Snow And Knitting While We Wait

While we await the verdict, there is a very real sense of why we are all here - in the air there's almost an electric charge, for emotions run very close to the surface right now.

The discussions among the families - mostly lovely women knitting or crocheting - were all over the place, from how the justice system failed their daughters, to anger over an article written today in the Vancouver Sun about whether or not we need to have another trial for the next 20 counts of murder against Pickton, to the snowy weather. They also wanted to know "who the heck" I was exactly, anyways.

I sat and listened to tales of the women from younger years and heard bout how one victim's child has been horribly bullied in school and how the school said perhaps she shouldn't come back! Like it was her fault her mom was who she was and was allegedly killed by Pickton.

I have listened to their laughter and seen how so much strength can be found in it - a few off-color comments apparently became a feature to see how red I could turn! I see how much more their daughters were than the adjectives and nouns so many articles reduce them to: "drug-addicted prostitutes from the Downtown Eastside."

These women were daughters. Think of yours and that is how they feel. Don't have a daughter? Think of your sister, mom, cousin or whatever woman you have in your life who brings a smile to your face and causes your heart to swell. That is who these victims were. Long before they were allegedly "Pickton's victims," that is who they were.