CARMAN — With tears in her eyes, Nancy Clearwater cradled the neck of a bronze turtle sculpture in her hands and planted a kiss on the top of its head, reflecting on the lives and loss of her daughter and grandchildren.

The sculpture, and four turtles of increasing sizes, form part of a memorial dedicated to the victims of a mass slaying that rocked this rural Manitoba community more than 19 months ago.

Clearwater and dozens of others gathered Wednesday at the Friends and Family Playground to unveil the sculptures in honour of 30-year-old Amanda Clearwater and her children — Bethany, 6, Jayven, 4, and Isabella, two months.

“That’s my daughter,” Clearwater told the Free Press after the ceremony, pointing toward the sculpture she kissed.

“It’s very special to me.”

The family, and Aman

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