Hockey is a way of life, but it’s just a game.
What have you learned over the past few weeks during the Orange Phase? What sacrifices have you made?
I bet you’re missing the rink, you’re probably not alone. This most recent pause is just another great reminder that the game that we all love and sacrifice so much for is still just a game.
I drive by the Georges-L-Dumont Hospital every morning on my way to work. It just so happens that almost every morning I stop at the lights in front of the hospital.
While stopped at those traffic lights, I often watch and admire the real heroes during these unprecedented times. I see nurses and other health care workers walking across the street heading into work to start their shift every day.
I see these amazing health care professionals walking valiantly wearing masks seemingly carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Their body language and their eyes say completely two different things. You can tell they are exhausted before they even get started.
One can only imagine their level of compassion fatigue. They are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders during a global pandemic so we can all continue to live as “normal” of a life as freely as possible right now.
They are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders during a global pandemic so you all can carry your hockey bag into a rink.
I would love to see every hockey parent and player that is complaining or griping about not being able to head to the rink right now witness the emotional, physical and psychological weight that all these health care professionals are carrying with them as they go to work.
I wish they could all see the toll that it’s taking on all of the front-line health care workers across our province.
Obviously, everyone wants to go back to the “new normal” or the Yellow Phase, as quickly as possible, but that’s not that hand that we were dealt right now.
A matter of fact, if anything the Orange Phase has been a wakeup call for all of us, it has certainly provided us all with a great deal more perspective on what matters most.
The virus is all around us and it’s not going away any time soon.
I realize what the game of hockey means to people.
I realize how important it is for everyone, but at the end of the day, it’s a just a game.
Everyone wants to go back to the rink, but seeing those nurses walk to work every day makes me very grateful to work and live here in New Brunswick.
It’s easy to throw a hockey bag over your shoulder and walk into the rink, but if the game has taught you anything since you laced them up it should have taught you the value of team work and sacrifice.
We are all in this together.
Our essential workers and front-line health care providers haven’t stopped since this all started.
They continue to sacrifice everything for us, we all need to do the right thing right now more than ever.
The great game of hockey and our homes away from home, the arena, will be waiting for us when everything returns to “normal”, but hopefully the latest pause has all taught us to appreciate what matters most, our health and our loved ones.
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