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HERE WE ARE REJOICING, TAKING AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOWCASE A MONUMENT THAT'S DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE WHO DIED AND LOST THEIR LIVES AS A RESULT OF COVID-19.
WE'RE SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS PLACE, BEING A BEACON OF HOPE TO MANY A, A PLACE WHERE MANY FROM THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA WOULD STOP BY AND THINK ABOUT THE LOVED ONES WHOM HAS PASSED.
WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT FOR YEARS TO COME, THAT FOR THOSE NAMES WHO WERE ON THAT WHO WOULD BE ON THE WALL, WOULD ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED.
AS SOMEONE WHO DIED AS A RESULT OF COVID-19.
WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE TO REMEMBER, WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN GOD'S GRACE TO ASK HIM TO HELP US HEAL.
AND THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WAY TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
TO SEE OUR LOVED ONE'S NAMES, TO SIT ON A SEED, TO LISTEN TO THE WATER, TO EXPERIENCE GOD'S GRACE AND HEALING.
AND EVERY NAME ON THAT WALL IS, IS A LOST LOVED ONE.
IS, IS A GRANDPARENT, IS A KID, IS A SIBLING.
THE WEST BANK COULD USE BEAUTIFUL THINGS.
WEST BANKERS DESERVE PLACES LIKE THIS, AND MOST OF ALL, THEY DESERVE TO BE REMEMBERED.
WE'RE HERE TODAY TO HONOR THE OVER 1400 JEFFERSON PARISH RESIDENTS THAT LOST THEIR LIVES TO COVID-19 IN THOSE FIRST FEW YEARS OF THE PANDEMIC FOR THREE YEARS IN A ROW, COVID-19 WAS THE THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH HERE IN JEFFERSON PARISH AND THE SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR BLACK RESIDENTS IN OUR PARISH.
WE, WE DIDN'T GIVE UP AND BECAUSE WE DIDN'T GIVE UP, WE'RE HERE TODAY.
WE'VE LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE AND, AND I THINK WE'VE HAVE COME OUT BETTER PEOPLE.
I WILL COME HERE, I WILL COME HERE AND SIT AND THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THOSE ARE PEOPLE THERE THAT I KNEW AND HOW THEIR LIVES WERE, HOW THEY IMPACTED US HERE.
AND I ALSO THANK GOD THAT I AM HERE TO SEE THAT.
HOW CAN I SAY THANKS FOR THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR ME.
WE THOUGHT ABOUT THOSE TIMES WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE EVERY HOUR OF A MEMBER WHO HAD TRANSITIONED.
AND I BELIEVE OUR CHURCH WAS PERHAPS, UH, ONE OF THE CHURCHES THAT PERHAPS HAD THE HIGHEST MORTALITY RATE.
AND, UH, HOWEVER, WE THANK GOD THAT WE ARE STILL HERE TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOR THE THINGS ONLY HE HAS DONE.