It’s times like these
An important person is sick, and a community is feeling it. I could be talking about any number of stories/situations/people/places.
But right now I’m talking about one Mr. Al Jackson.
Mr. Jackson will always be a special person in my life, and in the life of many people who I went to school with in Toronto. He was the first person I met when we considered going to The Country Day School, I was in the same grade as his oldest son (before graduating a year early) and he was also one of the reasons why my then boyfriend (now husband) got through Grade 12 math.
Excellent teacher. Excellent person.
But now he’s not doing very well. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of ALS in 2005, I received word earlier this week that he’s now in a wheelchair and not doing so well. It’s times like these that moving 4000 miles away from home hurts the most.
The CDS community has rallied together. While I hate being so far away, I’m grateful I am a part of a school that values and takes care of it’s community so well. There have been other instances in the past that I remember where the same support and “family” mentality has helped as well.
Which brings me to my real point for mentioning Mr. Jackson (besides trying to work through the lump in my throat when I try to even begin to imagine what his family must be going through).
On September 30th, if you’re in the Newmarket area, there is a Walk For ALS happening which I would encourage you to participate in. Information about the Walk can be found here, and just a snippet of how CDS is feeling right now can be seen on the Friends of Al Jackson Page, here.
There’s also a facebook group that has started to get awareness going - Thanks to Kim for setting it up and I hope many of the CDS alumni are able to make it out. Already reaching nearly double the fund raising goal is a huge accomplishment and makes me proud to be a CDS-er.
September 30th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
Ever since i discovered your posts about Skype, i come back to your blog … not because of Skype: nice blog, diverse, nice opinions.
This post is sad and human.
The wife of one of my former (and very though) bosses also has ALS. I had a hate-love relationship with him, and we continue to communicate (and sometimes work together - he is CEO of a company). He told me about his wife … really horrible disease.
The diverse, funny, sad or reflecting posts makes your blog nice to read.