Recently my hometown of Thorold experienced two devastating, tragic loses. With a cloud of heart break and sadness over us all it may have been the hardest week imaginable.
It is times like this that I really realize how important community is. Family, friends, neighbours, colleagues – all brought together in a time of need.
What surprised me most was the presence of this community online. I thought Facebook would seem like something so trivial in times of tragedy, but for us it became a form of comfort. With groups created to honour the memory of two amazing Thorold men, Facebook users began to pour their hearts out. No relationship was too insignificant to share memories, thoughts and best wishes. An abundance of pictures, stories and videos were posted. It became a way to give and receive support to each other. It gave us reason to cry and to laugh. It touched our lives.
We can’t deny the growing importance of social media in our lives. It is all around us so why not use it to our advantage. This also reminds me of the implications of our use of social media has on other users. What we do and say online affects other user and members of our community.
Thorold has been touched by these tragedies and although we don’t understand why, we are comforted by our community – in person and online. We are comforted by sharing and memories. We are comforted in knowing we have two incredible angels watching over us. Grant and Mr. Mahler will always be in our hearts, and their legacy will always remain – even on facebook.
