Western News – Mustangs men’s hockey brings joy to grieving neighbors

Doing good will can be just as warming and heartbreaking.

Smiles and tears for Amanda Rawson and her three daughters shared the same space of spontaneous generosity on the night of this month as members of the Western Mustangs men’s hockey team brought Christmas goodbye to their front door.

Aaron Rawson, Amanda’s husband and father of the girls, died unexpectedly in October.

A few weeks later, their middle daughter, Olivia, 9, fell ill, and then – just hours after the family erected a Christmas tree to celebrate what would have been Aaron’s 43 years.^rd birthday – he was diagnosed with cancer.

“Our lives have been turned upside down and I feel like it’s still shaking,” Rawson said. – I would have liked to miss Christmas altogether, but I had to stand up for the children.

Aaron had loved Christmas, he had always put the lights on the house and put the lighted candy canes on the lawn. Fearing heights, Rawson decided this year’s decorations would begin and end in the interior tree. He thought it would be enough to just survive a month.

He did not know that the guests – the connections layered over the connections – were behind him.

Inflatable lawn decorations, including the home of giant Mickey Mouse Amanda Rawson and her daughters Olivian, 9, Scarlett, 7, and Summer, 13. Uploaded image

Borrowing a hand

Rawson’s father, Bill Dawson, is a professor of accounting at Western’s Department of Management and Organizational Research at DAN (his mother, Gloria Dawson is there as an administrator), and one of his students, Dan Davies, learned about the family’s situation.

Davies, who was in his fifth year of leadership at Western and a goalkeeper in his third year on the Mustangs men’s hockey team, wondered if he could help. He approached head coach Clarke Singer and wondered if they could stop at the house to reach out.

So last week, after receiving permission from Rawson to visit, Davies, Singer and five other Mustangs showed up at Rawson’s home in Ilderton, Ont.

“As they started walking down the driveway with their hockey sticks, my 13-year-old daughter Summer, who started playing hockey this year, just had her eyes shine. He was so excited to see them, ”Rawson said.

“And they weren’t in a hurry. They stayed at the pizza and played driveway with the girls and put on the lights and these huge bouncy castles.”

Singer’s son had suggested supplying lawn decorations: a life-size Santa Claus and three reindeer, as well as a festive, four-foot-tall Mickey Mouse. He hadn’t even realized that Mickey was the favorite character of seven-year-old Scarlett before he shouted for joy.

Olivia will start four months of chemotherapy this week. From the living room couch, he can look out the front window and watch giant-sized holiday characters dancing in the front lawns.

Rawson hopes it makes them all continue to smile.

“It was amazing how generous they were in terms of their time. They just gave us that little boost when we needed it the most, ”he said.

The inflatable lawn decorations include a four-meter-high Mickey Mouse. Uploaded photo

Community support

It is all part of the community that has come together to support the family during their needs: friends, family, neighbors and teammates in and around Ilderton, who have been planning fresh dinners every day until February; The Gateway Church community, which has walked every step with the family; a friend who founded a GoFundMe campaign and all those who donate to it.

And now, a hockey team of foreign men who borrowed their hands and a hockey stick when it was counted.

Rawson asked that Western news to show his gratitude and generosity to the hockey players despite the team’s unwillingness to trumpet their good deeds. “They’re a group of men doing something nice for someone they don’t know, and it was really special,” he said.

The singer praises Davies – “an incredible young man in every way” – and his team: “A wonderful group of guys who saw the need and fulfilled it.”

In the pre-pandemic times, head coach Ray Wood met with the team every other Tuesday to guide the athletes in character development, including trips to volunteer at the London Food Bank and helping with other community events. “The human side is the most important part of what we do in many ways,” Singer said.

“Perhaps we could bring a little joy to their December from a very difficult situation,” he added.

The grief of the family is far from over, and in some ways it is just beginning, but this has been a welcome respite from their constant worry and grief.

“I feel like our lives are a roller coaster, and this is one of the highs in a really low time,” Rawson said.