With the passing of our beloved Queen, an icon of selfless dedication we fondly thought would go on for much longer than her 96 years, mortality is on the minds of many – especially if they have ‘achieved’ a certain stage of life. A friend sent me the following, which
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Scripturient: Musings on Cats and Philosophers
British philosopher John Gray thinks cats can “often teach us much more about living the good life than philosophy ever could.” As a lifetime cat owner, I can vouch for cats serving as metaphors for all sorts of things, but not usually as philosophers outside some children’s books. That statement
Continue readingScripturient: Back to Montaigne
When I find myself in times of trouble, I go back to read Montaigne. Seeking words of wisdom, Read some more… (to the tune of Let It Be, with apologies to the Beatles) I was up late these last few nights reading Michel de Montaigne into the wee, dark hours.
Continue readingScripturient: The Cancer Diaries, Part 6
I’m sitting here, on my back deck, in the late Friday afternoon, beside Susan, trying to take stock of my life over a glass of wine, and read a bit while the light’s still good. I’m 30 days past my surgery and recovering reasonably well, but still three weeks away
Continue readingScripturient: The Cancer Diaries Part 1
I should have started this a while ago. Perhaps when I received the first news something as wrong. But it took a while to really sink in. And then it was upon me. Although this is personal, I wanted to share it, in the hope others might find it useful.
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Reflections
Lately I’ve been thinking about fragility. About how we are all connected by caring and how very, very lucky I am to be alive. It feels almost accidental. The images above are actually framed photos, side by side, in my home office. They were a gift from our daughter Natalie
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: I Thought I Would Be OK, But I’m Not
My Mom passed away on August 16th at the age of 96. Ninety-six is a big number and a lot of years to live. When Mom reminisced about skiing down her street in Montreal as a child, I observed that her memory was 87 years old. Of course I had
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: MINDFUL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE CAREGIVER
In photography, mindfulness is like observing something for the first time, even though you may have looked at it a thousand times before. For example, when you’ve been away from home for a long period, and then, upon returning, you suddenly notice things to which you had become so accustomed
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Our Role in The Circle of Life: What’s Your Title?
Over the holidays this year, I’ve been thinking a lot about birth, mortality and all that’s in between. I guess you’d say, I’ve been pondering the circle of life and my role in it. A week before Christmas, the wife of a lifelong friend gave birth to a perfectly beautiful
Continue readingScripturient: The last walk
“You have to go to the pound. They have a Sheltie there.” Susan called me from work, her voice urgent. One of her clients had told her a Sheltie – Shetland Sheepdog – had been picked up by Animal Control and was in the pound, on Stewart Road about to
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: What I’ve Learned About Myself Caring For My Mom
For many years I was the primary caregiver in our family for our son who has severe disabilities. Nicholas needed a lot of therapy and was often ill enough to be in the hospital. Those were fraught and exhausting times. Now our son lives in a wonderful care home near
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: What I’ve Learned About Myself Caring For My Mom
For many years I was the primary caregiver in our family for our son who has severe disabilities. Nicholas needed a lot of therapy and was often ill enough to be in the hospital. Those were fraught and exhausting times. Now our son lives in a wonderful care home near
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: To End Ntl. Caregivers Month: Our Ultimate Lesson
All this month of November, I’ve been reflecting on the life lessons that caregiving teaches us. I’ve talked about gratitude, kindness, patience, wisdom and resilience. I even wrote about how we learn to see in two ways, simultaneously. But now that the end of November is nigh, my last lesson
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A Thought for Will Shakespeare on the 23rd of April, 2016
Four hundred years ago today, Old Will Did shuffle off his mortal coil; itself, The one young Hamlet noted with a chill, That can’t be sidestepped by collected wealth. The point’s established clearly, the last word Will not be left to you, no matte…
Continue readingScripturient: Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me…
Turning 64, as in the 1967 Beatles’ song, once seemed so distant that it it was as remote as flying cars and jet packs. By the time I reached that age, I thought, we’d have a moon base colony, orbiting hotels as in 2001, A Space Odyssey, an…
Continue readingScripturient: Goodbye, Cleo
Cleo was an accidental member of the family. Twelve to fifteen years ago – long enough that the exact date is hazy in my mind – she came to us. Well, she was delivered, actually. And yesterday she left us. One late winter day, back then, I was at home,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Red Book That Is So Wonderful
There’s a red book that’s been sitting on my desk for months. It’s one of many that have been sent to me for book reviews. That pile got smaller recently when I came to the cottage for a summer break of reading and relaxing. I wish I had read this
Continue readingFalse positive: private profit in Canada's health care: The Risks of For-Profit Community Care
With the sale of the Shouldice Clinic to a health care conglomerate it is useful to review some of the literature comparing for-profit hospitals to non-profit hospitals. The results show that: 1) there is a higher risk of death in for-profit hospitals, http://www.cmaj.ca/content/166/11/1399.full : 2) private for-profit hospitals result in
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: How we die in Canada
Statistics Canada maintains a snapshot of how Canadians die. The chart not only gives an indication of how nearly a quarter million of us cast off this mortal coil each year, but suggests where we are making progress and where … Continue reading →
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Theramin Trees – Death
What happens when we realize that religion is just a cultural vehicle to salve our irrational fear of death? Theramin Trees produces another outstanding video that engages the intellect with explanations of why we act the way we do when faced with the facts of our mortality. Seventeen minutes long,
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