THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY / 572

Wendy Gailey Atkins web photo

Then occasionally people like Paul and Zabeth Bayne and Derek Hoare come along to wrest our attention. Something has happened to their families that has interrupted their family routine and happiness. Oh but much worse than that, this occurrence has introduced a horror and an unrelenting panic against which they are virtually powerless.  

During the past week I have been reflecting on the importance and the value of the family to me personally. There are so many personal anecdotes that might serve to illustrate my conclusions yet while interesting, they may not of themselves establish the value I place upon family. So permit me plainly to express what I am certain is true for everyone – ultimately, family means everything.

Family is that closely knit network within which the most intimate of human feelings are shared. Family relationships engender trust, respect, unconditional acceptance and love. Cherished memories are archived in a family depository that is shared by and accessible to the entire family unit. There is laughter and tradition and history that are inscribed deeply into the corporate consciousness so they serve as the magnet whenever holiday activities and reunion plans are made. All the griefs and exhilarations, heartaches and joys are commonly shared and owned by members of families. There is an enduring sense of belonging within family.

Customarily adults, particularly males, focus their early years upon their careers and the development of a reputation for excellence. They are concerned with income levels, advancement and promotions and qualities of life and often the profound value of family is pressed behind those priorities. When years have past and what is truly of importance resurfaces, it is family once more that claims full attention. Family takes a person with gladness through the stages of life all the way to the finish. Young mothers who spend the majority of their days at home with the care of their children have so much more of their lives invested in their families. Very literally every waking thought pertains to the care and protection of family members. Family importance is not negotiable or questionable for them.

The outcome of my reflection is this. Without the people who matter most to you, Life would be vacant.

Then occasionally people like Paul and Zabeth Bayne and Derek Hoare come along to wrest our attention. Something has happened to their families that has interrupted their family routine and happiness. Oh but much worse than that, this occurrence has introduced a horror and an unrelenting panic against which they are virtually powerless. Government legislation has empowered other people, assumably with families of their own, to determine whether the Bayne and Hoare families should be permitted to function as they are without intervention. Ostensibly the intrusions have the best of intentions, that is, in the interests of children, the incursions are aimed at prevention of neglect, abuse and risk. Such infringement is clearly justifiable in some distressed family situations but suspicions need not translate predictably and almost automatically into apprehensions of children from their parents’ care. It is in the cases of the Baynes and Hoares a violation of trust far graver than the concern that has generated the action. What exacerbates this foul practice is the prevalence, because these two families are merely a sampling of affected families affected by family welfare practice gone sour. Few things today are more offensive than ministries that carry names like Family Welfare, and Ministry of Children and Family Development, when in truth they inflict greater heartache for the children and parents than any of the normal obstacles and issues of life. The Baynes, wrongly accused but vindicated yet without their children for four years. Derek Hoare and daughter Ayn, penalized with what may be months of separation because Ayn managed to evade daddy’s watchful eye for a recent unsurprising, autistic wandering. In these and other cases the Ministry has been more harmful than anything that might have been experienced at home, and the Ministry does not affect immediate corrections but engages in long distance trips into legalized family bankruptcy and emotional family trauma. This must be stopped. The Child, Family and Community Services Act was not designed for such flagrant exploitation by imprudent directors and social workers. Honourable Mary McNeil, put a stop to this!

Dr. Ron Unruh

Please contact Derek Hoare directly at 

Derek Hoare iconoclast_ensues@yahoo.com 904-HELP AYN 904-435-7296