I picked-up my phone on Sunday afternoon to call Charlotte McLean for this week's Brainsport Times.
Three days later - I am still replaying that conversation in my mind and it will be a long time before that interview leaves my memory.
The story of Charlotte and her family participating in the Step Up for Mental Health run/walk - presented by Cameco - features multiple tragedies and healing. It's a story that makes your heart ache. But it also shows you the power of community when it comes together for Step Up.
Charlotte says the "long story" began in 2019 when her brother Brent committed suicide. "We found the Step Up walk and my family has had a team (every year) since 2021. We try to turn this tragedy into a positive - as much as we can," Charlotte explained.
For the last five years, their group - sometimes as big as 16 people - gathers in Montmartre (a small village on Highway 48) about one hour east of Regina to walk 5KM in virtual format.
That tradition will reach Year 6 this September, but it will come with the family trying to heal from a second tragedy. Charlotte's son Max died from suicide in March at the age of 22. It's hard to comprehend the grief and sadness for their family, but stopping their Step Up tradition wasn't an option. In fact, the family decided to make it bigger than ever.
"We knew right away," said Charlotte, when I asked if the family thought of stopping. "Heidi, my daughter, said: 'Mom, we need to put our Step Up (team in)."
When the family wrote Max's obituary this spring, they asked family and friends to make a donation to their Step Up team, which is called: Brent's and Max's Family. To no surprise, the donations have flowed into their team - with all the money directed to the Step Up for Mental Health Fund that is allocated to mental health programs across Saskatchewan.
"Co-workers from various jobs, former teachers, extended family, friends... as just some examples (of those who donated)," continued Charlotte. The team has raised almost $6,000 so far. "We find that talking about it... has helped us heal. We treat (mental health) as an illness. If Brent and Max had died of cancer, we wouldn't have hid from it."
So, their big team will gather on September 26 in Montmartre to walk in honour of Brent and Max. Even Charlotte's dad (Brent's dad and Max's grandfather) will be on the street for the walk at the age of 88. The tradition will continue and so will the healing - one step at a time.
(Max in the 2022 Step Up for Mental Health event - running in the memory of his uncle Brent, who committed suicide. Max died of suicide at the age 22 just four months ago.)
