Elbows Up & United: Holding Hands Across Borders

 

What started at a kitchen table in a Canadian town is reaching across borders—not because of marketing or strategy, but because of the message.

I grew up in Sarnia, Ontario—a border town connected to Port Huron, Michigan by the Twin Bridges.

Those bridges weren’t just infrastructure, they were part of the backdrop to our everyday lives, and integral parts of the communities on both sides of the St. Clair River.

I’ve stood in two countries in one afternoon. I’ve watched Fourth of July fireworks from Canadian soil. I’ve seen firsthand what it looks like when neighbours aren’t separated by difference, but linked by familiarity.

So when I talk about connection across borders, I’m not speaking in metaphor—I’ve lived it. And that’s why, for me, the growing division between Canada and the United States hits differently.

Because I know how connected we really are.

I remember sitting on the Canadian side of the river when I was a kid, eating dinner with my Oma and Opa. At one point, my Oma pointed across the water and said, “Right now you’re looking at another country.”

I was confused because in my little mind, “another” country meant France or Spain or the Netherlands—where my grandparents were born. “Another country” was a place with different languages, different buildings, different everything.

But when I looked across that river, it didn’t feel like a different world. Crossing the Blue Water Bridge never felt like entering a new country, it felt like going to another neighbourhood.

It was weekend shopping trips with my cousins.
It was going to the orthodontist to get my braces tightened.
It was as much a part of the rhythm of life as anything in my own backyard.

That early sense of closeness across difference has stayed with me. It’s part of what shaped me—and it’s why I care so deeply about this project.

While I no longer live in a border town, the connections haven’t faded. Thanks to the internet, I’ve spent the last several years coaching and working closely with Americans from all over the country: A writer in New York. A speech-language pathologist in Arizona. A spiritual teacher in Maryland. A poet in California. A team of financial planners in Puerto Rico, Oregon, Georgia, Illinois... (the list goes on.)

These relationships are as formative to me as childhood friendships and family traditions because they’re built on trust, generosity, and shared values—and it’s hard to imagine a world where that kind of collaboration and cooperation isn’t possible.

So much of the work I’m doing now through the Elbows Up initiative and in my local community is about repairing the social fabric and restoring what’s been strained.

I know This work doesn’t stop at the border, and That’s what the United project is all about.

Why Elbows Up & United matter

The Elbows Up Bracelet Initiative began as a local act of community care, reminding people they weren’t alone. They were inspired by the belief that when times are tough, Canadians show up, reach out, and keep our arms open—ready to help, ready to hold, and ready to stand together.

The bracelets are a physical reminder to support each other, to stay connected, and to resist the isolation and fear that so often creep in when things feel uncertain. Then, one of those bracelets ended up on the wrist of a well-known public figure—and he kept wearing it. People started to notice, and the ripple began to spread.

When I began receiving bracelet requests from people in the United States, I knew this movement was becoming something even bigger. Suddenly, a quiet act of connection turned into a bigger conversation. I felt the pull to add something to the Elbows Up bracelet.

That’s where United comes in.

It felt right to add a companion bracelet that could travel alongside Elbows Up and carry its own message; a reminder that even when we’re separated by lines on a map or differences in opinion, we can still choose to come together.

Elbows Up says: I'm here. I'm standing with you.
United says: We’re stronger when we show up together.

Together, they tell a story of connection—of linking elbows and holding hands across rivers, across borders, across party lines and across other divides we’re told we’re “supposed to” stay on either side of. They represent the belief that community is something we build through action, not just geography.

Community is local—and it’s something bigger

We talk a lot about community like it’s a local thing—and sometimes it is. Sometimes community is your street, your kids' school, the person next door who brings over soup when you’re sick.

It’s waving to your neighbour across the street. Meeting the same people (and dogs!) at the dog park every day. The parent who packs an extra snack, just in case. The friend who waters your plants while you’re gone. The carpool buddy who schleps your kids back and forth to school, sports, and playdates.

And sometimes, community is a little bigger.

It’s people you’ve never met who still believe what you believe.
It’s shared values—like kindness, courage, and care—across invisible lines.
It’s realizing that the neighbor across the river is still your neighbour, even if the spelling is different.
It’s mailing bracelets across countries, carrying a message of solidarity and unity.
It’s the people who see the same storm clouds you do and say, "Let’s face this together."

Community is ours to claim, and we all have the opportunity to shape it.

If you’ve received these bracelets, thank you. And—you’re not just getting beads and string. These bracelets aren’t just accessories, they’re conversation starters, invitations, and gentle nudges to remember we belong to one another.

Because you don’t have to live in a border town to believe in connection. You don’t have to agree on every issue to stand for something bigger than division. You don’t have to know where this will lead to take the first step.

So, wear the bracelets. Gift them. Tell people what they mean. Take this idea and make it your own.

Because whether you’re my neighbour or I’m your neighbor, we can still work together.

When we show up for each other—not as strangers or citizens of separate countries, but as fellow humans—we can create something better. And we’re more powerful, more resilient, and more connected when we do it united, with elbows up.

What happens next is up to U. 🙃

With gratitude and hope,
Justine