Super Bowl Parade in Kansas City

I attended the Super Bowl Parade in Kansas City on Wednesday.?

I grew up in Kansas City near the stadium and have been a lifelong fan.?? I was away from Kansas City for quite a bit of my career, so this was the first time I have been able to attend.

A friend organized a bike ride from the suburbs to downtown so we could see the parade.? The day started in the 30’s; however, the temperatures rose into the 60’s.? What a good start!

One challenge of being a road cyclist is that drivers often do not like us.? Today was different.? Our group of nine riders were wearing Chiefs gear.? Cars were honking but this time cheering as we were biking the miles to downtown.? It was a fantastic feeling!

When we got downtown, pedestrians were holding out their hands to high-five us as we rode past.?? As the traffic thickened, I was riding alongside moving cars talking to people with their windows down—rolling at 10 miles an hour—chatting about the Chiefs, the game and how lucky Kansas City has been with the Chiefs.

When we got to the parade, people of all backgrounds were talking, laughing, and telling football stories.? A teenager got the attention of a cluster of police officers and then he threw a perfect football spiral to them.? A 15-minute football passing game commenced.? It wasn’t a courtesy return throw—the officers and teenager were genuinely playing a pickup passing game.? People around me commented how it was awesome to see the police and community having fun together.

A guy in full Chiefs gear was walking down the street pulling a cooler yelling ‘free beer’.? He became very popular.? When the cooler was empty, he went back for more and continued his ‘beer ministry’ to the Chiefs fans.

All the schools were out and there were a large number of families together laughing and enjoying the now fine weather.? A favorite family that passed me had a 5-year-old boy in full football pads, Kelce jersey and gear—including a Chiefs football helmet.? His 7-year-old sister was dressed as a Chiefs cheerleader and I high-fived them both.

When the players passed by on the floats, cheers erupted.? Many players jumped out and ran up to the fans to take selfies, exchange high-fives and hugs with the fans.?? The teenager that played catch with the police threw a perfect spiral to Patrick Mahomes, Super Bowl MVP.? As you would expect, Patrick threw a perfect spiral back to him.? The teenager’s smile was magnificent, and that football became a lifetime story for him.

I was thinking that this was a perfect day.? Our entire city was together; celebrating the Chiefs and with each other.

And then the day was not the perfect day.?

Gunshots rang out.? Joy immediately became terror and grief.

My sister-in-law’s cousin Lisa Lopez-Galvan was mortally injured and passed away from a stray bullet.? Lisa’s son and two other family member’s kids were among those injured at the parade.? Almost half of the people injured were children.

I’m still trying to come to grips with a day that transitioned so quickly from magnificent to terrible.

I do take solace—the same community that was united in joy is equally united in grief and seeking to help each other.

As I think about all the children that were at the parade, physically injured or not. My heart breaks for the loss of innocence that occurred at the celebration.? Despite the evil that caused this tragedy, we have a fantastic community of people who can come together in a divided world.

While we mourn, I sincerely hope that all the togetherness that occurred through both overflowing joy and overwhelming grief can persevere to bind our community together.?

Together we can make the world such a better place.