COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Thanksgiving holiday prompted people from the Colorado Springs area and all over Colorado to pay their respects to the five people shot and killed at Club Q last weekend.
"It’s about spending time with people and being thankful, and unfortunately, the families that aren’t going to have their loved ones with them this time, it’s sad," said Dreanna Riley, who visited the memorial with her wife. "We’ve actually wanted to come down for a while. My wife and I have spent many weekends at Club Q, even before I met her."
Riley lost a friend in the shooting and knows others who were hurt.
"We just wanted to do something and show our appreciation of what Club Q meant to us and what these friends have meant to us," Riley said.
Others have been making it a ritual to come to the memorial since the shooting happened.
"We figured as family, community, we would come down and spend a little bit of our Thanksgiving with them," said Carrie Visentin, who visited with her son. "That’s what’s important -- teaching your children, no hate."
She's watched the memorial grow day after day.
"I just love that the community comes together, and this gets bigger and bigger and I love that. It makes me happy to see that," Visentin said.
Many visitors to the memorial specifically made the trip to Colorado Springs or made sure to visit while celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family.
"As I was driving down here, I just really feel so much for the families of those that were lost because this Thanksgiving isn’t going to be the same and won’t ever be the same," said Kyle Lueken, who was in the Colorado Springs area to spend time with his sister for the holiday.
Lueken said he would have made sure to make it down to the memorial either way, and would have planned a trip otherwise.
"Here are the little things - to be grateful for just waking up. Food, shelter, water and supportive family and friends. I see that in today’s memorial," Lueken said.
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