On Comforting a Senior, and On Reading a Good Book

5/15/2020

Finding Ways to Stimulate the Heart and Mind During Stay-at-Home Order

Rosemary Ganley
The Peterborough Examiner
May 14, 2020

Outgoing Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin smiles at the conclusion of a news conference on her retirement, in Ottawa on Friday, December 15, 2017. JUSTIN TANG/CANADIAN PRESS

I was scrolling Facebook recently and stopped to look at a touching post showing an elderly man in a seniors' home who had been sleeping beside a picture of his deceased wife.

A caregiver, with great insight, came in to surprise him with a pillow, imprinted with a picture of his late wife. He broke down with joy. It got me thinking about such a small, real consolation that readers might want to consider for their seniors.

So I called Ricart's Trophies in Peterborough. A nice man said, "We don't do things like that, but I can give you the contact information of a woman in Lakefield, Aileen, who does. Her business is Pillowstuff."

I called Aileen and she said yes, she could do it if I sent a photo of my loved one as an attachment on email, and she'd send me a picture of three fabrics and I could choose. She'd do it up and I could pay by e-transfer and she'd deliver, at a proper distance.

Done and done in a few days. It's 16 inches square and has a zippered removable cover. That's my homey item for this week.

On the reading side, I favour heroic Canadian women of late. Here is one: the memoir of Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, 2000 to 2017.

Called "Truth be Told: My Journey through Life and the Law," her book is an appealing piece of plain writing, as benefits a judge who had to write hundreds of important decisions for the court, while keeping in mind ordinary Canadians. It is also a frank and warm account of growing up in rural Alberta, becoming a serious student, getting a BA and a law degree, and teaching for seven years at UBC.

Her personal story is inspirational: Happily married for 21 years and with a teenage son, she suddenly became a widow in 1988. Hers is a modest summary of considerable achievements moving to judgeship. It has a positive patriotism mixed with a sense of international solidarity.

Beverley McLachlin is 76 years old. I remember once about 10 years ago being at the Stratford Festival. One of the attractions was a session, a mock trial, considering the guilt or innocence of Shylock, the wronged Jewish merchant in the play "The Merchant of Venice," who insists on a pound of flesh promised by his adversary, Antonio.

Chief Justice McLachlin, a lover of the arts, had agreed to hear the evidence in a highly entertaining "mock trial," led by gifted actors, and to render a judgment. The large audience delighted in her performance. Her decision was balanced: a moot judgment on Shylock.
Continue Reading >HERE<

You can purchase Positive Community directly from Rosemary Ganley at rganley209@gmail.com
or from >Amazon.com<

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