Heather Down - Not Cancelled: Canadian Kindness the Face of COVID-19

Copyright 2020 Heather Down and Catherine Kenwell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission from the publisher.

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Not cancelled : Canadian kindness in the face of COVID-19 / Heather Down & Catherine Kenwell.

Names: Down, Heather, 1966- editor. | Kenwell, Catherine, 1962- editor.

Description: Edited by Heather Down and Catherine Kenwell.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200242849 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200242997 | ISBN 9781989664025 (softcover) | ISBN 9781989664032 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781989664049 (Kindle)

Subjects: LCSH: Coronavirus infectionsSocial aspectsCanadaHistory21st century. | LCSH: EpidemicsSocial aspectsCanadaHistory21st century. | LCSH: QuarantineSocial aspectsCanadaHistory21st century. | LCSH: Coronavirus infectionsCanadaHistory21st century. | LCSH: EpidemicsCanadaHistory21st century. | LCSH: QuarantineCanadaHistory21st century.

Classification: LCC RA643.7.C3 N68 2020 | DDC 362.1962dc23

This book is a labour of love and dedicated to:

our front-line workersfrom health care to essential service
providers, thank you for being our superheroes
and keeping us safe;

friends and families of those who have lost loved ones
during the pandemic;

our community leaders, who have navigated the unknown with care and compassion;

and to

RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson

Greg and Jamie Blair

Lisa McCully

Heather OBrien

Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod

Jolene Oliver, Emily Tuck, and Aaron (Friar) Tuck

Frank Gulenchyn and Dawn Madsen

Gina Goulet

Lillian Hyslop

Tom Bagley

Kristen Beaton and her unborn baby

John Zahl and Elizabeth Joanne Thomas

Corrie Ellison

Joey Webber

Joy and Peter Bond

We grieve as one; we are inspired by many. We are Canada.

Photo credit: Jennifer Bardeggia

By Carter Mann, Sudbury, age eleven

COVID be gone in the depths of dawn

May we rise to be infection free

The isolated days so many are feeling

Our minds sit in darkness and are in need of healing

Our leaders work tirelessly to bring us comfort

As the death toll rises, we grieve with such loss

Distancing from our loved ones we carry our cross

The days seem endless with so full of despair

Where is the light, with no end in sight

The darkness we must overcome

Stand strong and fight as a world we must become one

Like many good ideas, this book was inspired by a Facebook post. I had been thinking about compiling an anthology of human-interest stories about the unprecedented times we as Canadians were facing during COVID-19. I just hadnt formulated the exact approach. I knew this was not only a time of deep reflection for our nation but also a significant moment in social history, full of storytelling and events that also should be recordedsomething to show the great-grandkids one day. I had a vague framework but no specific plan of attack. And then I saw a post from fellow author Catherine Kenwell: Laughter Is Not Cancelled.

A eureka moment! I approached her. Want to do a book about positive stories? We can collect reflections and write third-person accounts. I love your post. In a time when it feels like lots of things are being cancelledsports, concerts, recreation, and nights out with friendsmaybe we could focus on everything that is still happening, call it Not Cancelled.

Yes, yes, and yes! Lets do it.

So the birth of a book about goodness in a time of darkness was born. Dont get me wrong, this is not a slight to the serious heaviness of COVID-19. This isnt a dismissive book filled with rainbows and unicorns, stories that attempt to diminish the grim reality. Both Catherine and I have personally been affected by the ramifications this virus and lockdown bring. We have experienced loss, and funerals either never happened at all or were held virtually. Mourning together yet apart leaves permanent scars on your soul.

As I write this, my own aunt, my fathers only sister, lies in a long-term care facility, diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. She is ninety-three, and dementia prevents her from being able to talk to her loved ones on the phone. As of today, she has neither succumbed to the virus nor recovered from itthe ending to this chapter not yet written. There is no doubt this is a heart-wrenching time.

Catherine, too, has been knocked down enough to appreciate every day on this side of the grassin fact, her past traumas have given her a unique perspective on gratitude in the face of adversity. While her first defence is often humour, she has also mourned the loss of family and friends during this pandemic. Two of her mothers siblings died within one weekboth of them in long-term care homes. In sharing her own observations, she speaks for others who have a difficult time articulating their fears and anxieties.

It could be said that this project saved us. The often-quoted Mr. Rogers (look for the helpers) buoyed our mental health. In the weeks of lockdown, both Catherine and I had little, if any, control over our mood swings. We seriously wondered if the next DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) would include an emerging new condition, a coronavirus-induced mood disorder. Our emotional dysregulation would take us from unearthly optimism to hellish despair in split seconds.

Luckily, we would have the pleasure of conducting phone interviews with Canadians across this amazing country. We met so many beautiful people who simply lifted our spirits in a time when we needed it most. From a dancing Sikh in the Yukon to a couples first wedding dance in British Columbia to a talking schnauzer in Quebec to a real-life Spider-Man walking the streets of Newfoundland, we realized that, for the most part, Canadians are kind, creative, and ultimately, resilient. This project gave us a glimmer of hope.

Then came the tragedy in Nova Scotia: an epic crisis within an epic crisis. Grief compounded by mandated isolation. No words can express the resulting level of sadness and trauma. To the victims, to the families, to the province, and to the country: know our hearts collectively bleed.

If ever there is a time we could use a ray of sunshine, it is now. It is both Catherines and my hope to lift up this nation we love so dearly and share this anthology with you.

After writing many stories and collecting othersforty-nine in all, representing Canadas address of the forty-ninth parallelthe challenge was how to combine so many voices, styles, and approaches to create one cohesive book. Stories came from every single province, spanning Indigenous people to new immigrantsand everybody whose family has occupied this country in a time frame in between. We acknowledged Canadas diversity, and we realized that our collective voices can have variation but still sing the same tune. You will find narratives, reflections, past-tense and present-tense essays, polished literary pieces, and stories from newly minted writers who are sharing their souls the best they can. Like a maple tree, consisting of various roots, branches, and foliage, these parts make the perfect whole, just like the country its leaf represents.