THUNDER BAY — A filmmaker from the Marquette, Michigan area is heartened by the response to a poignant video he produced about a family trip to the Slate Islands off the north shore of Lake Superior.
The piece, 24 Leeches, is narrated by Aaron Peterson's son, Josiah, who was 8 years old when the family of four drove across the border in 2017 to canoe to the archipelago near Terrace Bay.
Tragically, the boy was diagnosed last year with leukemia, and died two months later from a fungal infection during treatment, at the age of 10.
Peterson wrote the script based on campfire conversations the family shared during various trips.
Josiah was healthy when his dad started work on the film, and a rough cut was completed before he fell ill.
In an online post on Vimeo, Peterson says the project ultimately transitioned to a memorial to "my best friend and adventure buddy, a very special kid that experienced more in his decade than many do in a full life. I ache to know what he would have become."
He released the final version of the film on April 20, 2020, Josiah's birth date.
The film's title comes from an incident on the Slate Islands in which the boy and his younger sister excitedly retrieve two dozen leeches from the water, counting them as they deposit them in a bucket.
24 Leeches is not a sad story in itself.
Rather, it depics the joy of children experiencing camping – in Josiah's words – as "one long recess, with no bells."
What happened to the child later is never brought up in the film, although it is referenced in the online introduction.
"My kids' whole life, we've been canoeing and camping and living close to the land. The script is based on what we talked about over the years. That many great campfire conversations don't happen on just one trip," Peterson told Tbnewswatch. "The little insights that kids have, they just sort of come out of nowhere. As they say, 'kids say the darndest things.' "
Peterson described his little boy as "an old soul."
He said "Kids are naturally curious, but he was beyond that. He was drawn to the outdoors, and it was a joy to watch him, and his sister too, discover everything."
Peterson said Josiah was aware of the fragility of the environment, and knew that "even leeches have an important place in nature."
"It's kind of got me thinking. What is it that we lose as adults, if an 8-year-old has an open mind and understands that climate change isn't just something that's happening in the Arctic?"
Lake Superior's waters, he noted, are warming too.
"This lake that we love, it affects our weather, and it's shifting at a fairly rapid rate. And this film helps us see that through the eyes of a child," Peterson said.
When his boy passed away, he said, he realized the project wasn't what it was before.
"What a gift, that we did do this. We have a record. I have his voice, and his thoughts. So I just decided to put it out, as it is, as a memorial."
Peterson said resuming work on the film was difficult nonetheless.
But he's glad he went ahead.
"As I was doing it, I came to realize that I raised my kids to understand that good feeling that comes after you do hard things, whether it's a portage or crossing a stormy lake. It was sort of like he was handing that lesson back to me as I worked on it. It was very cathartic."
The film has been viewed by thousands of people online.
Many viewers, Peterson said, remain unaware of Josiah's death.
"They don't read the caption, and the film doesn't say what happened to him. So they're sharing it, I think, just as a beautiful tribute to childhood. I see a lot of people reflecting [in comments] on similar childhoods, which makes me really happy, especially a lot of Canadian viewers, it seems."
Those who do know about the child's fate, some of whom have experienced similar losses, have reached out to Peterson with heartfelt support.
"It's been very helpful for me to heal...to be so embraced," he said, adding "I'm in a much different place than I was just a couple of weeks ago. I didn't expect that."
