PHOTOS: Purple for Mae: Community Shows Support in the Wake of a Local Family’s Loss

By Jessica Eden, FTL Editor / Owner of Living Magazines

Editor’s Note: This story was published in our October 2026 print edition of Fort Thomas Living.

There is something unassuming yet powerful about a simple ribbon. 

After all, it’s only tiny fibers that are dyed a certain color and woven together to create silk or some other similar fabric and sliced into strips, hemmed on the ends and wrapped around a spool. Then, shipped to any craft store in any number of towns, cities or suburbs in the country.

Yet, when you assign meaning to that ribbon, it becomes something else entirely. It is not just any ribbon – it’s a statement.

In September, you may have noticed purple ribbons popping up all over Fort Thomas. I had several neighbors ask me what they were for and I even saw a couple questions on Facebook. The reason is bittersweet and heartbreaking…but the message was also powerful and encompassed the sincere love for a dear individual.

On September 3rd, Highland Middle School student Mae Younger passed away. She was 12 years old. I did not have the pleasure of knowing Mae but in her obituary, which you can read in full here, it included a beautiful description of her… 

“Mae lived life in full color, and she made every room brighter for having been in it. Her joy was contagious and reached friends and strangers alike.”

Now that is someone I would have loved to have known. 

It was not an understatement to say that ‘her joy was contagious’ because I have witnessed that first hand in what I observed in the weeks after her passing. 

Purple ribbons, displayed everywhere for sweet Mae. Her favorite color.

With stunning shades of every purple you can think of, from royal purple to indigo to lavender, the ribbons soon started appearing throughout town. They popped up on light posts, doors, railings and columns. They were tied snuggly around trees like a hug. Some were paired with accompanying ‘M’ signs or brightly lit with purple porch lights. While some were quite simple and some were larger than life, the message remained the same – “We love you, Mae”. 

When I realized what the ribbons were for, I went to Michael’s in Newport to get my own. However, they were sold out of nearly every shade of purple ribbon. 

Why? Because the Fort Thomas community shows up when a tragedy occurs.  

I had chills when I saw the empty shelves. Truly. I had to settle for a purple burlap bow but I was thrilled to do so because it meant that hundreds of families bought purple ribbons to celebrate the joyful person that Mae was. 

I put out a call shortly after on our Fort Thomas Living Facebook group and asked the community to share their purple ribbons with me. I felt that something like this needed to be documented and remembered as a sign of the love a community tied up, into a neat purple bow, and gave to Mae and her family. 

Here are photos submitted by readers of Fort Thomas Living Magazine. We sincerely thank you for your submissions.