The 1st of November … I can already feel the anxiety building. To say it has been a tough (nearly) 6 months is an understatement. The contrast to the heartbreak has been the beautiful people I have become close to, people who have held my space for me when it was hard to breathe through the waves of grief. This is her legacy. Our friendships, our care and compassion for each other, symbolic of all that she was, all that they were, imprinted on our hearts forever.
So today I step into the dreaded ‘sixth month’, one month further away from them. Today I reflect on the support still needed in our recovery, for our community, for our children. The responsibility of speaking my truth and my experience is starting to bubble. The advocate in me is restless. I want to leave the world a better place for my children. She wanted the same. It is time to step out of this cloud of disbelief and ask the hard questions.
When there is a bushfire we have a Bushfire Relief Fund. We help people rebuild, homes, structures, things we can see and touch. We are generous beyond measure. We help a mate.
When there is a tragedy such as our experience, there is nothing. Why?
Why are people having to cash in their super to pay for the Psych support they need? How is that ok?
My dream … no…. my goal … is to create a Trauma Relief Fund – to build people, to build systems that support recovery immediately after a tragedy. A system that says, we see you. Let me hold this space for you for a few months while you build the energy to work out what you need.
So why am I posting this here? Because by writing it down, you become my accountability. You can push me to make sure I am more than talk. Encourage me, help me, just make sure I don’t let that cloud come back and stop me from achieving this goal. It is too important. If something this big doesn’t bring about the much needed changes in our Mental Health system and the Victims of Crime processes … nothing will.
Jonelle Fraser 