"Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive" - Andy Grove Fighting Complacency Today marks my 69th anniversary of my initial polio diagnosis. I had thought of putting my meanderings to bed and hadn't really planned on writing these anymore but here I am. I have spend the last five weeks trying to … Continue reading A Confluence of Events
Tag: aging
Christmas 2019 – Memories of Christmas Past
"My life isn't a book, it's a collection of short stories" - Terry Wiens Christmas, a day of family, friends and memories. It is a day that can be loud, boisterous and full of activity. It can also be a day of quietude, reflective and personal relaxation. I have experienced both and find myself, maybe … Continue reading Christmas 2019 – Memories of Christmas Past
Chapter 1 – Part 2, The Foundation
Let It Come Lying alone in your solitary bed, The arrival of death you do not dread, You’ve lived a different but confusing life, Accepting pleasure and the occasional strife, And had such joy with your now dead wife. You are alone and feeling ready, Your soul is clean and your mind is steady, You … Continue reading Chapter 1 – Part 2, The Foundation
The Aging Challenge
"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength" - Betty Friedan Having spent all of my life with a disability I have learnt never to take anything for granted. If I accepted every "assumption" that had been thrown in my direction I probably wouldn't be where I am today. With … Continue reading The Aging Challenge
Generational Gaps Killed Sears
"Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honour their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging." - Maya Angelou Growing up as a baby-boomer the arrival of the Sears Christmas Wish catalogue was one of the simple joys of the time. The Sears closure … Continue reading Generational Gaps Killed Sears
Deconstructing Healthcare
"America's health care system is neither healthy, caring or a system" - Walter Cronkite This opening quote can also be said of Canada now. I grew up in a Canada when health-care had doctors who came to your home. I grew up in a Canada where home birth's were not uncommon quite often performed by … Continue reading Deconstructing Healthcare
Does Pride Trump Dignity?
"Self respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself" - Abraham Joshua Heschel One of the demons I have been battling of late is the issue of dignity versus pride. I have been told that sometimes I let my pride get in my way … Continue reading Does Pride Trump Dignity?
Words Through the Ages
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on" - Robert Frost The 1955 Polio Poster Child, as a community the disabled have been used for generations to sell "cuteness" for fund raising purposes. CONFESSIONS - I have been around for a long time and I have seen a … Continue reading Words Through the Ages
As Time Slips By
"Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by economic structures that creates huge inequalities" - Pope Francis I can't believe how quickly fall is coming upon us. My body is certainly making me aware. I'm not sure what this says about the excitement in my life but when I … Continue reading As Time Slips By
Living with the Results
"Wisdom is the reward for surviving our own stupidity" - Brian Rathbone A simple torn toe nail four days before Christmas has forced me to accept something I've been putting off for some time now, the reality of assisted living. The ripple effect of such a nondescript activity can put in motion a tsunami of events. … Continue reading Living with the Results
A Poster Child's Perspective 