Forced to abandon her home as fire ravaged Fort McMurray a year ago, a local author is now sharing inspirational stories of survival and faith.
Dee Bentley compiled riveting tales from 16 of the approximately 90,000 people whose lives changed when they were forced to evacuate Fort McMurray under frightening circumstances in her book Muscle and Heart. Bentley moved to Okotoks after the fires destroyed thousands of Fort McMurray homes and businesses in early May in one of Alberta’s worst disasters this century.
“The first motivation for putting the book together was the utter feeling of helplessness and to help others overcome the disaster,” said Bentley. “I wanted to get a good cross-section of different people who live there to make an interesting story.”
Bentley put a call out for submissions shortly after the fires and received personal stories from about 30 people ranging from first responders to parents.
“Initially, I thought it would be a more Chicken Soup for the Soul type of book, but I felt I didn’t have enough to proceed,” she said. “One of the co-authors and I talked and decided to change the focus and look for a more inspirational focus for the book. I kept the stories that stood out as being inspirational, like people that went above and beyond like the firefighters or anything that was particularly inspiring or miraculous. It’s easy to read and quite gripping.”
Reading the pages of the book brings readers right into the homes and vehicles of those forced to swiftly pack up their belongings and venture on a frighteningly sluggish drive out of the city as the flames quickly spread. The co-authors go on to share their experiences returning home days later to find an unrecognizable community.
“When I went to compile the stories it was emotionally difficult, having been through it myself,” said Bentley. “Working through the stories it was really difficult and I couldn’t get through one story without breaking down and crying.”
As Bentley continued to work through people’s stories, she found the process surprisingly healing.
“Any time a person goes through really difficult things writing is a great tool to use,” she said. “The feedback I received was that it was therapeutic to read. I heard from people that it helped them as well.”
Bentley didn’t return to the community she’d lived in for more than 30 years until several months later in November to officially launch the publication of her book.
“It was difficult to go back,” she said. “Having lived there for so long I had a lot nostalgic feelings about all of the great things that have happened over the course of the years. Raising my children there, the good neighbours we’ve had and the good friendship, all of that came rushing back.”
Bentley moved to Fort McMurray as a teenager in 1980 and over the years married, had three children and made many friends.
“Fort McMurray has had a lot of negative press in the past and having lived there for over 30 years, I know there is a lot of great people there,” she said. “The impression many people have is that it’s a work camp and people go there for short periods of time, but there is quite a large established community of families that live there.”
Bentley and her family have now established themselves in Okotoks and are waiting for the housing market to bounce back before selling their Fort McMurray home, which endured smoke damage. Her husband continues to work and commute to the city. Bentley said three of the book’s co-authors have left Fort McMurray since the fire. The rest are rebuilding their lives.
“There is a long way to go for the community to come back from it, but there are lots of good signs of rebuilding,” she said.
Approximately 500 copies of Muscle and Heart have sold, of which Bentley has donated $500 of the proceeds to rebuild a radio tower in the city. Muscle and Heart is available for purchase at Brown Sugar Bake Shop in Okotoks for $20 and amazon.ca for $25.24.
Bentley will also sell copies at the Millarville Farmers’ Market June 17 and Aug. 20-21.
She donated two copies to the Marigold Library System.
Inspired by the success of Muscle and Heart, Bentley is putting a call out to people impacted by the 2013 southern Alberta floods for another Muscle and Heart book – this one a fifth anniversary edition of the flood for next year. The deadline for submissions is June 15.
For more details or to learn more about Bentley’s books go to deebentley.com
