At approximately 9:00pm on September 24th, 1965, a freighter called the Suzanne E was caught in a storm on Lake Winnipeg and tragically sank. It was a maritime disaster in the middle of the Canadian Prairies. The day’s weather began clear with not even a drop of rain in the forecast, so the ship embarked to haul its cargo like any other day, but that was the last one it ever saw. Sinking in a small bay near Grindstone Point, all hands were lost except one man named Clifford Everett, aged twenty-four years at the time.

For the following thirty years, he carried the events of that night, never sharing what really happened with anyone. It was not until a 1996 documentary for the CBC (the Canadian public broadcaster) that he revealed how he survived that night, finally setting the story free.

So many of us carry stories with us, some too personal or painful to share, but setting those stories free can enable others to share the burden with us. Our history need not always be only our weight to carry. Sharing them requires courage and vulnerability, but they also connect people and foster empathy for one another, and the world needs both of those things more than ever.