Rest In Peace Jack

This morning at 4:45 am the leader of the NDP Jack Layton, died of cancer.

Mr Layton announced in a press conference on July 25th that he was battling another cancer. Less than 30 days later he is dead.

I wasn't always a fan of Mr Layton, but he seemed like a man of honor who clearly cared deeply for his country.

Layton's death, as sudden and sad as it is, has made me look at the world around me, my friends and loved ones in a sharp clear light. Its reminded me that life is short, and any day one of us may be taken. It is a reflection of the situation that I am witnessing with the Haggis's uncle - he will be gone sooner than later. There are loved ones whom we have not seen in far too long...

I wish there was a way I could express to some of these people in my life (with out sounding horribly melodramatic) that life is too short, that any day one of us could be lost and that we should treasure time together.

It seems that Mr Layton's final words written to Canada are terribly appropriate..

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

Irritating and sad

I have been asked to help with a family situation. The Haggis has an Uncle who needs to move in to some sort of assisted living facility. He is in his seventies, and in poor health. He speaks very little English and his daughter is insecure in her English, and is having difficulties dealing with various services on her fathers behalf.

To make things worse there has been an awful lot of finger pointing around this situation. Fingers pointed at the uncle, who has lived in Toronto for twenty years and yet had not managed to properly learn English, has gained quite a bit of weight and is suffering from the medical consequences. Fingers pointed at various family members for not helping him sooner.

He is a nice man. But, it seems very irritating to be around, because he is a little socially inept and terribly lonely. He is quite clingy.

It is terribly sad to watch this situation unfold around him, his family seems to be having problems for various reasons dealing with his situation. I wish that people would stop pointing fingers at each other and at him and just step up to the plate and help.

So yesterday I went to his apartment to assist with what I could. His daughter (L) and I met with a healthcare nurse and a social worker. (L) is very thankful for my assistance, though really there is very little that I have done, other than document the meeting that took place.

Very briefly, when I look at his situation I have a thought that perhaps I should have had children to "take care of me" in my old age. -And then reality swoops in and I realize how patently absurd that is. The Haggis's Uncle has no children who can help him. Hell I am not in a position to help my parents in there retirement.

I used to believe that people got what they deserved. If you are a good person that people will treat you well. But sometimes that just doesn't seem to happen. Nice little old men live by themselves get sick and get shuffled off to old age homes.

Its sad.