Day 62

Sunday, May 17, 2020

I am a Royal Canadian Air Force brat. My Dad was stationed in many places in Canada, the US and Germany over time. I lived on two air bases with planes - Trenton, Ontario and St. Hubert, Quebec. 

The hammer that hit us here in Nova Scotia today was the latest blow with the loss of  Capt. Jennifer Casey, crew in the Snowbird that crashed in Kamloops, British Columbia today. The Captain was from Nova Scotia, She was a graduate of Kings College School of Journalism. Prior to joining up, she spent several years working in broadcast radio as a reporter, anchor and producer both in Halifax, NS and Belleville, ON. That's all I know as I write this. These pilots were going across Canada to entertain folks as we were all hunkering down during the pandemic.

The previous hammer blow was when Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke (all from Nova Scotia), Capt. Kevin Hagen of Nanaimo, BC; Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin of Trois Rivieres, QC; and Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins of Guelph, ON went down in the Cyclone helicopter in the Ionian Sea.

There is still that missing little boy near Truro. He wandered away from his Grandma's place and after days of search and rescue folks looking for him, that search has now been declared a "recovery" operation.

And the blow before that here in this benighted province was the dreadful massacre of 22 people in the Portapique and area.

Then the dreaded COVID-19 has taken a reported 55 people in this province since March. There will be more. While we certainly hope not, I don't think this virus has finished with us yet.

I started by saying I was an Air Force brat. I love watching planes. My dad flew Spitfires in WWII. His story can be seen on this blog. It pains me, as I am sure it does others, to hear of a crash like this. I saw the original video when the Snowbird went in. My reaction was visceral and totally startled me with its intensity.

My heart goes out to all. I am grieving for all but somehow it feels like the grief is all wrapped up in the young woman pilot who died today.

Onwards!

PS - I debated posting this today. But I decided to do so. This blog is about my thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic and the above are my thoughts tonight.