Author: Shawn

I am a practitioner of the martial arts and student of the Buddhist faith. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 4 years old and have been fighting the uphill battle it includes ever since. I enjoy fitness and health and looking for new ways to improve both, as well as examining the many questions of life. Although I have no formal medical training, I have amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding health, Diabetes, martial arts as well as Buddhism and philosophy. My goal is to share this information with the world, and perhaps provide some sarcastic humour along the way. Welcome!

Silver Linings For My Dark Clouds…

Despite all the sad, morbid topics I’ve covered in recent days, last week was that time again; I had a scheduled appointment with my endocrinologist. It seemed like September wasn’t that long ago but here we are, six months later! You may recall my post from a couple of weeks ago complaining about the wait times at blood labs and such… This appointment is the result of that blood work.

Visiting my endocrinologist is usually a mixed bag for me. Although eternally grateful for introducing me to the concept of carb counting and getting me on an insulin pump, my doctor is also the one who provides the results and discusses concerns surrounding all things Diabetic. So I never quite know what I might be in for.

One big issue is the uploading of my pump. The doctor’s office requires the uploading of my insulin pump into a database that they can access. Even though this should be a pretty straightforward thing to do, I almost always seem to have issues when I try. So this time, I got smart and uploaded the pump a week prior to my appointment in the event I had issues I had to work through. I was going to upload again the night before until I realized I had foolishly left my link meter at my office, which I required in order to tether the pump to my computer.

I figured, no harm, no fouls, right? Wrong. I was quickly told to surrender my pump so that the admin could upload the last week of readings. I found this a bit tedious since they already had six months of readings. How much of a difference could the past seven days make? Que sera, I was on their time so I turned it over. Maybe I’m just bitter because she also weighed me and announced I had gained two pounds. But I digress…

The past six months have been a bit rough for me, with losing out on one karate school, which messed up my fitness routine, to losing coverage for CGM, which messed up my blood sugar routine, to starting a new karate school, which messed up my fitness routine to getting back on CGM, which will hopefully fix many of my readings… See where I’m goin’ with this? Basically, i knew my blood sugars would be all over the place with some rather significant highs to explain.

When my doctor walked in, we discussed all these issues and he indicated it explained a lot in terms of what my readings showed. He was glad I was taking steps to fix things but he also made a point of saying that despite some of the high readings, I managed to hold my A1C at a reasonable level of 7.3, which is down from a higher reading back in September. I was pleasantly surprised.

He added some further sweetness to a not-so-bitter pill by showing me how my renal function was back to normal, blood pressure was normal, blood circulation and neurological systems were good and I apparently still have the heart of a horse (and no, I don’t mean enlarged, wise ass!). The only caveat to all the good news is that my potassium, of all things, appears to be slightly higher than normal, which will be fixed with a temporary water pill and some changes to my overall diet. I can live with that.

By the time we had reached the end of my appointment, my doctor once again called me one of his most boring patients, since I presented no challenge. He further went on to explain that if I continued on the path I was walking in terms of maintaining Diabetes control, when the time came that died, I would be one of his only patients to die WITH Diabetes instead of dying BECAUSE of Diabetes. I may just get that tattooed on my lower back…

Did I mention that my cholesterol is also down by a full point? I’m sure there’s more but I was basically gushing from the positivity so much that I think I missed some of it. In a current world where there’s so much wrong and suffering, it was nice to have some positivity for a change. AND it justifies all the hard work I put in, maintaining my blood sugars and my fitness. This is something we can all do. One your organs fail or you’re on death’s bed, it’s too late. Better to start improving now so you can appreciate the results later. Food for thought…☯️

Riding The High-wire Without A Net…(A Long Read)

Obviously, this past weekend has been a bit of a journey for me… Saying final goodbyes to any family member leaves a lasting cloud over the occasion. I’ve always fancied myself as someone very organized and capable of thinking and planning ahead. Hell, I’ve travelled to Japan and Okinawa without any concern that i was prepared SPECIFICALLY because I can count on myself to be just that: prepared. This weekend taught me just how possible it is for someone to lose their edge when faced without something that divides their mind and spirit.

Our trip started with me leaving work early, last Thursday. This was necessary in order to drop off our sons in Kindersley to spend the following night with their grandparents while we travelled to Alberta for my uncle’s funeral. I left the office in a hurry once my meetings were done and once I was home, I found myself with about an hour of down time since Nathan wasn’t back from school yet. This turned out to be a mistake for a number of reasons. Over the years, I’ve come to discover that I usually function better under pressure. The hour of down time allowed for a small window of time for me to allow my thoughts to drift on the days to come and make a few mistakes…

We took to the road once Nathan was out of school, having picked up some McDonald’s drive-thru to appease the boys while simultaneously ensuring everyone was fed without delaying us at home. We made our way as far as Rosetown, which is only about an hour east from Kindersley. My pump started to vibrate, signalling that it needed a calibration. We pulled into a local coffee chain so that everyone could stretch and get some drinks for the remainder of the trip. That’s when I took my overnight bag apart and realized that during my “down time,” I left my fuckin’ glucometer in my work bag… Thus began the weekend…

I made my peace with the fact that I could feed the pump it’s own sensor readings using the graph to ensure some accuracy. This isn’t ideal and pump trainers will usually say it’s not recommended. But for lack of any other immediate options, it would do. I fed the pump the previous sensor reading and everything went gangbusters for the night as we slept at my wife’s parents’ house for the night. The following morning, we left for Red Deer, Alberta where I would be bidding final farewells to my uncle.

We had originally made arrangements to meet at my aunt’s house first, followed by going to chapel together. However, once we reached the outskirts of Red Deer, my pump vibrated an alarm indicating that my sensor had expired. Fucking lovely! All things considered, this wasn’t the worst situation I’d ever been in AND I just happened to have extras of everything in my bag EXCEPT a glucometer. Luckily, this is a non-prescription item so I was able to find a local pharmacy and pick up a cheap and outdated model of the current meter that uploads to my pump. this one would not, but it would take blood sugars readings to allow the calibration of the new sensor.

We checked into our hotel room and got ready for the service, all of which made us to late to go to my aunt’s first. Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And this is me, we’re talking about… So it should come as no surprise when the damn sensor failed. Despite our best attempts to get the transmitter to connect with then pump properly, the sensor just wasn’t having it. I thought it would be fine, since I had just purchased a new glucometer. I would simply run on manual mode for the weekend until I got back to Regina. THAT part at least, was no big deal…

We attended the chapel and sat through the memorial service, followed by a celebration of life and a meal afterwards. In honour of my uncle’s preference, everyone started with a dessert followed by their meal. It was a great tradition but it was very high-carb. This is why after saying goodbye to my aunt and cousins, we rushed back to the hotel room to test my blood. I had to do a double take to confirm that my glucometer wasn’t in it’s case. I took my overnight bag as well as my wife’s apart to ensure it hadn’t fallen out anywhere. I travelled our route from the car to the room backwards, checking to see if it had bee dropped somewhere. Nada!

I went back to the room and tried to collect my thoughts on what I should do next. It would be about 18 to 20 hours before we would be back in Saskatchewan and I needed either a sensor or a glucometer in order to maintain my blood sugars for that period of time. I really only had one choice: I had to find an open pharmacy that would have a glucometer for sale. Since it was about 9:30 pm, I managed to find a Shoppers Drug mart that was still open. In exchange for purchasing a box of the test strips I usually used at home, they provided me with a basic meter for free, which was all I really needed. I decided to buy a box of FreeStyle Libre, as well. Considering the luck I had been having, I figured having the “poor man’s CGM” in my tricep couldn’t hurt.

The following morning saw us enjoy a lovely breakfast with my family and then we got on the road back to Kindersley. When we were halfway to the Alberta/Saskatchewan border and stopped for fuel and coffee, my wife reaches between her seat and says, “Son of a bitch…” and reveals the first glucometer I had purchased when we reached Red Deer… Now, I own enough glucometers to open my own at-home Diabetes clinic. We made our way onto Kindersley and spent the night there with my wife’s parents. We took to the road for Regina around lunchtime the following day.

Our trip back to Regina was as one might expect; crying and restless kids followed by everyone napping while I drove. We chose take-out for supper, since we were pulling into home during dinner hour and had no idea what was available in our fridge. While eating, we gave Nathan a small Tupperware container that held a half-dozen chewable multi-vitamins. he was to take one, then return it to the kitchen, out of the baby’s reach. Ultimately, he left it sitting on the edge of the dining table, just mere inches away from the baby gate. Alexander (the baby) got a hold of it and ate the remaining vitamins before we realized he had it…

You know when you’re in an elevator that goers down when you thought it’d be going up? That’s kind of the feeling I got when Laura told me what had happened. In an immediate state of analyzation, I grabbed the vitamin bottle and started looking at the ingredients and the instructions in the event a child consumed the bottle. I contacted Saskatchewan Poison Control and provided them with all the information. they were able to calculate that the effect would be minimal, including bright, fluorescent pee and dark, almost black bowel movements. Otherwise, he might have a bit of a sore tummy but would be otherwise fine and suggested we feed him a snack to help absorb the excess iron he ingested.

That was the icing on an otherwise bitter cupcake on a bullshit of a weekend. Not only did my uncle pass away, my eldest son left something out that could have potentially been toxic and deadly to his baby brother. yes, we should have been watching. To our credit and his, he DID put them on the dining room table outside of the baby gate. Little did we know that our little Alexander had long enough arms to reach them. Live and learn. Alex turned out to be fine, but it prompted a very in-depth conversation with Nathan about the perils of leaving things in his little brother’s reach. It’s surprising how the little details can lead to big problems. We got lucky this time, but live and learn… ☯️

Isn’t It All The Same Sun?

Today marks the start of Daylight Savings Time, which is something that always fascinated and annoyed me throughout my childhood and into my formative years. After all, this time change involves pushing clocks an hour ahead, which causes the inclusion of a 23-hour day. I’ve had all the same complaints as most people have had regarding losing an hour’s sleep on that particular day.

It wasn’t until I reached the age of adulthood that I understood the concept of maintaining the longest period of natural daylight during waking hours, hence “Daylight Savings” but a part of me failed to see the use behind this since I could work whenever, go to school whenever and what did I care when the evening started?

There is some rationale behind it, including the practicality as[ect that if the sun rises too early it can interfere with proper sleep and the start of the actual day as well as reducing the overall use of candle light during waking hours, back before electricity was a common amenity of households. Interestingly enough, a city in Ontario was the first on in the world to use Daylight Savings Time. It didn’t take long for the majority of the world to follow, with only a few exceptions.

Some places are beginning to see the minimal use in Daylight Savings time and are looking at the prospect of discontinuing it. CTV News posted an article about six months ago about how Ontario is passing legislation that could effectively end Daylight Savings Time in the Province. The very Province where it all started may be the first to end it. I live in Saskatchewan where we’re located in a time zone that isn’t affected by time change. My clocks have remained the same for the past fifteen years.

If Canada as a whole decides to end Daylight Savings Time, I know that one person who will be overjoyed will be my mother. Since she can’t be bothered to change her clocks and her watch every six months, her time pieces are usually only accurate for six months out of the year. Part of that seems like comedy; the other part feels like laziness but hey! Who am I to argue with my mother? Hope y’all didn’t have to lose an hour’s sleep, last night… ☯️

Set Adrift On Memories Lost…

A bit of a rough weekend. Early last week, I received word that a funeral service for my Uncle Richard would be held in Red Deer, Alberta last Friday (yesterday). Although they would be arranging for a Zoom viewing of the ceremony for east coast family members who couldn’t attend, my wife and I decided that we would travel out for the night to pay our respects and say our goodbyes. The trip involved driving to Kindersley and dropping off the boys. We were able to spend the night and get an early start from Kindersley to Red Deer. It was a good arrangement and the stop in Kindersley broke the trip in two, making for a less than exhausting drive.

When my grandfather passed away in 2014, I made a point of telling the entire family that the last act of a loved one is to bring the entire family together. Although a tragic and morbid way to do it, it almost always seems to bring distant family members together. This was no exception, with my aunt and cousins in attendance. Given that they’re the family members the farthest west in Canada, I haven’t had as much contact with them as I have with many others on my mother’s side. It was a sobering reminder to take the opportunities to spend time with family while you can. Life brings us all here, eventually.

Another benefit is my wife and I having had the opportunity to spend the evening alone together. This hasn’t happened often since becoming parents, as I’m sure many of you reading this can relate. This morning, we’ll be having some breakfast before hitting the road and stopping in to my wife’s parents’ home for the night. We’ll get to have dinner and spend the night before making our way back to Regina. Another unexpected benefit of losing a family member. I’m well over 700 posts consecutively posted without missing a day. The past few days have made me realize once again that life doesn’t care about one’s plan and that I haven’t had as much time to research and contemplate what to write about. Que sera… ☯️

Modern Day Amenities…

Nathan often watches me as I work on my social media platforms. he’ll usually watch cartoons on his device while he does, especially since watching me write does nothing for him. But while doing some work on my YouTube channel (FYI, I have a YouTube channel, “The Blogging Buddhist.” GO SUBSCRIBE!!!), I usually take the time to watch a video or two afterward. You would think that my preference would be martial arts or fighting videos. And in truth, I DO watch some of those. But i also indulge in a lot of SNL and MadTV clips. Mostly because I enjoy laughing at stupid stuff.

One of the things I do enjoy watching is a channel with creepy stories called “Mr. Ballen.” He’s an ex-marine who tells creepy stories on a variety of topics. I’ve also been watching a variety of scary stories from a few different channels. It’s particularly entertaining late at night when it’s gotten dark out or the wind is blowing. Anyway, Nathan has creeped around a bit and has listened to some of the scary stories. You’d think that a 7-year old would be creeped out by scary stories. Not this kid; he’s become obsessed with them. I know some would probably argue the point that he’s a bit young to be watching scary videos… Actually, there’s never anything shown but a forest background or dim-lit house. It’s an oral telling of a scary story; no different than reading a book.

Some good has come out of it, as well. He absolutely LOVES restoration videos. There’s a particular channel where the author buys rusted out antique toys or items, takes them apart and restores them to a new state. One of the last ones he watched a was a rusted, seized pocket watch. Watching the restoration process was fantastic. The amount of work and the steps involved in taking something old and turning it into something new, thereby proving that all things can still have use, if one is willing to work to make it happen, was wonderful to watch.

Although sitting one’s child in front of a screen is not the best way to occupy their time, I have to admit that it’s been a way for Nathan and I to share something specific. We shared a fascination with creepy stories as well as a love for restoration. There are worse ways for a father and son to spend an hour or two. Food for thought…☯️

Pay Attention To Your Surroundings…

My staff and I have a particular place where we like to spend our coffee breaks. Just a little spot that takes us completely out of the office and away from it for a distance, which allows us to take a walk, get some air and let our heads cool a bit. This location also happens to be surrounded by a number of eateries, many of which I take part of when I forget or neglect to bring lunch to work. In case the description is a bit too vague, I’m describing a food court. We take our coffee breaks at a food court.

A few days ago, we were enjoying a quiet afternoon coffee and chatting about some random things, when I looked up at one of the eateries and noticed a female employee, sitting on a chair near the till. It took me a brief minute and an awkward double take for me to acknowledge that she was picking her nose with the enthusiastic ferocity normally attributed to a seizure. Her index finger was basically buried almost to the second knuckle and I don’t know what she was looking at but she seemed transfixed as she dug for nose gold with a Zen kind of enthusiasm.

I went through the many stages of morbid comedy… Surprise, laughter, judgement and disgust followed by the sudden realization that i occasionally order food there. All of this went through my mind in under a minute and I pointed out the offending party to my colleague, who shared a laugh without any of the disgust that would follow, signalling that he never eats there. I don’t like being sued, so I won’t name the eatery or its exact location but it woke me up to the fact that as pleasant as occasionally eating take out food can be, one really never knows how clean the location one orders from really is.

I don’t really have a point to today’s post. It’s just something that happened that I decided to share. We often see documentaries about cleanliness behind a counter but this was one of the few instances in my life where I actually saw something happening, firsthand. The icing on the cake was when we got up to leave and walked past and the woman in question made eye contact with me and smiled because she recognized me. Awkward. ☯️

Food Or Foe…

Ah, food… Never has there been something that elicits such a delicate balance of love and hate. Required for our continued survival, food plays an integral role by providing us with the fuel and nutrition we need to get through the day. It’s also somewhat responsible for weight gain and a variety of health issues if consumed improperly or in large amounts. The other side of the coin is that food can bring a significant amount of enjoyment to those who choose to experience their food as opposed to simply eating it.

For someone with Type-1 Diabetes, the consumption of food is a delicate dance of counting carbs, eating in appropriate portions an ensuring the appropriate amount of insulin is taken in proportion to what’s being eaten. It isn’t always easy and it’s made all the more difficult by the fact that every person is different their bodies may react to foods in different ways. For example, I know some people who can easily and quickly treat a low with a small glass of juice. If I tried that shit, I’d die long before the juice took effect.

For me, it’s a handful of jellybeans. Believe it or not, those bring my blood up far faster despite the fact that fluid will be absorbed quicker by the body. But some foods will be problematic, in general. Take chocolate as an example… I know a lot of people who will turn to chocolate in order to treat a low. The problem with that is that chocolate, in essence, is a solid block of fat mixed with sugar. When consuming chocolate, the body will usually break down the fat before getting to the carbohydrates. this can mean a significant delay in getting one’s blood sugars up, using chocolate. It’ll still get you there, it’ll just take forever doing it.

The same can be said of certain foods we consume at mealtime. For me, the guilty culprit is pizza. Anyone who knows me will tell you that gourmet burgers are my kryptonite and they would be right. But I definitely have a soft spot for stuffed-crust pizza. Especially on Friday nights when one can purchase a chicken Caesar stuff-crust pizza for only $10 online. It makes for a great end-of-week treat for the entire family and in fact, my son Nathan will only ever eat pizza from one specific restaurant. I recently tried to convince him to have a stuffed-crust pizza from the grocery store. It didn’t end well. But I digress…

Pizza poses a significant problem for me because it’s one of those foods without a happy medium. The contents of a pizza are unfortunately as such that i face the same conundrum as chocolate. The heavy amounts of cheese and fatty ingredients make it so that the pizza is processed differently than other foods. If I take an appropriate amount of insulin for the amount of carbs I’m eating, I’ll almost certainly bottom out within the hour. Why? Because those high-fat ingredients will get processed first and the insulin will continue to work BEFORE carbohydrates are introduced.

My insulin pump has an interesting function called “dual wave” and “square wave” bolusing. The former involves providing a specific amount of insulin up front with the remainder being dosed out over a period of time. The latter involves the entire amount being dosed out over a period of time. Why is this important? Because it allows for the appropriate dosing of insulin for the amount of carbohydrate I’m consuming while still giving the body time to process the other food aspects, such as fat, without causing me to go into hypoglycemia.

As wonderful as this sounds, the odd thing is that those wave functions aren’t available when using SmartGuard in conjunction with a CGM. This seems like a design flaw to me and I’m not clear as to why the puppy manufacturer would have done it this way. I didn’t build the thing, so maybe there’s a reason behind why it’s not permitted with SmartGuard but it rather feels like driving a car with heated seats that won’t work if you’re wearing specific pants.

It kinda sucks because it leaves me in a position where I either have to forego eating pizza altogether or I’m back to the good ol’ days of “guess-timating” how to bolus… The usual practice right now is that I’ll put off taking any insulin until I’ve actually completed eating my slice and even then, I’ll only bolus for half of the required dose at a time. This effectively mimics the square bolus effect as much as possible without disabling the extremely effective SmartGuard system that I’ve come to love.

I’ve always said that having Diabetes shouldn’t prevent a person from enjoying anything that a non-Diabetic would. After all, it’s 2022, we’ve put people on the moon, for light’s sake! Given all the advancements in medicine in the past decades, enjoying a pizza with my family on Friday night shouldn’t be such a convoluted ordeal. But it is. It usually ends up that no matter what preventative measures I take or how I adjust my bolusing, I either spend the evening trying to bring my blood sugars back up or I spend the night slowly trying to bolus to bring myself back down.

So there you have it… I know I often bring up how I’m aware that I complain about Diabetes a lot, but this is an example of how even having pizza on Friday night can be complicated. Which sucks. A lot. But such is the burden carried on the shoulders of anyone living with T1D. It can be tedious and exhausting but there are always ways to work through it. Food for thought (pun intended) Great, now I want pizza…☯️

International Woman’s Day

All the way back in 1910, a German socialist champion of women’s rights proposed that March 8th be set aside every year as International Women’s Day. It eventually became recognized as a globally observed holiday by the United Nations in the late 1970’s. Through the years I’ve had the pleasure and benefit of being surrounded by many strong, wonderful women. From my mother, who has spent her life caring for her family and children and still does, the women who have carried a badge to help protect the public, all the way to my lovely wife, whom we can all agree needs to be tough as nails in order to put with me after all these years. Here’s to all the women out there! ☯️

Beds Are Still For Sleeping…

Sometimes it can be ridiculously unbelievable how easy it is to get all up inside one’s own head. This can happen a lot, especially if one has something on one’s mind. take work for example… I think we can all agree that working is one of life’s unwanted necessities. After all, a household needs income in order to provide food, clothing, amenities and shelter for the average family. For about 99% of the population, that means leaving the house and going to work in order to earn that income. If you’re lucky, you have a job that not only serves you well and provides said income but that you actually ENJOY. That can make a world of difference in the dynamic of one’s life.

Whether you enjoy your job or not, it can often be hard to keep oneself from dwelling about work at the most inappropriate times. Maybe you’re spending time with your children and your mind is focused on the project you need to complete by deadline or the files you’ll have to complete the following week. Maybe you’re dealing with a situation at work that you have no control over and it’s keeping you awake at night instead of allowing you the rest you need and deserve. This is what I mean by getting into one’s own head. It can be disruptive and damaging, especially since it keeps you from being present in the moment.

There are a lot of things one can do to get past this. Obviously, some people will tend to dwell on things more than others. There are some things that can’t be “fixed,” nor should they be as they constitute who one becomes as a person. But if you find yourself staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night when you should be sleeping because you’re dwelling on something you can’t help in the moment, that’s no good for anyone. Especially if that lack of rest will only work to damage your effectiveness at dealing with the issue that’s on your mind.

It can be difficult and it isn’t without some effort on one’s part but it IS possible to overcome this effect. Making a conscious effort to be present in the moment and focus on what you’re doing outside of the situation on your mind, is the first step. Being involved in various activities and interests during your down time is the follow-up step. For example, I’m a big fan of meditation (if you haven’t guessed). Spending time with one’s children and spouse and investing in that time, as well as getting out of the house and doing something for yourself, are all important parts in keeping focused on the better aspects of life.

It’s great to work hard, have goals and strive for them. But not at the cost of your mind being constantly wrapped around everything NOT happening in the moment. Stop. Take a breath. Do something for yourself. It’s one thing to notice the roses but their beauty is lost if you don’t stop to smell them, every once in a while. Such is the importance of life and will go a long way towards lessening the suffering in one’s life. Food for thought…☯️

When Life And Death Collide…

There’s no question that death is a part of life. One of the things that allow us to survive as people is the fact that we’re not wired to contemplate death and what comes next, on a minute to minute basis. If we did, we’d accomplish nothing in life as we’d succumb to the feeling that there’s no point. Considering everything happening in the world right now, fate occasionally reminds us that the typical come and go of life is still ongoing; including the passing of lives. I found out yesterday that my Uncle Richard passed away from cancer.

My mother was born as the second of seven children. Richard was not the oldest; in fact, he was among the youngest. Father, grandfather and husband, he was diagnosed with cancer quite some time ago. In recent decades, cancer has practically become the new “natural death,” with so many people developing one type or another. Most members of my family on my mother’s side have overcome cancer at some point, including my grandfather with prostate cancer, my mother with skin cancer and her older sibling who survived what was referred to as terminal.

You could say that the genes on my mother’s side seem to have a way of kicking cancer’s ass. That’s why it came as a surprise when my mother recently told me that Richard was on the final leg of his journey in this life, succumbing to the ravages that cancer brings. It came as a surprise for me since, last I’d heard, he was in remission and was overcoming it. Some weeks had passed before my mother phoned me yesterday afternoon to deliver the bad news. With both of my grandparents already gone, my mother is the de facto matriarch and was busy contacting all the members of the family. I don’t envy her that responsibility.

Richard’s passing has brought a strange shift in dynamic in the family. I’ve recognized for years that I’ve reached a point in my existence where life has started taking away at LEAST as much as it has given. But Richard finds himself as the first one in my family of his generation to pass; a sobering reminder that they’ve potentially reached the point in life where death has become an inevitable consideration. Don’t get me wrong; adults in general have an awareness of death and acknowledge its existence and possibility. But my mother and her siblings are now aware that death has touched them. And as the old saying suggests, the only thing one can’t avoid in life are taxes and death.

Considered to have been a bit of a rebel within the family, he’s always had a soft spot for his family and cared for all of us. I’ve tried my best since yesterday to try and find a photograph of him. No luck. Oh, I’m sure I have a photo of him in a dusty album in my barrack boxes. But nothing in recent years. This is a wake up call for me. Especially since I’ve lived in Saskatchewan for the past fifteen years and he lived in Alberta. We totally would have been in a position to see each other more. Although I make my best to live life without regrets, I can say with firm honesty that realizing I’ll never have the opportunity or took it when I had the chance, is one of them.

Hug your family close and appreciate the time you have with them. Life is short and there’s no guarantee that you’ll know them in the next life. With all the chaos currently happening in the world, more people are losing loved ones than should be. Rest in peace, Uncle Richard. I’ve known pain and sickness all my life but I’m sure yours was worse. Peace and rest are yours, now. I’m sure my brother will greet you at the door. ❤️🙏☯️