As I looked around at the crowd, I turned to my brother and said: "Look. There's hope."
Hope was not the absence of grief.
Hope was seeing people come together to stand against violence.
Hope was seeing strangers walk beside us.
Hope was being reminded that, despite everything, most people are good.
They had come to stand with our family.
They had come to protest the murder of a woman.
They had come to support the right of women and girls to live safely and freely.
That first vigil became an annual event.
Every year since, people have gathered to walk Zara home.
Some knew her personally. Many did not.
Yet they continue to come.
Together, they send a simple message:
Women and girls have the right to be safe.
And when that right is violated, we will not look away.