BBR23, my third ride with WWC, honoured the Canadian contribution to the liberation of Italy in World War 2. Before Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings in Normandy, Canada was involved in Italian Campaign. The Liberation of Italy began with Operation Husky, the initial landings of Allied Forces in Sicily in July 1943 that led to the collapse of the Fascist Italian regime of Benito Mussolini. In the days surrounding Christmas Day 1943, in the rubble of Ortona Canadians fought their most famous battle of the Italian campaign. Ortona, the “Italian Stalingrad,” was the site of some of the fiercest fighting in WW2. BBR23 began in Ortona and six days and almost 500km and 2,000m of climbing later, we completed the ride at Ravenna where the Canadians saw their last action of the Italian Campaign before being relocated to Northwest Europe.

For me, our first stop was at the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery. This was my focal point. Thirty eight years earlier, I had been stationed in Germany with the Canadian Forces Europe. My family and I travelled to the Ortona region for a holiday and a visit with extended family. My daughter, Jaime, was just a year old. While there we visited Moro River. I snapped a photo of Jaime walking through the markers of the cemetery. Just half a year before the ride, Jaime passed away as a result of a long battle with a mental disorder called Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) coupled with an abuse of alcohol and drugs. I found the spot where Jaime had been walking and took another photo — this time she was absent. I will talk more about Jaime, BPD and how, I believe, my family’s military history played a role in her death.

Jaime walking through the markers …

… and without Jaime >