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| Toronto Jan 1999 |
On the one hand, it is difficult to believe how time has flown. What happened to the years? On the other hand, it is amazing how many life events got packed into what feels like such a short span of time.
We've done the Canadian thing and cut down our own Christmas trees, and made snow angels. We've been through the rigmarole and frustrations of all the applications and registrations for official documents and schooling, the pain of unemployment and the joys of finding jobs, had high school and university graduations and professional certifications, had people accuse us of 'putting on' our accents and other people 'loving' our accents. I've waited at bus stops when the temperature was 19C below before the wind-chill, and minus 38 degrees after, reminding myself that I did not come to Canada for the weather. I've tried driving after an ice storm and learnt that a car with all-season tyres doesn't go where you want it to go or stop when or where you want it to stop.
Actually, those first winters were a special joy for me, not because I'm a masochist, but because they reminded me that I and my family had really come to Canada against so many odds. That thought made me feel very warm inside. Canada has been very good for us as a family.
We have made many new acquaintances and some lasting friendships, notably three marriages which have brought other entire families into our own family sphere and vice versa. And, of course, Ingrid and I now have grandchildren - three girls and two boys - all of them the delight of our eyes.We have also had sickness and ill health. Many Canadians complain about Canadian healthcare. Most of those who do have had bad experiences as patients, or know somebody else who has. Or they work in the healthcare establishment as nurses, personal support workers or other frontline staff. The story of healthcare in Canada is really the story of healthcare as administered by the various provinces making up the Federation. However, speaking for the McCann clan's experiences of the Ontario healthcare system thus far, it would be ungrateful for us to complain considering the wonderful treatment we have received for cancers, hip replacements and surgeries, not to mention countless trips to the ER, walk-in clinics and family doctors for 'lesser' problems and regular check-ups.
Right now it is summer for us. Many places in the world are experiencing first hand the extreme and nasty effects of global warming, especially in poorer nations. It is almost with a tinge of guilt that I have to say that this first-world place in Ontario, Canada where we live is like a little bit of heaven.
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| A little bit of heaven |
Perhaps it is to assuage that guilt somewhat that I try to raise awareness of the twin, related issues of global poverty and the global environmental crises. Pope Francis and Bishop Desmond Tutu are my inspirational champions for the moral imperative imposed by these inseparably joined twins which are poverty and the environment.
