Live Like Aiden: The True Story About Springfield, Ohio

Living in a small village in Ohio makes it rather unlikely that your community will make international news. And yet it often does. The governor of the state lives on a farm here. We’ve had recent Olympic gold medal winners who attended school here. And the man called “the father of Labor Day” was an Ohio senator from our little town. But what’s put our spot of the world on the map in recent history is allegations about people eating their neighbors’ pets.

I live in Cedarville, Ohio. We’re a ten minute drive from Springfield, OH, the town at the epicenter of heated political debate. It’s a city I love. I frequently take my kids to the lake there during the summer. I often brag about the lovely diversity evident on the beach on weekends, people groups from all over the world, little clusters of culture, families spending time together and enjoying the sunshine. But it’s that very diversity that has evoked national attention.

Regardless of whom you plan to vote for in the presidential election, you should be concerned with getting the facts straight. Don’t help spread lies or follow the encouragement to share memes you know project a false narrative. There are a number of incorrect details, compounded stories, misplaced geography, and blatant lies being pinned on Springfield. A recent NPR story sums up the Springfield story behind the allegations of pet eating. I’ve embedded it below and strongly encourage you to give it a listen.

The NPR program traces community tension back to a tragic event of a school bus accident that caused the death of Aiden Clark, an eleven-year-old boy. The vehicle that caused the bus to crash was driven by an individual from Haiti. Last week, Nathan Clark, Aiden’s father, spoke out about politicians using his son in their political rhetoric. “Live like Aiden,” he said, “accept everyone . . . choose to shine . . . lead the way.”

Let’s live like Aiden. Listen to Nathan Clark’s testimony below. Again, please check out the NPR summary story below.