by Marleen Pitruzzella | Jun 13, 2019 | Our Family Stories
My story begins on July 13, 2009 with my mom picking me up from summer camp that afternoon. Just like any other day we were picked up, my brother and I would ask the same questions repeatedly, “what is for dinner? And when will daddy be home?” Unfortunately for us,...
by Cathy McNeil | Jun 13, 2019 | Grief, Growth, and Self-Care, Our Family Stories
It’s so very dark out. I can hear sirens; there are so many people in my house. What is going on? A priest enters the back door with a couple of men; my mother falls to the floor. She is inconsolable. Who are these men? Who are all of these people? Family...
by Nicole Lazaruk | Oct 2, 2018 | Our Family Stories
Sibling relationships are complex. With me and my brothers, we were friends, teammates, competitors and sometimes enemies. My childhood memories are those of camping trips, watching their hockey games, playing in our tree fort and ski trips. My adult memories...
by Sarah Wheelan | Aug 14, 2018 | Our Family Stories
Fifteen years ago, the lights went out across the entire eastern seaboard, in what is still known simply as “the blackout”. My brother Lewis died that night – sometime in the early morning hours of August 15, 2003. He was 21 years old. I still get choked up...
by Alex Tuff | Jul 24, 2018 | Our Family Stories
August 2018 will be five years since my big brother Kris was killed in an industrial accident while at work. He was instructed to enter a tank that had not been properly cleaned, to remove a baffle; a device used to restrain the flow of a fluid, liquid or gas. The...
by David Collins | May 1, 2018 | Health and Safety, Our Family Stories
Each year hundreds of high school students from all across Canada begin working for the summer, and for many this will be their first “real” job. Fifteen years ago, I was beginning my summer job at a golf resort on Prince Edward Island; I did not realize at the time...