Standing Under the Memorial Tree — BC Recovery Day, New Westminster

Today I walked through New Westminster during BC Recovery Day and came across something that stopped me in my tracks — a tree, strung from branch to branch with hundreds of paper hearts, flowers, and stars. Every single one carries a name. Some are simple: just a name and “miss you.” Others are longer, written in careful handwriting, clearly left by someone who loved that person and wanted the world to know it.

Names like Keanu, Zoe Mitchell, Charmaine Mitchell, Brandon Jones, Rodine Mike — strangers to me, but for a few minutes, standing in that crowd of color, they didn’t feel like strangers. They felt like a community’s memory made visible. “Forever 38.” “Rest in Paradise.” “Love you always.” Ribbons tangled between the hearts, tinsel catching the grey September light, a whole structure built entirely out of grief turned into something people could walk up to and add their own piece to.

Recovery Day exists because the overdose crisis in BC has touched an enormous number of families, and this tree felt like the emotional center of the whole event — not a statistic, not a headline, just names. People taking a marker and a scrap of paper and saying, simply, I haven’t forgotten you.

It’s the kind of public art that doesn’t ask you to feel anything in particular. It just asks you to slow down and read a few names. I did. I’d encourage anyone in the area to do the same if they get the chance — these events matter, and so does showing up for them.

#recovery #newwestminster #bcrecoveryday #community #mentalhealth #overdoseawareness