So I was at the gym yesterday on the crosstrainer and I looked up and saw the faces of the RCMP officers that were slain on Thursday in Mayerthorpe. I wasn't worried about knowing any of them because my buddy who's a cop is an Edmonton City police officer so I had nothing to be concerned about. Until under one of the pictures was the name P. Schiemann. I looked up at his face and a cold feeling rushed through me and I almost fell off the crosstrainer. Then I thought, it can't be Peter, even though I remembered that he had always wanted to be an RCMP officer and the picture was him. But I could convince myself with no first name on CBC that it might not be him.
When I got home I called my parents and my father said they hadn't published the names in the Friday paper. So then I looked on the CBC website and found it...Peter Christopher Schiemann, 25. Oh my God.
I knew Peter from Concordia Concert Choir. He was a highlight of that year for me. He was a member of a prominent Lutheran family in the choir which usually automatically meant that he wasn't going to be friends with me, the spitfire, opinionated, liberal-thinkin' Mennonite girl. But Peter wasn't afraid of that. Or who he was or wasn't supposed to be friends with. Or whether or not our religious beliefs were in perfect harmony.
My favourite memory of Peter was when Concert Choir was on tour in Michigan and we were at Concordia Ann Arbour. This guy was following me aroud from their campus and he was sort of odd and I think he wanted to date me or something, which I didn't want, so I told him I already had a boyfriend which was true but he was home in Edmonton so I needed a pretend one for the next few days in Michigan. And so a little while later I was walking down a pathway on campus and Peter yells "Hey Amanda" and I turned and he COMPLETELY SOAKS me with a supersoaker. And I'm running chasing after him and his billet buddies that he's staying with and he's chasing me around soaking me even more with the supersoaker. And then finally I catch up to him and Peter is built sort of like Foreman, geeky looking and scrawny, so I wrestle him to the ground with his supersoaker and pin him down and then while I've got him pinned and all the American boys are watching I say "Peter Schiemann will you be my boyfriend tomorrow?" and he says "Sure" and then while we get up and dust ourselves off and I try to wring out my shirt with a big FORD truck sign in the middle of it and the American boys are standing there slack-jawed and tongue-tied and then finally one of the says "Are all Canadian girls like you?". Peter was always good on helping you out with a joke. He was funny and sweet and wonderful, he never judged people or looked down on them. He was a kind and amazing guy and I will greatly miss him as I'm sure his family and friends back home are absolutely devastated by this whole crazy experience.
And on top of how devastiting it was to find out about this myself then to tell Rakkel was like ripping the wound all over again. We were inseperable the year I knew Peter Schiemann and she knew him too and we know his older brother and I knew it would devastate her too. To have to call her and tell her such awful news over the phone and make her cry and not be able to comfort each other was an awful awful feeling that I hope I never have to endure again.
So Peter Schiemann, rest in peace. You were a wonderful friend to me and gave me gifts of friendship and acceptance and you will never know how deeply that touched me. My thoughts and prayers are with your family and I hope you know how many lives you have touched and how you have forever touched mine.