I’m Not a Hockey Mom

We aren’t a hockey family.  My kids aren’t into sports.  I don’t pack them up early in the morning to head to a cold rink.  I don’t carry a heavy hockey bag to the back of my car as part of my routine.  I’m not a hockey mom.

But that doesn’t mean that my heart doesn’t ache at the tragedy that happened, at the 16 lives lost.  It doesn’t mean I haven’t shed tears for the families, the parents, the siblings, the community of Humboldt who has had their entire world rocked.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t hug my girls a little tighter.

If I had hockey sticks, they’d be on my front porch.  I borrowed a jersey today so I could show some support and join the thousands upon thousands who wore a jersey today.  We’ll make a donation, I ate a sprinkle donut….really, I’ll probably eat more.  It’s a little thing but it feels like I’m doing something, ANYTHING to show they aren’t facing this alone.

What happened is tragic.  It shook this country to its core.  We are a hockey-loving nation and when one of our teams has to face such a horrific event, we surround them anyway we know how.  I think the fact that Go Fund Me Page has reached record highs speaks to the depth that this has been felt across the nation.  { If you want to donate, click HERE. }

I’m not a hockey mom.  I have friends who are.  And I know this is all too real for them.  They’ve loaded their kids on a bus, waved as they drove off and held their breath until they walked back through the kitchen door.  I see it in their eyes.  They think it could just as easily have been them.  The messages I’ve been hearing move me.  Hockey moms to hockey moms, hockey kids to their hockey moms…  Two of my blogging friends are hockey moms and wrote incredible posts about the Humboldt accident, you can read Colleen’s, of Curtains Are Open, HERE and Jennifer’s, of Simple Local Life, HERE….I highly recommend you go read them. Here in Nova Scotia, we may by miles removed from the scene of the accident but they are our neighbours, our people, too.

I’m not a hockey mom, but I am a mom.  I want my children to grow up and follow their dreams.  Every mom wishes, prays for that for their children.  And now, there is a group of moms who won’t get that chance.  My momma-heart aches for their momma-hearts and what they are missing out on and all they still have to suffer through.  I’m a mom who curls into herself at the thought of losing her child.  How do you even go on?  I can’t even imagine.

I love hearing the bravery that has come out of this tragedy.  How, even with a bleak diagnosis, Ryan Straschnitzki is setting his sights on making the Para Olympic team for sledge hockey.  How, having just turned 21, Logan Boulet signed his donor card and now the lives of six people have been changed forever.  { You know I’m a huge supporter of organ donation, you can read that story HERE } These are the stories that don’t lessen the pain, but they do offer encouragement, hope and give us some good to focus on.  And these young men are inspiring us, motivating us to come together, whether it’s to don our jerseys, donate blood or talk to our loved ones about signing their donor cards.  I just hate that it takes a tragedy like this to make it happen.

Our country isn’t perfect, but I love how when it truly is time to come together to support each other, we are all over it.  I’m not a Hockey Mom, I’m a proud Canadian, I’m a mom and I mourn with the rest of Canada.

To be continued,

Lori