My career has blessed me with the opportunity to meet so many incredible people who have filled my heart with so much joy that my cup runneth over.
I have talked to murderers and addicts and wrote stories about all the terrible things people do to other people. But, despite the cruelness I was exposed to, I have met some truly amazing individuals whom I will never forget. I am not just another cynical journalist.
Call me a softie or naïve, but I still sometimes wonder about those lost souls I once wrote about. Like the 50-year-old drug addict who answered the door in his underwear for our scheduled interview and was so paranoid about the bugs (imaginary) crawling across his walls and cigarette ash-covered table, he could hardly function.
I remember how he told me about the troubled relationship he had with his parents that drove him to move to Alberta and work in the oil fields. That’s where he got hooked on cocaine as a young man.
Now, decades later he was still using and in and out of court and prison.
I wonder now if he is still using, or even still alive. It’s people like that I wish I could have helped.
Then there was the 11–year-old girl who witnessed her mom being stabbed and left bleeding in a city apartment building. Is she ok? Did she get the help she needed to get over such a traumatic event.
I am sure it must be similar to what emergency room doctors and paramedics feel when they see people at their worst and never find out what the outcome was. It’s like a movie with a twisted ending that’s not really an ending but leaves you asking even more questions. Perfect Storm is a great example!
I like closure.
Think that was the end but feel like there should be more to this column? Don’t worry I won’t leave you hanging.
I haven’t told you about the wonderful people I have met in my career. I feel so lucky to know so many great people who inspire me.
Most recently, I met two inspiring women, who at first I was afraid to even meet.
As many of you know, my son has an incurable cancer known as anaplastic ependymoma (I know it’s a mouthful). Then I learned about Kay-Lynn Stevens and how she had the exact type of cancer as my son’s and will be this year’s Relay for Life Champion.
I was petrified to talk to her and her mom Tanya. Maybe it was going to be too hard… maybe I couldn’t get through the interview without breaking down in tears or maybe I would just put up a wall to protect myself and not be able to emotionally connect.
But to the contrary, just being in their presence was calming. Maybe it was the sense that I am not alone in this journey, but most of all I was simply inspired by the perspective these two shared. They never got hung up on the bad parts of their journey, they stayed in the present and only looked to the future in a positive light. Even as a child, Tanya never focused on how different Kay-Lynn may have been. She packed her backpack and sent Kay-Lynn on her way to school like any other kid. Her cancer wasn’t made out to be a big deal. It was nothing different than the poor kid that had red hair and freckles (that was me!).
So she lost her hair - put on a hat and live your life.
There have been others I got the privilege to meet who share this same rose-coloured glass view of life. Those like Jessica Hagen, who lost her son to cancer; Mary Rodrigues who lost her baby after a crash involving a drunk driver and now Tanya and Kay-Lynn.
And what do they all have in common? They transformed their loss, their pain into something positive to help others. Jessica created Jacob’s Story, Mary went on to become president of MADD and Tanya and Kay-Lynn started Kay-Lynn Smiles.
These strong, brave women know that the only way to heal a broken heart is to help others.
All you need is love.