A few hundred people gathered at City Hall (Edmonton) last evening to lift the silence on suicide—an annual event put on by the Support Network.
There were 
speeches—a woman who lost more than one member of her family, a mother who lost a son, a survivor—a song, a piper, a march and then hundreds of pictures, scrolling across a large screen. People lost. Over 500 in Alberta last year.
I stand with my daughter (who works for the Support Network) watching. She has put her grandfather’s picture in among the hundreds.
We are with friends. Many are here with friends and family. We wear badges and t-shirts—display this thing we have in common.
There are tears, there are wounds, scars. Memories, raw again. But the helplessness and confusion, the residue of shame and guilt, the unhealthy silence, dissipate in commemoration.
The hug of human community remains the primary engine of healing.
You are all still in my prayers Stephen. This line is beautiful and the type of things that we need to read in the media more often:
“The hug of human community remains the primary engine of healing.”
Thanks for this Steve. I wonder if there is such a resource where we live. And, Teryl does important work doesn’t she/
Thank you Diane. Truly appreciate your thought and encouragement.
Thank you Sam. And yes, Teryl does important work.
Thanks guys, that means a lot. The Support Network is a wonderful agency that is there for people in those moments of absolute crisis and to be a part of what they do is such a gift.