Hundreds of family members, friends and some caring strangers crowded a grassy berm Friday night to mourn 7-year-old Cadence Boyer, who died after being struck by a car on Halloween.
“The support is overwhelming,” said her grandfather, Kevin Boyer. “There’s people here I don’t know.”
He wore a T-shirt, with a picture of Cadence making a funny face, that said “my little princess.” He recalls asking his granddaughter to make the face, so he could snap a photo. “She said, ‘Grandpa, will you hurry up? My face will stay like this.'”
Flowers and balloons crowded the base of a maple tree at the crash site, which witnesses said was spread out along Northeast 112th Avenue in east Vancouver. A motorist driving by honked and waved at the gatherers, who carried candlelights.
On Halloween, a Ford Mustang veered off Northeast 112th Avenue and drove up onto the sidewalk, striking a utility pole and Cadence, along with her mother, Annie Arnold, 32; a 6-year-old girl; and a family friend, Chelina Alsteen, 30.
The four of them were rushed to local hospitals. Cadence was taken off life support Sunday.
The 6-year-old girl, whose parents have asked that her name not be released, was discharged from Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland on Friday. Alsteen was last known to be in critical condition at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. A photo of the woman sat at the base of another maple tree.
Kevin Boyer said the gathering was about “all of them” and showing support so everyone could pull through. Coworkers of Boyer, who owns Chappelle’s Towing, helped out. A procession of tow trucks drove up the street, honking their horns and flashing their lights. Vancouver police patrol cars also flanked one end of the gathering site, which blocked a lane of northbound 112th Avenue.
Arnold, discharged from Legacy Emanuel Medical Center on Tuesday, attended the memorial in a wheelchair along with Cadence’s father, Kevin Boyer Jr. Cadence also leaves behind a 13-year-old brother, Nathan. They were all surrounded by people offering hugs and words of remorse.
“It’s a sad gathering. It’s beautiful we’re all here,” said Sunday Lease, a family friend, as everyone held candlelights. She prayed that the love and joy Cadence showed her family would help them get through this tragedy. “Dear Lord, you have an angel in your paradise.”
Family friend Emily Pederson sang “Angel,” a song by Sarah McLachlan: “There’s always some reason to feel not good enough, and it’s hard at the end of the day.”
Everyone raised their candles toward the sky. Kevin Boyer Jr. cried into his father’s shoulder while Cadence’s grandmother, Cathy Boyer, raised a framed photo of the girl making that funny face.
“Let me be empty, oh, and weightless, and maybe I’ll find some peace tonight,” Pederson sang under the light of a full moon.
