July 1st 2021, A Day to Reflect

How is it possible that we live only 45 minutes from a former Residential School and I knew nothing about it? How is it that our School Board encompasses the very area where this school was and currently serves Indigenous families, and yet we and our children have never been taught about what really happened? How is it that we can be so shocked and horrified by something that our Indigenous friends and neighbouring community have been trying to bring forward, but we were not listening hard enough to hear?

Today we attended the most beautiful and heartbreaking Solidarity Walk in Simcoe organized by someone I’m proud to know, Tif Niece. She is an incredible Indigenous woman who is also a local business owner and a mom. She and a group of wonderful people put together a small event where attendees wore orange and black, on a day where we would normally be surrounded by a sea of red and white. I went with my youngest two, who are 8 and 13, and we listened to stories we had never heard before. They were told by Survivors and their families who shared with us what can’t possibly be truly understood by those of us who have never had to experience that kind of terror.

So many of these words spoken today went straight to my heart. What stands out for me specifically, was that one of the speakers told us that today was not about feeling guilt or shame for what was done by those before us. That it is our ability to change the future that is our responsibility. To listen and learn. To save the evidence and help them restore their culture.

I want to be that change. I want my children to be that change.

It’s been hard to put into words how I’ve been feeling but I think the way to best way is how I explained it to Audrey, who is almost nine.

We talked about how devastated we would be if someone took her away from us to change everything about her that makes her Audrey because they thought they knew better. If we could never see her again and she disappeared and we never knew what happened. What it would be like to be separated from her sisters she loves so much.

I told her that it’s ok to still be happy to be Canadian while you’re sad about the terrible things that were done before us. Being a Canadian to us means being nice and being kind, working hard and standing up for your friends. It means being grateful for the opportunities, freedoms and safety that we have.

But it also means that you say sorry when something isn’t right, and more than your words, your actions are how you truly apologize. We can’t understand what our First Nations friends have experienced, but we can listen and learn and support them. We can grieve with them and promise that never will it happen again under our watch. We can help share their stories, preserve their culture, and open our minds and hearts to do better.

This year we continue to keep these innocent children and their families in our thoughts. We will leave the teddy bears in our window with the lights on in recognition that Every Child Matters.

We are not celebrating anything this year, we are reflecting, and have made a donation of $500 to the Woodland Cultural Centre’s Save the Evidence Campaign. We encourage you if you’re able to do what you can by clicking here.

You can also book a tour online for now until health restrictions allow you to visit in person again, which will be something we will be doing.

We hear you. We see you. We’re listening <3