Dying, caregiving and grieving are three of life’s greatest challenges, and the Community Hospice is ready to help
Nanaimo Community Hospice has been serving the community for over 30 years, and was Canada’s first community-based nonprofit charitable Hospice. The organization believes that the dying should experience dignity and peace, their caregivers should get the help they need, and their friends and family should be supported in their grief. (more…)
Stories and reflections encourage and support readers in living vibrantly through wholeheartedly embracing life’s challenges
Gail Boulanger is a coach and counselor for “vibrant living” in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island. She says that vibrant living infuses our lives with energy and enthusiasm just as sun infuses the day with light and warmth. But Gail also says that vibrant living rests on a foundation of healthy grieving. (more…)
Ria Voros’ debut novel uses a special relationship to explore the grief of a child whose parents were killed in an accident
For thirteen-year-old Jakob, the summer is looking pretty bleak. A few months before, he was in a car accident that killed both his parents, and though he can’t remember exactly what happened, he can’t stop turning it over in his mind. (more…)
Amanda Todd’s death by suicide—after her video disclosing bullying and harassment —creates a media tsunami
The death by suicide of Amanda Todd, who disclosed in a YouTube video the bullying and harassment she had been experiencing, created a tsunami of media attention. Social media—which was directly involved in her suffering—propelled her story to the front pages of local and national newspapers and websites around the world.
Martin Laba, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University specializing in media and pop culture analysis, told the Maple Ridge News he was surprised by the global impact of Todd’s story. “You’d have to have been living in a hole to have not heard about her story,” he said. “It truly went viral, and was particularly driven by social media.” (more…)
‘Dying with dignity’ has been supported by many members of Unitarian Fellowships across Canada—for over thirty years
It’s your life and it should be your choice as to how and when you die. That’s what British Columbia resident Gloria Taylor believed. That’s why Taylor, who had Lou Gehrig’s disease, took her case for the right to die to the B.C. Supreme Court. She won that battle. Now, Gloria Taylor has died, of natural causes. Gloria’s mother, Anne Fomenoff, said of her daughter’s passing, “Gloria was able to live her final days free from the fear that she would be sentenced to suffer cruelly in a failing body.” (more…)
Columnist reflects on the generational impact of Canada’s residential schools and coming to terms with the after effects
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has been making its way across the country, collecting more than 3,000 personal statements from Aboriginal residential school survivors. Chief Wilton Littlechild, one of the commissioners, has stated: “Residential schools operated in Canada for well over a century. In the same way, the reconciliation process will have to span generations. It will take time to re-establish respect. It will take time and commitment to reverse this legacy.” (more…)
