It’s gone red and pink for Valentine’s Day. Red, white and blue for 4th of July. A Rainbow of colors to celebrate gay rights. Red, blue and white for France during their time of tragedy, yellow and red for Belgium. Purple for Pulse.
Tonight the Orlando Eye is blue, for another tragedy. This time two officers lost their lives in the line of duty. A sad day for Orlando, and for America as we lose even more to violence.
Still, The Eye…like Orlando, shines on.
Call it what you will, and you’ll see whatever it is you want out of it. It’s a marketing ploy, it’s a call for attention.
It’s a symbol of hope. I kind of like that last one. Because, like Orlando, The Orlando Eye (or Coca Cola Orlando Eye as it’s labelled now) never stops shining. Orlando is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, not only because of the theme parks (though that helps a hell of a lot), but because it outshines many other places. In Orlando you can escape your every day reality, you can conquer dragons, scale mountains, come face to face with majestic sea creatures, and even build your own adventure…brick by brick. But the most important thing about Orlando is that you can do all of that with your family, and with people that you love. You can have out of this world adventures, and amazing experiences like none other on the planet…and you build memories that hate, anger and violence can’t take away.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the two law enforcement officers. We are so sorry for your pain, but we thank you and honor them for their sacrifice. They did things to help bridge the community that none of us here have ever dreamed of. We are so sorry for your loss. We are sorry for Orlando’s loss.
We also say thank you to the Orlando Eye. You simply shine bright, and let everyone know that Orlando is strong, and will stay that way. No matter what. That’s important in the days ahead. We have to continue to build memories, because sometimes in the darkest of nights, it’s those memories that shine bright and keep us strong.
