As a child, Fischer loved going to the beach and riding bikes along the coastline with his father, Karl Fischer. So when he lost his dad to pancreatic cancer, he turned to the healing power of the ocean.
At the start of this year, Fischer wrote his father's name on his surfboard and took it out to sea in Newport, Rhode Island. His father's name shone in the sun on what felt like a shared adventure. Inspired, Fischer made a video and posted it on social media the same day." If you love the ocean, or you know someone who loves the ocean, or maybe you lost someone who just loved being outdoors... you can comment on this video with their name and a bit of their story, and I'll put their name on my board here, just like I've done with my father's name," he said in the video." And I'll take them out in the ocean for you."
Names poured in from thousands of strangers grieving (为....悲伤) the loss of loved ones. And with that, the One Last Wave Project was born, the aim of which was to exchange stories with a community of people going through the same pain. They were essentially healing together. About two months later, Fischer had received over 5,000 names and written most of them on two surfboards. The first two surfboards ran out of space一he's working on getting more. He wrote the names in neat letters on the surfboard and put a clear acrylic (丙烯酸) coat over them so they didn't wash off.
Though a lot of people have been struggling with grief in the pandemic, Fischer was amazed by the responses that have poured in." If I am able to help one person or one person shares their name, that is enough for me," he said." But I am blown away--by not just the number of people sharing, but the depth of stories and love that they are sharing." And he plans to take his project around the world and connect with even more people一through shared grief and the power of the ocean.
