Today I visited a friend who’s near death. Her husband and young adult children were in the hospital room when we arrived. For days, they have seldom left her side. They are close enough to hear her whisper her needs. They hold her hand, and she lifts theirs closer to kiss. There is overwhelming sadness. [...]
Archive for January, 2009
A DAUGHTER’S VIGIL
Posted in REFLECTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, tagged daughters losing mothers, keeping vigil at a parent's deathbed, motherloss on January 31, 2009 | 2 Comments »
A FINE LINE BETWEEN US
Posted in PEOPLE, REFLECTIONS, tagged Ontario's health care system, the disenfranchised, welfare and the mentally ill on January 11, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I started this blog with the best of intentions. I enjoyed feeling accountable to my readers. So, what’s happened in the past six weeks?
LIFE.
If I continue on with the idea of life as a journey, the cheesiest of metaphors come to mind: I shifted into overdrive, blew a tire, drove off the shoulder, slammed into a tree. [...]
ANNIE’S TAPESTRY
Posted in POETRY, REFLECTIONS, tagged dealing with death of a friend, grief in the elderly, mourning, the loneliness of the elderly widower on January 2, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The shrill ring of the phone slices through my quiet
and the somber voice on the line roots me to the ground.
“Annie is gone.” His words echo through the wire.
Later, dread in each step,
we approach Glen’s tiny senior’s home,
Identical to those left and right,
the pain is still contained there,
not yet bleeding
through the peach-coloured brick
nor obliterating the [...]
