My dog Rosie and I have been walking in our neighbourhood a lot lately because all this rain and wind keeps us off the dikes. I enjoy looking at other people’s gardens, especially in the spring when the gardener in me gets inspired.
Rosie mostly walks with her nose to the ground and we frequently stop to smell the flowers. That gives me time to notice the little things, like the hockey stick in a tree at the end of a driveway.
The black tape wrapped around the handle was frayed and it was a little beat up, just like how most of us are feeling these days. Instantly it brought me back to the image of a sheared off bus and a semi-truck on its side surrounded by green bags of peat moss.
Then the Humboldt Broncos team picture came to mind. All those smiling young hockey players with bright futures excited for the playoffs at the end of a long cold Canadian winter. With so much loss it has been hard to stay composed at times, especially with news that 24-year-old team trainer Dayna Brons had succumbed to her injuries.
As a country we have come together so eloquently to support our Prairie families who have lost so much and it makes me proud to be Canadian. Over $11 million has been raised in support of the Humboldt Broncos families, and that figure is still growing.
Everywhere I went last Thursday people were wearing their hockey jerseys, it was so moving. Funerals are underway as 16 families face their grief and 13 injured people lie in hospital with many days of recovery ahead.
Now that time has passed some people are asking difficult questions during a very difficult time. Why is this tragedy getting so much attention while other tragedies do not? On social media this has been contentious and the debate abounds.
I believe the answer is simple: That could have been any of us at that Highway 35 intersection. My children, your children, my husband or your grandson, we can all relate to the dangers of driving where accidents can happen in a heartbeat.
Hockey plays a major role in our Canadian identity. Could anything be more relatable for the thousands of people and families who participate in amateur sport than young men and women on a bus headed to a playoff game in small town Saskatchewan?
Hockey moms and families are a force to be reckoned with, they are organized, effective and close knit. From coast to coast, they have rallied behind the Broncos to provide the best support possible during these troubling times.
Our grief as a nation is not exclusive, it is inclusive. We do not show support for Humboldt at the expensive of others. If anything, it is a watershed moment that will hopefully inspire all Canadians to be pillars of support for others no matter what the tragedy might be.
Ingrid Abbott is a freelance broadcaster and writer who only watches hockey when the Canucks are winning, which means she doesn’t watch hockey.
