I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the events happening in Portapique. It was the morning of April 19th and I showed up here, at Y-95, for my lighthearted and fun Sunday shift.
And when I started reading what was happening, I really didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I was watching the details filter in on this awful tragedy. How do you tell the community about this massacre that is happening when you can’t even comprehend it yourself?
I sat here in the studio between breaks reading and reading and searching for more information. Anything that shed light on what was happening. I’ll admit, I googled the suspects name, hoping for some insight into who this was. And I breathed a collective sigh of relief with the province when it was announced it was over.
In the days that followed #NovaScotiaStrong went viral. Questions were raised, criticisms started and the planning on how to say goodbye to the 22 victims started. I read everything. Every article was absorbed, every news video digested and I tried to make sense of it. But it’s senseless. An awful, awful crime. Something that changed this province and something that changed me.
And at some point I had to stop reading. It got in my head. I started thinking if it happened in Portapique it truly could happen anywhere. I became anxious any time I went out for a walk and a vehicle started to slow down. This was normally the best part of my day – walking a rural road with my dogs, waving to passerby’s as they slowed down and moved over to give me room. I was always happy to give someone directions if they needed it. But the slow down of cars changed in my mind. “What if this was someone who would hurt me?” “Do I know that person – why are they stopping?” “What do they have with them in the car?” The moments I felt most at peace were taken from me – from everyone. I still question the unfamiliar vehicles that go by when I’m out for a walk or a run. But I can’t stop living my life. I can only hope no other event like this will take place here – or anywhere.
It’s been a long year of healing for the province. And we should take time to remember those who were taken in this act of senseless violence. Today at 3PM please take the two minutes and remember these people who deserved more.
- Const. Heidi Stevenson
- Lisa McCully
- Heather O’Brien
- Kristen Beaton
- Greg Blair
- Jamie Blair
- Alanna Jenkins
- Sean McLeod
- Tom Bagley
- Jolene Oliver
- Aaron (Friar) Tuck
- Emily Tuck
- Gina Goulet
- Lillian Hyslop
- Joanne Thomas
- John Zahl
- Joey Webber
- Dawn Gulenchyn
- Frank Gulenchyn
- Corrie Ellison
- Peter Bond
- Joy Bond
#NovaScotiaStrong
– Candice
