July Blog Challenge…”Spirit”

Vegas Strong. It is a promise, a bond, and the spirit of a community pulling together. Las Vegas is not just my home, it’s where I was born and raised.

I saw most of the signs that are now in the Neon Museum when they were glowing in front of hotels. I remember when Sunset Park was the edge of town going south and hardly anything was between Rainbow Blvd. and Mt. Charleston. When I was a kid, Green Valley, Anthem, and Summerlin didn’t exist, and the water level of Lake Mead was 20 feet higher. In other words, I’ve seen a lot of the town’s history.

Vegas is known for its bright lights and the craziness of the Strip and Downtown, but there is much more to the city than that. Residents don’t live in the casinos–yes, I’ve been asked that. Our community, like any other, has had its share of tragedies–the Thunderbirds crashing during an exhibition, the MGM Grand Hotel fire, and several severe flash floods–to name a few. The tragedy of October 1, 2017 was unreal. My heart goes out to the people affected that day. I don’t want to recap the events of October 1, I want to write about the spirit of the community after it happened.

In my lifetime, I’ve never seen Vegas, a city where the population is so transient, rally together like they did after Oct 1. It was truly unbelievable. Residents went above and beyond like never before. The debut of our  Vegas Golden Knights hockey team couldn’t have come at a better time. They really did help to boost our community spirit after something so horrific and give us something to root for. A city united. Finally. Unless you’ve been a resident of Vegas for any amount of time, you may not understand. #VegasStrong

The above painting was done at a fundraiser hosted by Pinot’s Palette in Henderson, NV.

This Blog Challenge is hosted by Herding Cats & Burning Soup.