Love Wins in Natick, Massachusetts

Cari and Lauri Ryding always felt welcome in their Natick, Massachusetts neighborhood.  However when they came home from vacation, they found their porch had been vandalized with smashed eggs and their Pride flag, in honor of the Orlando victims, had been stolen.

“It was our first experience in Natick of having any type of prejudice,” Cari said. “We hadn’t experienced it all, and it kind of broke open our little cocoon.”  Cari started to rethink about how welcoming her neighborhood was after this event. But what happened next reaffirmed her belief in her neighbors.

“We said, ‘Why don’t we all have the flags? They can’t take them from all of us,’” said Dennis Gaughan, a neighbor in the Natick community. So one by one, rainbow flags popped up on houses: forty total.

Lauri was overwhelmed by the show of support from her neighbors. Lauri said “…love conquers hate. Love wins. We win.”

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