Photos from the funeral prosession in honour of Ottawa police Constable Eric Czapnik.

Walking home after my class yesterday, I noticed a huge crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk. I was just in time to see the funeral procession on the way to Lansdowne. There were endless rows of Mounties, police officers and firefighters all in a row along Campus Avenue waiting to begin. Just the sight of all of these men and women was enough to make me tear up. I saw police officers from Perth, Toronto, Kingston, Barrie, Cornwall and way more than I can remember. It was so nice to see all of them out in support. I wish I was at Bank and Sunnyside because I hear that the kids from Hopewell Avenue Public School came out to line the sidewalks. It was just an all around sad and somber day remembering and celebrating a fallen hero.

I feel like my journalist hat is never off. You’re always on call, always on the clock, always on deadline. You can’t really escape it, no matter how hard you try.