On my mother's bones, my father's hair...

Have you ever analyzed the various features you may have inherited from your parents?  It's been a habit of mine most of my life. Perhaps I got it from my Grandad who, when he first beheld his number one grandchild, declared, "She's Diggle from the ankles down, and Polushin from the ankles up!" (Yes, I also inherited interesting surnames.)
   
My mom couldn't carry a tune in a paper bag.  My dad was a fine singer. I don't need a paper bag. My mom is an avid reader and very fine writer with some publishing success. I have published a little. My dad had the sense of silliness and the quick temper. Mom is absent minded and seldom punctual. Both gave me stubbornness, although I like to think of it as strength and purpose. Both gave me their senses of humor. Dad loved to travel, and if I could, I would never unpack my suitcase. Mom loved to garden, and from May to October, my fingernails are never quite clean. Dad's political activism, Mom's sleep patterns, Mom's cooking, Dad's eating, and so it goes....

Both were terrific role models in so many ways. I don't know many people with the kind of integrity and generosity I have always seen in my parents. Of course, this extended into their politics. Both were very progressive thinkers and the circumstances of their times -- immigration, depression, war, farming -- demanded that they live their lives with stringent fiscal responsibility. There was never room in their realm for parsimony or narrow thinking. Treating our neighbors with respect and generosity was a given. 

I like to think I have inherited all this, but perhaps it has been more due to the effects of environment than of genetics. I have found precisely these characteristics in the renewed Alberta Party. I wish for all my children exactly the kind of Alberta I envision as possibility through the leadership of this group of incredible pioneers in politics. To me, it is the politics of my people, both past and future. 

On a final note, my dad was bald. My mom has osteoporosis. Can't win 'em all. 

That's it from here. Go out and hug someone who looks sad. 

On Cancer, Climenhaga and Irony

On Cancer, Climenhaga and Irony

I have, just this second, become a blogger. Oh my!  The irony of my foray into this adventure must be shared. I am sitting in the privately owned imaging centre, with radioactive goo pumping through my system waiting for a MUGA scan to map the activity of my heart. And I have just read David Climenhaga's blog post about "expedited" health care. I am here because I am a breast cancer patient, ten months into a very costly regimen of surgery and treatment, affordable thanks to Alberta Health Services, and the public dollar. 

For 62 years, I was hardly a burden to the health care system at all. But a little 2 cm tumor can certainly make up for all that, and more, in a hurry.

I have come to understand a few things this year: 
1. Red Deer's Breast Health Clinic is an amazingly efficient and effective system, and has served me to perfection in terms of my care. 
2. A cancer diagnosis has brought out the best in the people who matter to me, and to whom I matter. 
3. Cancer treatments are not fun, but one can usually rise to the challenge. 
4. It doesn't do to dwell on the why's of the past, or the what if's of the future. It does do to explore and follow through on healthy lifestyle choices. 

And I have come to recognize that there are some things I shall never understand: 
1. Why aren't we going after the causes of cancer with the same vigour we expend searching for the cure?  Who would you wish to go through this "cure" process?  
2. Why aren't we insisting on finding the real answers to the high cost of our health care system before we settle for a government that would systematically tear it down?  I would be penniless, and likely unable to receive all this care had it not been for our "flawed" system. 
3. How can anyone in this province stand quietly by and tolerate elected officials who feel more entitled than the rank and file, and who would therefore use their positions to further flaw an already  troubled system. 
4. Why is my hair coming back straight? Someone promised me curls. And what is with all this grey?  Where do I go for a refund?

That's it from here today. Go and hug someone who loves you.