People

Happy Saturday! Well, I was supposed to tackle the garden, but I ran out of steam, so a job for tomorrow and Monday.  It’s frustrating that so little wears me out, but such is the nature of my MS these days. At least I don’t have much of a garden at this house.  My choice, and it’s all perennials except of course, for the weeds that I do need to be more on top of!

Time for the topic at hand! People. We meet many people through our lives, starting with pretty much just family when we are first born and then widening our horizons with friends, acquaintances, co-workers, medical professionals, etc.

There is a book called ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven,’ by Mitch Albom, which I understand is amazing and I really must read. Some time ago, my doctor wrote about the five people he had met in his lifetime that helped him to shape his life/career. We do meet a lot of people in a lifetime and some are in our lives for a short time, some for many years and some all of our lives, or at least most of our lives.

Every one of those people has the potential to make a difference in our lives, some by becoming a big part of our lives, like spouses and children, and some by just imparting some wisdom on their way through our lives. And then there is everything in between.

I am thinking of this because I am feeling so very blessed with the people I have encountered and spend time with in the various roles I have here in our town of Cobourg.  I am on two accessibility advisory committees, one for the town of Cobourg and one for the county of Northumberland. What a caring bunch of people on both of these committees!

I have connected with Community Care Northumberland, where I do friendly visiting with two ladies in the community, and I do palliative vigils, where I have met people in the last days of their lives and learned some really interesting things about the people they were.  I am also on the Community Care Northumberland local committee for the Cobourg location, where I get to find out about the amazing people in our community and what they do. Also, through this agency, I get to meet other volunteers at various events like the volunteer appreciation lunch, the annual palliative training and the bereavement training that I just took.

I also connected with the Extendicare down the street, where I visit with some lovely elderly people and have a great appreciation for the things they have been able to do in their lives.

I have even met the most amazing group of people through the Community Catholic Church of Canada.  I have known the Archbishop since she was an Anglican priest at the church I took my kids to 20 years ago and she has introduced me to some really awesome people and because of this, as I widen my horizons, I have met some awesome people at St. Peter’s in Cobourg and St. George’s in Gores Landing. They are all a wonderfully warm and welcoming group of people.

I also recently connected with an MS group that meets for coffee once a month and we just chat. I have often said that I have met some of the most amazing people since I was diagnosed with MS about 24 years ago.  I have met some fighters and I have met some who chose to crawl into a bottle, or never leave the house. We cover the spectrum, I think.

Every one of these people, has a story, and every one of these people has given me food for thought. Some of that food has been merely a snack and some of that food has been a many course meal.  It’s amazing, just what you get to learn that you can then apply to yourself, or just save for another day.

So, my suggestion is this:  cherish everyone you meet. There are some not so nice people out there and you will learn that you don’t want to keep them in your life, but you will still learn something.  God bless you and all the people in your life!