April 30: A little over a week ago, memorials began appearing for the 22 people murdered in a shooting rampage in Nova Scotia. Some were extravagant bouquets of flowers; others more restrained and considered. In addition to flowers, teddy bears and dolls also made and appearance. In Toronto there were also memorials appearing, but they were outside senior’s homes and long-term care facilities.
The events in Nova Scotia are tragic. The loss of 22 people at one time, and in those circumstances, touched a nerve in me and many others. The coverage on TV and in print showed the devastation left behind, and put names and faces to those we had lost. They became very real. It was especially difficult for me to accept the loss of RCMP officer Heidi Stevenson, not because she had some sort of special status or protection, but more because she represented us as an officer of the law, and paid the ultimate price for her service.
I feel the same way when we lose any of the first responder or military community. These are the folks that run toward the battlefields, the burning buildings and the car crashes so that we won’t have to face those horrors. When we lose them, we lose a part of our cultural safety net. Tributes to these folks are well deserved and I find them very emotionally difficult.
Not far from our home here in Toronto, 18 seniors died over the weekend in Meighan Manor, a long-term care building operated by the Salvation Army. I noticed the congruency of the number of dead (first said to be 18 in Nova Scotia), and was immediately struck by the lack of emotion surrounding that loss. Sure, there was a small number of floral tributes near the home, but the report glossed over the personal details of who we had lost in favour of the presumed shock value of the number. It played for a day in the media and was gone. While it was sad news and close to home, I felt little emotion or connection with those we lost; they had been reduced to data.
I think I understand why: there are now so many people dead or dying from COVID that it would be impossible to personalize all of them. Although the Globe and Mail and CBC news have run pieces with some details about those who have died, the psychological impact of seeing so many people identified each day would be traumatic for the rest of us as we struggle to retain our equilibrium while being locked indoors. That said, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that every one of those faceless numbers is in fact a loved and missed part of someone’s family, and a meaningful life no longer being live
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As I write this there is news that 6 members of the Canadian Forces have been lost in a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece. Again, we know who they are; several are from Nova Scotia where the ship was based. This will undoubtedly be a difficult time for the province – its second tragedy in 2 weeks. Proportionately this would be the equivalent of losing 420 people in Ontario. My heart goes out to them.