The horror emanated from Laval on the morning of February 8, 2023… We will remember that the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose, then crowded with children, was hit by a bus.
For reasons still unknown to this day, the man driving this bus killed and injured children.
The tragedy at the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose has left many stunned to this day. And I am.
Also, like many Quebecers, I was gripped by misunderstanding, dismay, sadness, and anger.
pain
We cannot find the words to speak about the sacrifices made by the young children, the suffering and desperation of their respective families, that of their educators and that of their little comrades who survived.
I am thinking in particular of two of these devastated families. They will never recover from losing their little love forever.
Ditto for other families like this, here and elsewhere, struck down with horror…
The horror of losing the child we love. That of the presence of his absence. That of memory that cannot be silent. That of pain…
No pain, once it has reached us in depth, is certainly to be minimized or compared.
But if you’ve lost loved ones yourself, you can imagine those families trapped in the middle of a river… Motionless, petrified.
You can feel the trembling of their tears of despair… Everything that seemed important to them yesterday suddenly isn’t anymore.
A sign of solidarity
In these circumstances, these grieving families, these injured children, the educators and all daycare staff affected by this tragedy need the support of the entire “village”.
They need that imprint of melted solidarity and their power in constant action around them. This could help them find themselves and focus on themselves again.
The heart and solidarity of citizens and politicians in the early days of the tragedy was remarkable and appreciated, despite the clumsy and sometimes immodest whirlwind of microphones and cameras around some parents of children.
However, not all of these victims should suffer from the simple collective pursuit of a “moment in the news.” They must not fall into the slums of our collective memory…
In the hardships that await them and that they must endure, the rest of their lives will be primarily what we will do together with them.
