This is the season for looking forward to the year ahead, but also for reflecting on the 12 months that have just passed.
This holiday season, Gazette staff writers will share their memories from the past year. Members of the newsroom have been asked to write a short piece about something memorable that happened to them during the course of their professional pursuits in 2012, whether it be their favourite story to cover, a memorable interview or a most memorable moment.
Below is the first such reflection, by reporter Anna Borowiecki. Subsequent instalments will be published on Dec. 26 and Dec. 29.
When my editor Peter Maser suggested all Gazette reporters write their favourite story of the year, I groaned and leaned back in my comfy chair (hoping I wouldn’t topple over) and mentally flipped through all the entertainment reviews and previews I’d written.
After a process of elimination only one truly gripping story stood out. As if it was my own private spectre, it kept coming back again and again to haunt me. It had all the dramatic ingredients that make a suspenseful narrative – drama, violence, murder, a theatre festival, a burlesque troupe and a house.
But it was the story behind the story that really intrigued me.
It all started in August 2012 when the River City Revue Burlesque performing at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival telephoned to let readers know they were donating part of their festival proceeds to the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation.
I vaguely remembered her name and clicked onto the website to refresh my memory. Jessica Martel, a Morinville resident, was a beautiful brunette with luminous eyes and a gorgeous smile. Jessica’s life was cut short when her violent, abusive common-law husband murdered her as she tried to leave him.
On April 29, 2009, he beat, stabbed and strangled her to death. Their three children, under the age of seven, were found in a bedroom with blood on their clothes.
I was shocked. Tears formed in my eyes. No child should witness the murder of a parent. The horror was impossible to grasp.
Outrageous acts of this kind sometimes split families apart. Trying to understand insane acts of violence are sometimes more than we humans can comprehend.
Through all the pain they felt, a cluster of Jessica’s family and friends hung on to her memory and shaped a vision for a saner future. They banded together to form a foundation dedicated to building a women’s shelter in the Morinville area that would also serve surrounding Sturgeon County residents.
To step out of this tragedy and resurrect a broken life by helping others takes tremendous courage, drive, compassion and vision.
But having a vision and dealing with the reality are two different things. Shelters don’t come cheap. The foundation needs $1 million to build a six-room house that will accommodate women and children.
When I last spoke with foundation board member Andrea Cantrell, a cousin of Jessica’s, back in August, they only had raised $13,000. Since then the foundation has had several small fundraisers. But their goal is still a long way off.
What intrigued me most about this story was how a small band of regular folk refuses to be defeated by what some would see as a daunting task. Raising $1 million is no small feat.
In a way, they are similar to the phoenix, the Greek mythological bird that obtains new life from the ashes of its predecessor. They have stepped out of dark, personal pain to bring hope, and peace and light to others.
And it’s their fiery energy that has created a ripple affect across the St. Albert-Fort Saskatchewan-Sturgeon County community as many businesses and individuals have stepped in to lend a hand.
As we have seen by the latest Connecticut shootings of school children, violence is never very far away. The foundation members aren’t just talking about ending it. They’ve taken action. They couldn’t save Jessica, but they are trying to do something concrete to help others. And for me there is nothing more powerful and inspiring than reaching out to others.
(If you wish to donate, visit the Jessica Martel Foundation at www.thejessicamartelmemorialfoundation.com.)
