I drove north by east yesterday. I drove across rolling hills where prairie fields lay scoured clean of late summer bounty. Fields  of stubble sprawled out as far as the eye could see, a patchwork quilt of golden hues and rich black earth touching the horizon in all directions. East. South. North. West.

I love the prairies and I love driving to the sound of CBC Radio connecting me to the wonders and beauty and people of this land I call my home.

There was a show I listened to, a documentary called, “The Idea of Canada”. Originally recorded/created in 1992 to celebrate Glen Gould and his music, it explored the question — what is our nationhood? — through music and voice interspersed with snippets of radio commentary, famous speeches, people, ideas. A fascinating look at our country and the ideas of what makes us great (or not), you can listen to it here.

CBC Radio — its shows and the people who make it possible — are heroes.

I learned about a man I’d never heard of yesterday, and over dinner asked C.C. — do you know who Fred Saskamoose is? Of course, he replied — the avid hockey fan/player that he is. Well, until yesterday I didn’t. Mr. Saskamoose, (I learned on CBC) broke the discrimination barrier in the National Hockey League when he became the first First Nations hockey player to play in the league from 1953 to 1954. Listening to Mr. Saskamoose speak, hearing him tell his stories of ‘those days’ and the work he does today to help aboriginal youth find their way through the discrimination that still exists in our country, I was inspired.

Fred Saskamoose is a hero.

On September 22, at Union Cemetery in Calgary there is a unique celebration of our past, our loved ones and deceased being co-sponsored by EMMEDIA and The Old Y Centre with support from the City of Calgary Parks Department. It sounds amazing and I wish I could go but I will be in Ontario and unable to attend.  In  “Equinox in Union Cemetery” Artists and Community come together to create a sanctuary of remembrance and reflection.

The first of what will could become an annual event in the Union Cemetery – Equinox Vigil – will introduce Calgarians to ways of remembering our deceased loved ones and gather together to pay respects in meaningful ways through artistic shrines and installations.

The project is modeled after Vancouver’s Artist in Residency program at the Mountain View Cemetery with a focus to “Honouring Old Traditions ~ Creating Newness”. This will be a non-denominational sacred event and an opportunity for people to share their own customs and experiences as well as to acknowledge and actualize personal needs to honour our ancestors and remember our dead.

City of Calgary Parks Departments, the sponsors, artists and community creating this event are heroes.

I received a note last week from a woman introducing me to Donna Mae DePola. Donna Mae is a substance abuse counselor, author and founder of the Resource Training Center. From ages five to seventeen she was raped and molested on a daily basis by her father. When her father passed away, she discovered twelve film canisters documenting the rapes. The trauma prompted her to write a book about the experience called “The Twelve Tins”.

Almost from the beginning she turned to drugs to deal with the pain, becoming at its worst a four thousand dollar a week substance abuse problem. She has been clean for over twenty five years and is determined to end the stigma associated with addiction. She is passionate about giving those who want help a second chance.

Donna Mae DePola is a hero.

Have you celebrated the heroes in your midst today?