Anna Myers-Long stood among family and friends at Cribbs Field in Verona on Sunday afternoon for the one-year anniversary of her 11-year-old son's death.

Just before the memorial balloon release ceremony began, dark clouds and a rainstorm rolled through the area.

Myers-Long held out her hands, chuckled, and said, "This is Christopher."

Christopher Myers, 11, drowned at Rosedale Beach Club in Penn Hills last year. He was a fifth-grader at St. Joseph School in Verona.

The community came together for an event of remembrance with a special balloon launch in his honor.

As Myers-Long released a large red balloon with a note attached, she blew a kiss to the sky—sunshine pushing through the clouds.

Balloons also were released for each of his friends, his Boy Scout troop, his baseball team and his classmates/teachers at St. Joseph School.

"Christopher absolutely loves balloons," Myers-Long said. "If there was a balloon, far, far away, he'd be the one to pick it out. This is for him."

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