LETTER: Downtown Galt Love showed what 'Cambridge can be at its best'

'That is the Cambridge I want to live in,' a reader writes CambridgeToday received the following letter regarding the Downtown Galt Love event: Friday night in Downtown Cambridge was one of those nights that reminded me why I love this city and what Cambridge can be at its best. At the Downtown Galt Love celebration, Eric Bolton and his band Shy Harry filled the downtown with music. Patios were crowded, people were dancing, and everywhere you looked was perhaps the most diverse crowd you could put together. There were infants who had only recently graduated to standing on two feet, now bopping up and down to the music. There were seniors enjoying the evening, people with disabilities taking part, families, friends and neighbours from every walk of life. And everyone belonged. For a few hours, Downtown Galt was a place where people could simply be themselves. A place where everyone could feel comfortable and safe being their authentic self, surrounded by neighbours who might look different, live differently or have completely different experiences and none of that mattered. That is the Cambridge I want to live in. A Cambridge where we come together and enjoy life together. Where we recognize that, despite all our differences, we are all here trying to live our best lives and where we empower each other to do exactly that. Saturday morning, I had some time to reflect on Friday night while cycling one of our trails. A Little Bit of Love by Weezer came through my headphones, and one line seemed to capture the night perfectly: 'A little bit, a little bit of love goes a pretty long way.' It really does. Friday night showed us what happens when we create spaces that bring people together instead of finding reasons to pull them apart. When we choose community over division, belonging over exclusion and love over anger. Those few hours in Downtown Galt weren't some impossible ideal of what Cambridge could become. They were Cambridge. And I'm confident that, with the right leadership and a shared commitment to bringing people together, we can make the spirit of Friday night something we experience every day. A little bit of love really does go a pretty long way. Devin Sisak Cambridge