TOWSON, Md. – If Sharon Love has her way, her late daughter, Yeardley, will be remembered nationwide every May 3.
But she’ll need Congress to go along.
“May 3rd was the worst day of our lives, for both Lexie and me. I lost my precious daughter, Yeardley, and Lexie lost her sister and best friend to relationship violence,” says Sharon Love of Baltimore, Md.
Yeardley, a champion high school and University of Virginia lacrosse player was murdered at the age of 22 by her ex-boyfriend George Huguely.
A bill was introduced in Congress to make each May 3 National One Love Day.
“If May 3rd is memorialized it will help to spare other families and friends of this devastating loss that we have had to endure,” says Love.
“If there’s anything wrong, do something, don’t sit back and wait,” she says.
The day would be a time not just to raise awareness about relationship violence but also for individuals to assess their own situation.
“We hope that this date will mark a time when individuals will reflect upon their relationships and if they find themselves in an unhealthy relationship they will act,” Love says.
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Yeardley Love, who was killed in 2010. (Courtesy Sharon Love)
The group’s website, joinonelove.org offers a free app intended to help individuals who may be in an abusive relationship.
“The app is called Danger Assessment,” says Love.
“It’s based on over 20 years of research from Hopkins University and it consists of 20 questions,” Love says.
Concerned by the prevalence of relationship violence, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., introduced the bill and says he’s hopeful it will sail through Congress.
“More than two million are physically assaulted by an intimate partner every year,” says Ruppersberger.
Sharon Love says family and friends of an individual who may be in a troubled relationship should also help assess the situation in an effort to avert relationship violence.
“I think people are hesitant to get involved, but we’re trying to say everybody get involved, everybody,” Love says.
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