10/22/2026
I’ve taken some time this week to think about the events at CFB Wainwright in Alberta over the weekend. Over the past few years my caseload has changed, nearly completely by accident. I began to work more and more with veteran and active duty military - a demographic I never thought I would work with. I have fallen in love with the work and the joy I experience in this community has been immense.
Over the past week there have been a few conversations and a few points continue to come up, but one has been repeated over and over.
An incident has a big impact, recovery is everything that comes after.
Recovery from a traumatic experience is long, painful, and lonely. A lot has been learned post Afghanistan about supporting soldiers, but huge growth is still needed. Many service members still feel a sense of abandonment which is also shared in the greater community. People focus on the incident and not on the compounding and complicated needs in the months, years, and decades to come.
As Canadians we are good at showing up…Initially. I think we are also pretty good at showing up long term in a practical sense. We can grow across society showing up long term in an intangible way.
If you know someone who has been impacted: think now about the practical, commit to the intangible. The number one way we can support anyone, particularly our veterans and military personnel - is to continue showing up welcoming into our community, and not being afraid to walk beside on the long journey. This is how we address loneliness and abandonment. We can’t treat those suffering, often invisibly, as the “other” we invite them in because they are one of us.
