Let’s listen to a wonderful story, “You hold me up” written in a spirit of reconciliation by a Cree woman named Monique Gray Smith; illustrated by a Metis woman, Danielle Daniel. The story embraces the concept of holding each other up, which means to support one another. You all are incredible support pillars—for your children, partners, and one another. I think that foster care epitomizes this notion and that you are all amazing people.
Caring for others is an important component of mental health. One of the cool things about this story is that Monique makes it really simple for our youngest children to understand how they, too, can support their families, elders, teachers, and each other.
When reading this story, I was reminded of the 7 Grandfather teachings—Humility, Truth, Courage, Love, Respect, Wisdom, and Honesty—and believed that when our young people embrace these teachings, they honour their cultural heritage and hold each other up.
Thank you for holding up our fantastic little humans. You. Are. Amazing.
