Remembering Connie

On Sunday our family team participated in the MS Walk once again in memory of my cousin Connie who died of MS complications twenty years ago.  Connie and I were the same age and good friends as well as cousins.  It was hard to witness the devastating impact of MS on Connie and her family.  Raising money for MS research is one way for our family to honor Connie’s memory and try to make a difference for others who also struggle with MS.  

I always enjoy the visits I have with my cousins and their families as I walk. A big thank you to my Uncle Dave, Connie’s Dad, who once again footed the bill for a family lunch at the Beachcomber restaurant after the walk. 

Other posts……….

Walking for Connie

MS Walk Year Four

Walking for Connie 2016

Snake Wine Travel Memory

We are drinking wine infused with snake.  In 2005 we made a boat trip down the Li River in China’s Guangxi Province with my sister-in-law Shirley and brother-in-law Paul.  One of the perks offered on the trip was a glass of snake wine. 

In this photo you can see the snake in the wine bottle. The Chinese have been drinking snake wine since around 1000 BC.  The snake which is thrown live into the wine bottle dies from the alcohol in the wine. The snake may  steep in the bottle for years.  Snake wine is said to keep you vital and healthy. So far in both my case and Shirley’s this is proving to be true.  So glad we tried that snake wine!

Other posts……….

Family Fun

Now We Have Been in Sister Cities

Don’t Be A Wine Snob

 

A Book That Mirrors A News Story

Saturday’s Winnipeg Free Press had an article about a man who while suffering from schizophrenia murdered a fellow bus passenger. This happened nine years ago. The man who committed the murder has been receiving treatment ever since and the Criminal Code Review Board has now determined he can live on his own in the community. The comments people have made online about the article display varying attitudes towards mental health issues.  Many Free Press readers find the review board’s decision difficult to understand and are asking lots of questions. 

If you want to read a book that addresses this very situation I would recommend Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard.  Dave and I listened to an audio version of the novel many years ago and its story raised so many good questions that I put Cage of Stars on the list of books I studied with some of my highschool English classes. In Cage of Stars a schizophrenic man murders two young girls and after rehabilitation and medication he also returns to a regular life with his family and in society.

The parents of the murdered girls are devoutly religious and find it in their hearts to forgive the man who killed their daughters but their older sister simply cannot.  The story shows just how deeply everyone involved is effected, and helps the reader process and think through the many questions that can arise from such a situation. I think the book offers lots of alternative perspectives and could be a starting point for some excellent discussion. 

Other books that would be good for discussion……

Being Mortal

The Illegal

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

 

Spacious Places in Hong Kong

During October a set of seven reflections I wrote were featured in Rejoice magazine. The theme of the issue was Faith in the City.  Here is one of my reflections.

O God you have tested us. . . . Yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.

Psalm 66: 10-12

Read: Psalm 66: 1-12

Reflect: We moved to Hong Kong when the city was still reeling from the SARS epidemic. People had become virtual prisoners in their homes. Medical professionals who had risked their lives caring for SARS patients remained isolated from their own families. Businesses were recording millions in losses. Real estate prices had plummeted. Tourism had ground to a halt.

Students and teachers at our school during SARS

Schools, places of worship, restaurants, and concert halls had shut their doors. People in our Hong Kong church said SARS was a time when the faith of many was severely tested.   

Hong Kong street sweeper

Yet during the six years we lived in Hong Kong, we watched the city make a remarkable recovery. Expanded sanitation and security departments quickly restored its reputation as a clean, safe place. Slowly the tourism industry blossomed and the economy improved.

Chestnut vendors in Hong Kong

Schools, temples, churches and cultural venues reopened and people confidently returned to the routines of daily life.  

Verses 10-12 of Psalm 66 describe a time of severe testing for the community of God’s people. They have been through fire and water. They have been forced to bear heavy burdens. They have felt trapped. Psalm 66 is a prayer of thanksgiving because God has delivered the people from their time of testing and led them to a place of spaciousness and calm.  

Cities, like the community of God’s people in Psalm 66, often go through times of testing. It may be a natural disaster, political unrest, or a medical emergency. The psalmist encourages people to remember to draw close to God as they go through hard times. God can lead them to a more peaceful place.

Other posts…….

Hong Kong Inspiration

Chestnuts Roasting in Hong Kong

Rejoice

Harriet’s Story

Harriet and I are the same age. She was our friendly hostess at the Lancaster Bed and Breakfast in Bonavista Newfoundland.  One morning she told me the story of a very difficult time for her family.  

When Harriet was five years old her mother was sent away  from their tiny community in Elliston down to St. John’s for almost a year. Her mother had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and rest and treatment in a sanatorium was the only way to battle the disease.  While her mother lived in a sanatorium Harriet’s father was left to cope with five small children.  Harriet’s mother gave birth to another baby while she was in the sanatorium but she couldn’t keep it there, so the little boy went to an orphanage till his mother was better.

Travel to St. John’s was too costly for their family so they didn’t see their mother that whole time.  They didn’t have a phone so the only communication they had with her was by letter and a regular radio broadcast they listened to where sanatorium patients could submit messages to be read to their families. 

I found Harriet’s story particularly interesting because I am currently reading The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnson and one of the characters in his Newfoundland novel also gets tuberculosis and spends time in a sanatorium. 

Nurse at the hospital with Oviloo

In a recent exhibit we had at the Winnipeg Art Gallery Inuit artist Ovillo Tunille used sculptures to tell the story of her stay in a TB sanatorium as a young child.

One summer when she was in college my mother worked in a TB sanatorium in Ninette Manitoba. 

Harriet’s story is typical of the experience of thousands of families in Canada who were impacted by tuberculosis. 

Other posts…….

Hearing Naomi’s Story

A Terrifying Story Politely Told

A Titanic Story- Annie Funk

Walking for Connie 2016

On Sunday I joined this great group at The Forks for the MS Walk in memory of my cousin Connie who died of MS in 1997 . I’ve been doing this walk for five years ever since I moved back to Canada from Hong Kong.  Connie’s niece Caryn organizes our efforts each year. Our 2016 team was a little smaller than usual but it was good to get together with family and friends, visit and walk in the beautiful sunshine, and meet for lunch. Before our meal we drank a toast to Connie. Kudos to my amazing Uncle Dave, Connie’s Dad, who picked up the tab for lunch AND walked the whole route.  He is 90 years old! 

My cousin Connie and I were born in the same year. That’s me on the left. It’s 1957 and Connie and I are off to pick peas from our Grandma’s garden in Gnadenthal, Manitoba. Connie and I were life long friends.  I’m glad that each year I can honor Connie’s memory by helping to raise awareness about the disease that ended the life of my gifted, brave and accomplished cousin. 

Other posts………

MS Walk -Whoop De Doo Clan 2014

Walking for Connie

They Inspire Me

I exercise at a YMCA five or six times a week.  It’s a great place to work out.  People of all sizes and shapes and nationalities and ages use the facilities.  I particularly admire the many octogenarians who show up everyday from a nearby seniors residence.  There is one man, tall, black and wiry, who sings hymns softly as he moves from one weight machine to the next.  There is a tiny Asian lady who can’t speak English but gives me a warm smile and an enthusiastic wave every morning.  There is another white haired woman who comes onto the exercise floor with her walker.  It isn’t easy for her to maneuver onto the seat of the recumbent bike or the rower but she has a system figured out and she manages independently.  One day I was rowing beside another elderly woman with a considerable stoop in her back.  We started chatting and she said, “My children have given up on me and so has my doctor.  They think I should be in a wheelchair.  But they can think what they want.  I’m not giving up on myself.” There’s a man with a shock of white hair who reads the Toronto Globe and Mail as he bikes and another  woman in her eighties who swims, walks and bikes everyday. There’s a First Nations man with a white cane and a grey ponytail who told me he’s keeping fit because his girlfriend likes him that way. 

If I don’t feel like exercising, all I have to do is look at the people twenty or so years my senior at the gym who show up everyday so they can stay as fit and healthy as possible.  I admire them. They inspire me.  

Other posts…….

What Will You Be Building?

Being Mortal

Sitting is the New Smoking