June Callwood died a few days ago. That is, her body left this earth, but the life she led and the way she changed the lives others will be remembered. I know how much difference she made to the lives of women and I'm glad we had her with us for a while. She chose to die at Casey House, the hospice she founded for people dying with AIDS. It was the first hospice of its kind and when she conceived the idea there was a lot of opposition to it. But she prevailed. She was also a compelling writer who used her words to promote social justice causes. I'll miss her, a lot. She is one of those who inspired me to try to do things that would make the world a better place for those people who lack power in at least some small way.
Sometimes I have trouble deciding what my priorities should be, but things work out most of the time. For example; today I went for a wander through the shops in uptown Waterloo. It would be good, I thought to find a summer skirt, or a decent pair of summer shorts. But the price tags were shocking. Then, I popped into Wordsworth's Books Store, one of the last independent bookstores, and found a couple of things. A paperback version of The Paris Review book of People with Problems (a fiction anthology) was on sale for $5.99. How could I resist that? Then I picked up the current issue of The New Yorker magazine because there's an article titled "The truth about aging." The cover blurb about the article says - The ranks of the elderly are growing. Why has the medical profession turned its back on them? Atul Gawande on a coming crisis. I have to read that, I mean, it's research isn't it? So, I ended up spending about $13.00 and not buying any clothes. I think June would understand.
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