Personal loss
Life can be challenging all by itself. It becomes more of a challenge when extreme circumstances are added to it.
On Canada Day at Willingdon Beach my backpack and my son’s Keen sandals were taken. We turned our backs for less time than it takes to have a swim [“Detachment commander reveals statistics,” April 15].
The only thing of value inside the pack, other than a library book, was my prescription glasses. As a student on a low income these were purchased with scholarship funds.
My son’s Keens are size 8 1/2 and are worn for health reasons rather than to be cool. They offer both toe protection and airflow for his continually cold sweating feet. The loss of his sandals has been added to the list of his other fairly recent major losses. It does not bode well with him at all.
We are a small family unit doing our best to get by. He has autism and I am a Mum as well as a student at Vancouver Island University. Since December 2013 we have lost four close family members (both granddads one Christmas, an uncle the following Christmas and most recently a grandma). Every single day is hard.
The trip to the beach was to try to regain some of what was lost and to soothe the pain of another type of imminent loss. A very close family member is being posted, with her husband, by the military to an isolated northern community.
The loss of the backpack and glasses is one thing, but taking the shoes from someone who has already lost so very much is not on.
They say not to judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes. I hope that whomever is wearing my son’s shoes will feel the anguish and pain of his immense grief long enough to want to be compassionate and return them to their rightful owner. Everyone needs compassion and kindness. Only you can restore some of his loss and soothe some of his anguish.
Anyone in possession of these belongings can drop them off at the Peak office, 4400 Marine Avenue, from where they will be delivered back to their rightful owner.
Susan Oldale
Ontario Avenue
Historical record
I am writing to voice my appreciation for the well documented account of the Anne Frank diaries of the Holocaust years [“Stories highlight struggles to survive,” June 10].
Whoever was responsible for this very informative information is to be highly commended.
Much research went into this project and I am grateful the young girl’s diary was found and made available for all to read about the atrocities of that dark time in history.
I hope many people saw the Anne Frank House exhibit in the Powell River Town Centre Mall.
Lenore Arneson
Quebec Avenue
