How Pope Francis's visit helped 2 generations of a Cree family heal
Glenda Sandy, left, with her father Sandy Robinson and her younger sister in 1984, when they went to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Que., to see Pope Jean-Paul II.
For Sandy, who lives in Quebec City now but hails from Kawawachikamach in northern Quebec, the moment was "very historic," and the fact that so many members of her family had participated in it was "like coming full circle" on "this path towards reconciliation, towards healing." As they reached the photographs, the very first image they came across was of Robinson's father, Baptiste Robinson, when he was in residential school. He was seven years old at the time.Baptiste Robinson, second from the left in the front row and wearing a tie, ended up working as an accountant for the Canadian National Railway after college. Glenda Sandy and her father Sandy Robinson found the photo while looking at old records from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
"I could feel my energy just getting positive and positive," he said. "At the end of it, I actually cheered up."Being part of what he considers a historical moment, allowed him to leave "feeling light and feeling good." Robinson's parents are both residential school survivors. He said his whole family has suffered from intergenerational trauma as a result.
As for Sandy, she said it is important for her to respect her children's pace as they navigate their own paths on that journey."Letting my kids, the next generation, decide on their own what's best for them without pushing them, I think is for me part of that progress."
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