'Come sit on Aniah's Bench': Patriot Park bench dedicated to Aniah Blanchard
Homewood native Aniah Blanchard didn't get to celebrate her 20th birthday on June 22 — a birthday she usually celebrates with her mother, Angela Harris.
Instead, her friends, former teammates and family honored the day by dedicating a Patriot Park bench in Blanchard's memory.
"This is her seat and your seat," Harris said at the dedication ceremony. "We can come here and talk about Aniah. If anyone wants to come get me, let's come sit on Aniah's bench and talk. ... We can come sit, talk about her, and talk about the good times. Because we need that. We need to always be talking about the fun, the laughing."
Before Blanchard and her friends could drive, they would always walk over to Patriot Park to hang out, said Hannah Crocker, one of her close friends.
Funds for the event were raised within hours of event organizers posting the fundraiser to social media. Many of those who donated were Homewood youth, such as Blanchard's former classmates. They donated whatever they could, even if it was just $5-10, said Rachel Estes, who helped organize the event.
Blanchard, a Homewood High School graduate, went missing Oct. 23, 2019. After the community spent a month searching for Blanchard and hanging baby blue ribbons on mailboxes across Homewood, her body was found in Shorter on Nov. 25.
"As the days go by, it gets harder and harder to accept the reality that she's not here," said Lizbeth Ceros-Gomez, a close friend of Blanchard, at the ceremony. "Aniah has taught me a lot: to live life to the fullest, to rejoice in the good and the bad ... and to take advantage of every day. She has taught me to love and to laugh and to continue being the light in the darkness that we're living in."
"Twenty years never looked so good," Ceros-Gomez said as she attempted to stifle her tears. "So we're sending you all our love, Aniah. Cheers to you."