A year from now, the good people of Highland Park will be wondering whether to hold a parade.
There will be a school of thought believing the town must get back to something approaching Independence Day normalcy, if only for the sake of its children; others will worry that a parade will trigger the trauma of 2022, when a hidden assailant fired his assault-style rifle in the direction of grandparents and kids, community stalwarts and hardworking parents. He killed six and sent 30 more to hospitals that were expecting nothing more of the day than a few minor injuries from fireworks.
There will be kids who remember the sounds and the fears and who won’t want to go next year. Mothers will fear copycats. There will be public officials determined to not let evil win and those who won’t want to retraumatize the town.
