When we remember someone, we must always acknowledge that a life is more than a resume, or a single moment.
Two stories have emerged over the past week to honour the memory of Shannan Hickey of Belleville, a nurse at BGH whose life was tragically cut short in the spring of last year.
The “Shannan’s Light” monument was dedicated last week outside of Belleville General as both a tribute to Shannan and a message of hope for anyone experiencing intimate partner violence.
Also recently, a check was presented after the Shannan Hickey Memorial Golf Tournament raised over $14,000 for Three Oaks Foundation.
While the first event was located at the place where she touched people’s lives every day, and both refer to the circumstances surrounding her death, it’s important to realize that she was much more than both.
Her job as a nurse is a noble profession, and her aspirations of working in the ICU are even more admirable, but she was more than someone filling a role.
She had family and friends and dreams of future now unrealized. She was patient and kind and (by all accounts) loving and supportive of everyone around her. She was a singular bright light, which makes the glow of the monument which bears her name both appropriate and yet somehow just a pale shadow.
Most of us never knew Shannan or even met her, and now we never will, and yet I know that our lives are also now dimmer without her light in them.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
(PAUL MARTIN)
