The slings of outrageous fortune: * Anne is lifted gingerly from her hospital bed by cold machinery and kind hands The nurses arrive, silent shadows, hands sure, voices soft as cotton, preparing the sling: straps unfurled, pulleys waiting, a cradle of blue and white, hope woven in webbing. Anne lies still, her body slight..
For Anne in her palliative care bed, every day is “Sweet Dessert Day” Rewind to the early 1980s: Like so many first-time parents, Anne and I were brimming with righteous resolve to shield our offspring from the evils of junk food. “Sweet Dessert Day” was our grand idea, a weekly treat so exclusive it..
Easter Sunday Morning, April 5, 2026: Anne’s Resurrection Through Suffering Easter Sunday morning, pale light catches the edge of Anne’s brow; the world opens quietly, as she lies in the hush of suffering. The slow erosion of memory, cells dividing and retreating, becomes a kind of crucifixion, days measured in pills and prayers. She..
What you don’t see: The invisible realities of living with and caring for a person with a brain tumour Believe it or not, we’re approaching May, which is Brain Tumour Awareness Month, and the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada is launching a national campaign called “What You Don’t See.” Brain tumours impact every part of life in ways..
“It’s a wild world.” My precious wife Anne who is dying of brain cancer has lost almost her entire capacity to speak, but every so often verbal gems emerge unbidden, like buried treasure from the depths of an unfathomable sea. Recently, as we explored the palliative care ward in her wheelchair, out came the chorus..
Caregiving Elegy Inspired by an anti-cutback rally, March 23,2006, Ottawa, Ontario In hushed-lit rooms where fragile hours bend, They walk with steady grace through every door, These keepers of our suffering at the end, Who hold the weight we cannot bear once more. Their hands, a refuge when the night grows long, Bring comfort..
Anne’s Blanket It rests across her knees like a small country of colour, bright petals and woven birds rising against the dim room. Threads hum with the warmth of Guatemalan sun, a warmth she keeps close as her body cools. Perhaps she loves her blanket because it remembers for her: markets ringing with..
Terms of Endearment: St. Vincent’s Hospital, palliative care wing, March 18, 2026 Because Anne’s brain tumour has caused ongoing incontinence that impacts both her comfort and dignity, a catheter insertion became a necessary step in managing her care. Understanding how frightened she was of the procedure – her trembling, whimpers, and tears revealing the depth..
Anne chooses a song for her celebration of life AND IT’S WINTER/ ET C’EST L’HIVER F. Hamelin – Marie-Claire Séguin A beautiful, poetic song for an interminable winter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhKIlLhWHxg When Anne and I were first together in 1979-1980, she loved this hauntingly beautiful poetic song, which she would sing continuously..
Anne watches Casablanca A poem for Academy Award Season 2026 She watches Casablanca again, the hospital room dim except for that soft, silver light that once lit up the world before either of us had names for love. Maybe she holds on to it now because the old films never rush – they let longing..