I’m going to need some time to absorb this. I am the white Canadian mom to five light skin young adults. We have some vile racism here, but nothing like our neighbours to the south. We hear your American stories and shake our heads, confused.

But your accounting has struck a nerve I’ve never noticed in my thirty years experience with second hand bigotry.

I am sorry this happened to you. I can’t get past the knee-jerk reaction of wishing I’d been there to help in some way. Which gets nobody anywhere.

It’s what we all do moving forward now that matters. And for me, because of your incredible ability to take me directly into your memories, what I do now will be different than it would have been.

This one will stay with me a long while.