I am awake, I am alive, and as this country entertains its first attempt at national mourning over Native children, I cannot help but think of my Mom …

“If you feel the need to cry, it is your body telling you it is time to let the pain go. You are ready. So cry the tears. Do not stop them. You will stop when you are done, until the next time you have to cry.”

For years, in those schools, Indigenous children were not allowed to cry – not out of hunger or loneliness, not in pain or fear. As a result, many struggle to cry today but today we must. We are strong enough to let them go now, no matter where we stand or who we stand beside.

And for years, immersed in their Western society, many non-Indigenous people were not allowed to cry. “Stiff upper lip” was the norm for many while others were instructed not to cry at work, in front of children, or anywhere it might upset somewhere else. Today, you must. You are strong enough and woke enough now to let them go, no matter where you stand or who you stand beside.

These children deserve to be mourned as do all the others that will be found in the months and years to come. This is their grieving time, and our tears should be as public as their deaths need to be. Because the deaths never should have happened.

Perhaps if we cry, we won’t have to decades in the future.

The journey continues …

I love you!
HUGSSSSSSSSSS
Sandi

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