December 6th, 2017

It is the 100th anniversary of the Halifax explosion, the biggest explosion world wide until the atomic bomb was dropped in Japan. A day of horrific tragedy for thousands of Haligonians. Our own 911, pre-911. I remember my grandparents telling me the stories of the day, how they had escaped the disaster, the death all around them. I can't even imagine how awful it must have been with the lack of social services we enjoy today, with the devastating snow storm the next morning freezing all those out in the streets having just lost their homes. I can only hear the stories from those who told them, and see a glimpse from the book I am presently reading, Barometer Rising, from the play I attended about the ghosts who spoke their horror. One hundred years and the day is remembered, through stories, photos, remembrance celebrations, people gathering to pray for the lost souls, for their distant relatives they possibly never met.

Our city has risen out of those ashes. As I walked to work yesterday I thought about how the streets would have looked then, about what would have been there then and what was built since. The change that happened since the horror. I thought about how our city is currently thriving, saw the new buildings sit on the harbour shores that were blasted bare 100 years ago, viewed the new tankers roll into the "stream" between the twin cities, walked side by side with the people moving about who don't even know the history or have any connection with those who do.  Life has continued, improved and just happened since that 100 year old explosion.

I have my own personal explosion in my life dated December 6th. It is a day I remember as well. A day where my own ships collided in the night leaving a wiped out devastated family in its wake. A day when at its last minutes my son died in his crib of SIDS. I share other's remembrances of this date, the loss this day entails. Mine is only 34 years ago, theirs 100. I continue my life like my city does. I too have new growth, new people, new landscapes in my personal life since this tragic date. This is life, this is how it happens, it just goes on. Us with our own personal tragedies and remembrances moving through it and surviving despite it.