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Humbled and astounded

Letters

Editor:

We are writing to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Sunshine Coast Community for all your help during a very complicated time for us as a family. We spent nine days in lockdown in Ecuador. Under military patrol and with local tensions rising, we lived with real uncertainty about our ability to leave, whether there would be enough food or power in the remote area we found ourselves, and without the capacity to communicate well due to the lack of reliable Internet. Amazingly in the end, we made our way home quickly. We are well aware that there are many other Canadians still trapped abroad facing similar or much more severe situations.

On Boxing Day 2019, we excitedly left the Coast on a world tour. We wanted to travel with our children so they could learn culture, language, (bio)diversity and a deeper understanding of how wide and wonderful the world is outside this small community. We know from personal experience that incredible feeling you are offered when you return after such an adventure to your home, and how grateful you feel for what you have. This time around, we are humbled and astounded by the strength and power of this coastal community. Before we even had realized to what degree we needed help, numerous people had sprung to action with petitions, countless calls and letters to our MP and MLA. We received an outpouring of messages asking, “How can I help?” This provided us hope and calm when we needed it most.

Words cannot explain how thankful we are to every one of you who circled us in support in these ways. We are unbelievably privileged to live here and to be a part of such a caring community. A shout out to Signy, Laura, Correen, Paul and Onnie who spread the word that we were in need and got the wheels of action turning at a rapid rate. Thank you to our MP Patrick Weiler, our MLA Nicholas Simons, their staff members and the staff at Global Affairs Canada who are working overtime to solve unprecedented problems quickly.

We have arrived home three months earlier than expected during a time of uncertainty for us all. We are currently living out our quarantine (thank you, Silas White and family, for providing us with a house!), reacquainting ourselves with the West Coast rain and gulls, and are now thinking about all the ways we can give back to a community that has given us so much. We are in this together, apart.

Jenny Groves, Simon Hocking, Finley and Sabine Hocking-Groves, Gibsons