Scan barcode
A review by vrog12
Crossroads: My Story of Tragedy and Resilience as a Humboldt Bronco by Kaleb Dahlgren
5.0
This was a big hit to the feels and it just kept hitting the entire time.
For whatever reason I decided the best time to listen to this book was alone in a car, but it had me gripped the whole drive. I loved hearing about the attitude that Kaleb and his family held when he was growing up and how that transferred to resiliency after the crash. Growing up in a small Junior B hockey town, it was interesting to compare to the way that Humboldt really focused on the team's influence outside of hockey. Granted, I am not the most familiar with the workings of our small town hockey team, but I don't think it was anywhere near the level of integration that the Broncos had with their community. I think too often we ignore negative hockey culture and we don't get to see the kind of systems that encourage young players to strive for more than on-ice performance.
Something I've struggled with forever is coming to terms with both my own mortality and that of those around me. You would think that through medicine I would be better at this, and I think I handle patient deaths well, but it's completely different when it's more personal. This book addressed mortality directly, and it made me very uncomfortable. It also talked about coming to terms with having to change how you incorporate your passions in life and this too made me sad and uncomfortable.
Overall after listening to this I felt completely gutted but it was a book that touched on so much more than just the crash that is etched in so many Canadian minds. Kaleb has a lot more to share than just hockey stories and I was surprised to find the ideas channeled directly to my own vulnerability.
For whatever reason I decided the best time to listen to this book was alone in a car, but it had me gripped the whole drive. I loved hearing about the attitude that Kaleb and his family held when he was growing up and how that transferred to resiliency after the crash. Growing up in a small Junior B hockey town, it was interesting to compare to the way that Humboldt really focused on the team's influence outside of hockey. Granted, I am not the most familiar with the workings of our small town hockey team, but I don't think it was anywhere near the level of integration that the Broncos had with their community. I think too often we ignore negative hockey culture and we don't get to see the kind of systems that encourage young players to strive for more than on-ice performance.
Something I've struggled with forever is coming to terms with both my own mortality and that of those around me. You would think that through medicine I would be better at this, and I think I handle patient deaths well, but it's completely different when it's more personal. This book addressed mortality directly, and it made me very uncomfortable. It also talked about coming to terms with having to change how you incorporate your passions in life and this too made me sad and uncomfortable.
Overall after listening to this I felt completely gutted but it was a book that touched on so much more than just the crash that is etched in so many Canadian minds. Kaleb has a lot more to share than just hockey stories and I was surprised to find the ideas channeled directly to my own vulnerability.