A freezing cold wind whipped through Sudbury on Friday evening, as roughly 40 people braved the elements at a vigil in honour of missing man Branden Bodson-Gratton.
The winds howled through the courtyard at Tom Davies Square, extinguishing the flames of candles held by those in attendance. The elements could not however, blow out the hope of Branden's mother, Diane Gratton.
"I want him, wherever he is I hope he's warm and safe, to come home," said Gratton. "He knows he can call any one of his friends and family members if he wants to come home."
Branden has been missing since Dec. 3, and there have been no sightings of him or communication, which strikes his mother as particularly concerning.
"He always calls us, so that's the big wonder," said Gratton.
The 40-some people in attendance joined together in song, prayer, and moments of silence as they joined together in both vocal and silent pleas for Branden to return home safe and sound.
The vigil was led by Father Jean-Paul (J.P.) Jolicoeur, the parish priest at Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf Catholic Church.
"I think every one of us gathered here tonight have come here tonight because there is a bond between us," said Jolicoeur. "This is a coming together with one purpose, to hope and pray that Branden is OK. As we stand here, it might not be too comfortable because of the cold, but we must think of Branden, and others who are on the street somewhere because it's their home."
Christmas Day at the Gratton home was a quiet one without Branden, as he is usually up to some type of antics, says Diane. While the holidays were certainly not the same as years past for Diane, her spirits were lifted by the support of the community as the search for Branden continues more than three weeks after he was last seen.
"The support has been overwhelming, I can't even say beyond words, the first two days how it spread, I was just humbled and thankful," said Gratton. "It's amazing, I've talked to a lot of people on private messages who have a son or daughter or family member who has an issue with depression or some kind of mental health issue, and they can relate so much to the struggles that we have to deal with as family, and how we try to work with our kids for them."
Bodson-Gratton has schizophrenia and is known to take hallucinogenic drugs, but has not been taking medication for some time and had been doing well.
"He hasn't been on meds for a while and has been doing really good, he's been excelling in his job, but something happened, and we don't know," said Gratton.
Greater Sudbury Police continue to search for Branden, while Diane and her friends and family have been doing searches of their own.
As she has said on previous occasions throughout this ordeal, Diane urged everyone to hug their loved ones and tell them you love them.
"Don't be afraid to tell them you love them and hug them and make sure that they understand that," said Gratton. "Sometimes they don't think that you're there for them and by doing that it's at least a small thing we can do for them to let them know that we're there."
