09/27/2026
Five years.
Looking back at photos from this year’s fundraiser, I keep thinking about what five years really looks like.
It looks like familiar faces who continue to show up year after year. It looks like new faces who quietly step in and ask, “What can I do?” It looks like people giving their time, buying flowers, sharing our story, donating, carrying buckets, wrapping bouquets and simply standing beside us.
And as I reflected on all of the people I thanked last week, I realized I left someone out. Not intentionally. Maybe because she’s exactly the kind of person who doesn’t need the recognition and would probably prefer I didn’t make a fuss about her at all. But Chantelle, you deserve to be part of this thank-you.
When our family first became connected with Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, one of the things I feared was getting to know the people there.
Because when you have a child with a palliative condition, you understand loss differently. You know that people can become part of your life for a season. You know that eventually things change. People move on. Chapters close.
But Canuck Place has been there for every part of our journey, even after the part of the journey we never wanted to reach.
And for each of these five years, Chantelle has shown up. Sometimes for both days. Sometimes for one. But every year, she is here.There is something incredibly meaningful about that kind of constancy.
What began as a place where I took my child became a place filled with people who became friends. People who know parts of our family's story deeply and personally. People who knew Owen, who know Oliver and Nora, who remember our cows and our farm, and who can run into us somewhere in the community and ask about our children by name.
That is one of the extraordinary things about Canuck Place. So many of the people we have met there carry families with them. They remember. They ask. They show up. When Canuck Place says they are there for the journey, I can tell you from our family's experience that the journey doesn't simply end when a child dies.They keep showing up.
Chantelle, I am so grateful that through a journey we met you!
