, tell a story of remembrance and of a life that, like a pebble strewn in still waters, rippled through so many other lives.

Through the simple act of pushing a white paper cup through a hole in a chain link fence, her friends remind us of how the joy in Kelli Joy O’Laughlin’s name extended to the gift she gave them.

On various fences around our towns, from LT’s football field to an overpass on Plainfield Road in Indian Head Park to a fence near Flagg Creek golf course, her friends have spelled out Kelli’s initials and her name, so that those who pass by during the course of their day can pause, reflect and remember.

Other symbols of remembrance also remain, and are going for a greater good in Kelli’s name.

Wristbands

Kelli’s name, for instance, is etched into purple wristbands that are worn by hundreds of those who loved and knew her, as well as others who might not have known her personally but were impacted by her life and passing. There is even a Facebook page, Wristbands for Kelli O’Laughlin, that lets people know how and where to buy them Proceeds from sales of wristbands have been forwarded to a scholarship fund established by Kelli’s family to help other young people and keep Kelli’s memory alive.

Several other fund-raisers have been held and are being planned to benefit that scholarship fund in Kelli’s name, such as a tennis tournament and band concert.

This annual LTHS “Blackout” basketball game this Friday night against rival Hinsdale Central has become a fund-raiser for the cause as well. All proceeds, including fees for admission, concessions, raffle tickets and the Blackout T-shirts that will be sold at the game and at school in the days before tipoff, will go toward the Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Memorial Fund.

(Hinsdale Central, for its part, has also supported Kelli’s memory since the tragedy, with ribbons on its campus and a banner that hangs in one of its hallways).

You can also make direct donations to the Kelli Joy O’Laughlin Memorial Fund by sending contributions to The Chicago Community Trust, Attn: Nicole Mitchell, 111 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1400, Chicago IL 60601.

As tributes continue through both small gestures like tying ribbons and large gestures like major contributions to a scholarship fund, grief also continues. A new four-week grief support group through the local Pillars human service agency will be offered for those coming to grips with Kelli’s loss. Groups will be held for both teens and parents.

Remembrance

Meanwhile, as we travel our streets on any given day, we’d be hard-pressed to come across a section that does not have a tree affixed with a white ribbon. Beyond the symbol of innocence and purity that white represents, is also fitting that the ribbons are tied in a circle, and equally fitting that a wristband is in the shape of a circle

A circle, after all, has no beginning and no end. It has been said that the circle represents a completeness that encompasses all of time and space.

Much, one might say, like Kelli Joy O’Laughlin’s legacy of joy, friendship and love.

(630) 320-5448 • [email protected]

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