From Silence Comes Strength

It was only last December that we last did this. Stood in silence as a nation to remember those who had died. It was for the Pike River and at the time, it seemed incomprehensible that there was a death toll of 29. The Cathedral bells in Christchurch rang for each of those miners - just people going about their jobs when something happened. At my workplace at the Christchurch City Council, we stopped and stood as one. Many emotional and disbelieving people. "How could this happen?" We stood as one for our West Coast whanau. The raw, emotional power of standing in silence in honour of your fallen brothers and sisters. They could have been people you met in the Nelson Creek pub. You could have spoken to one of them when visiting Greymouth. You could have joked and laughed with them in a Blackball Street. The West Coast has the reputation for some of the friendliest people you could ever meet anywhere in the world. It wasn't fair.

The two minute silence was a way for many New Zealanders to say to the West Coast "We are all Coasters and you are New Zealanders. We are with you and we share your grief". For the Coasters who attended the memorial service to know that, would have felt comforting.

When discussing Pike River with friends, family and work colleagues, we felt compelled to compare it directly to our own experiences with the 4 September earthquake. I felt, as many others did, that we were lucky. Nobody died, it was only bricks and mortar, and because Pike River had a high death toll, those communities would find it difficult to overcome this tragedy.

One week ago, our own tragedy happened. For those who were in the central city at that time, they would have all known that a tragedy of huge proportions had occurred. The luck we had with the first earthquake had run out. As the death toll rose and the names started appearing, we started to recognise these people who have died. The enormity of what has happened started to sink in.

Today there was two minutes silence for the victims of the 22 February earthquake. All I can think of when I see the images, is what strength those of us who are struggling to deal with this can gain, knowing that our fellow Kiwi's and Aussies and citizens of the world, who are probably desperate to help in any way they can, are giving us.

To all of you. Thank you. You give me strength to deal with tomorrow. And the next day.

Kia Ora.