Widows of slain Moncton RCMP officers thank community
The widows of the three RCMP officers who were murdered last June say Moncton is helping them to heal
Angela Gevaudan, Nadine Larche and Rachael Ross say taking part in a weekend celebration in the Moncton neighbourhood where their husbands were killed nearly a year ago is another step in their healing.
The widows were joined by Shelley MacInnis-Wynn, who lost her husband Cst. David Wynn in Alberta earlier this year.
All four women stayed close together during the tree-planting ceremony on Saturday.
"I think it's something that reminds us that life is about what's happening now and it pulls us into the present moment as opposed to always thinking about what happened and it's really important for us to feel this supported," Gevaudan said.
Larche said she felt "some healing" with the planting of the trees, which were all numbered by the neighbourhood committee.
"The number that was on my tree, that was randomly selected, was the number 74 which is the year that my husband was born. It was on his hockey jerseys, it was a really significant number and it just came out randomly so, it was meant to be," she said.
Jeff Mowat, one of the organizers of the event, says leading up to the anniversary of the shootings on June 4, the community wanted to pay tribute to Cst. Douglas James Larche, Cst. Dave Joseph Ross and Cst. Fabrice Georges Gevaudan with a positive event.
"Rather than focus on tragedy and sadness, we need to celebrate their lives. We need to be positive and give thanks for what they have done and honour their sacrifice. Each spring we'll be reminded of the positive things in life when we see the flowers and smell the perfume of the flowering trees."
"The trees will celebrate their life as a living memorial to the officers."
Gevaudan agreed that associating the neighbourhood with something positive was a good step in her healing process.
"We'll be able to think about today and everybody who was here and the music and look at the trees and focus on that," she said.
Mowat hopes that the widows will feel the support and gratitude of the Hildegard community.
"Now when they drive down Hildegard or pick up their kids from school they will see the trees to remind them of this day and how all of Hildegard and Moncton came out to say thank-you," he said.