Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Love On The Transplant List: How To
Love On The Transplant List: How To
CANADIANS
TRUST
JAN/FEB 2018
How to
PAGE 30
LOVE ON THE
TRANSPLANT LIST PAGE 40
SNOW WALKER:
LOST AND ALONE IN A WHITEOUT
PAGE 48
Cover Story
30 How to Banish the Winter Blues
If you suffer from seasonal affective
disorder, there are many ways to
brighten your mood. VA N E S SA M I L N E
Inspiration
36 Mahmoud and the Mint
How a man and his plant became
a symbol of hope in battle-weary
Mosul. T R I S H N E W P O R T
F R O M T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L
Relationships
40 Love on the Transplant List
While waiting to receive a new heart,
Russell MacDougall met cardiac patient
P. | 96
Sherene Wright—and forged an unexpected
romantic bond. S U SA N P E T E R S
Family
JOHN COGILL/J C P ICTURES LTD.
Department of Wit
64 Work Perks
Check out these exceptional employee benefits!
ILLUSTRATION
FROM THE ONION BY JEFF KULAK
P. | 84
Health Memoir
66 The Quieter Life 84 Wisdom of the Flock
10 Canadians share simple When my father died, his
strategies for finding peace. fascination with geese became
A N N E B O K M A F R O M B E ST H E A LT H , a comfort. CO R I N N E L A N G STO N
A D D I T I O N A L R E S E A R C H BY F R O M T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L
A L E X A N D R A C AU F I N
Environment
Memoir 88 The Vault
74 My Address Book Is a global seed repository the
The time-worn log may not be best solution to fend off food
as convenient as a smartphone, crises? J E N N I F E R CO C K R A L L-
but its history can’t be deleted. KING FROM EIGHTEEN BRIDGES
PAT R I C I A G O U L D
F R O M T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L Editors’ Choice
96 “I Am Not a Tragedy”
Life Lesson Following a devastating
78 Taking a Stand diagnosis, a young filmmaker
How to spot—and neutralize— and father pushes ahead.
a bully. A N D R E M AY E R S I M O N F I TZ M AU R I C E
JOE BRYKSA / WI NN IPEG FREE PR ESS
F R O M I T ’ S N OT Y E T DA R K
READER FAVOURITES
Health
26 Don’t Be a Flake
ART OF LIVING How to handle dandruff.
DILIA NARDUZZI
10 Screen Test
After being diagnosed with Health
The RD Interview
14 Modern Motherhood
Workin’ Moms creator
Catherine Reitman on tackling
controversial topics and
GET SMART!
focusing more on dads.
CO U R T N E Y S H E A
109 13 Things Exterminators
Culture Wish You Knew
16 RD Recommends MICHELLE CROUCH
Health
112 Brainteasers
20 Non-Allergic Rhinitis 101 114 Sudoku
What it is and how to treat it.
117 Word Power
JESSICA DEEKS
SA M A N T H A R I D E O U T
Send an email to
[email protected]
Published by the Reader’s Digest Magazines Canada Limited, Montreal, Canada
Christopher Dornan Chairman of the Board
Dominique Ritter Editor-in-Chief
Ashley Leon Advertising, Head of Sales and Sales Strategy
Executive Editor Stéphanie Verge Art Director John Montgomery
Senior Editor (on leave) Sarah Liss Assistant Art Director Danielle Sayer
Senior Editor Micah Toub Graphic Designer Pierre Loranger
Associate Editor Megan Jones Content Operations Manager Lisa Pigeon
Editorial Intern Meagan Boissé Circulation Director Edward Birkett
Contributing Editor Samantha Rideout Contributors: Roger Aziz, Andrea Bennett, Anne Bokma,
Proofreader Katie Moore Alexandra Caufin, Nishant Choksi, Matthew Cohen, Michelle
Crouch, Matthew Daley, Marcel Danesi, Jessica Deeks,
Senior Researcher Lucy Uprichard Aimée van Drimmelen, Andrew Duffy, Simon Fitzmaurice,
Researchers Martha Beach, Andrea Elinor Florence, Thomas Fricke, Adam Gopnik, Patricia
Bennett, Alyssa Favreau, Gould, Danielle Groen, Steven P. Hughes, Alyssa Jung,
Katherine Laidlaw, Nicole Roderick Kimball, Jennifer Cockrall-King, Susan Camilleri
Schmidt, Leslie Sponder Konar, Jeff Kulak, Dominique Lafond, Corinne Langston,
Copy Editors Chad Fraser, Amy Sydney Loney, Andre Mayer, Vanessa Milne, Joe Morse,
Dilia Narduzzi, Trish Newport, Jacqui Oakley, Finn O’Hara,
Harkness, Richard Johnson
Christina Palassio, Paul Paquet, Susan Peters, Ian Riensche,
Web Editor Brett Walther Darren Rigby, Courtney Shea, Beth Shillibeer, Fraser
Assistant Web Editor Robert Liwanag Simpson, Sébastien Thibault, Conan de Vries, Victor Wong
HOW TO REACH US
CUSTOMER SERVICE [email protected]
Reader’s Digest Customer Care Centre, P.O. Box 970 Station Main, Markham, ON L3P 0K2
EDITORIAL OFFICE 1100 René Lévesque Blvd. W. | Montreal, QC H3B 5H5 | [email protected], rd.ca
FOR SERVICE TO SUBSCRIBERS Pay your bill, view your account online, change your address and browse our FAQs at rd.ca/contact.
MAIL PREFERENCE Reader’s Digest maintains a record of your purchase and sweepstakes participation history for Customer Service and
Marketing departments, which enables us to offer the best service possible along with quality products we believe will interest you. Occa-
sionally, to allow our customers to be aware of other products and services that may be of interest to them, we provide this information to
other companies. Should you wish, for any reason, not to receive such offers from other companies, please write to: Privacy Office, Reader’s
Digest, P.O. Box 974, Station Main, Markham, ON L3P 0K6. You may also write to this address if you no longer wish to receive offers from
Reader’s Digest or should you have any questions regarding your record or wish to examine or correct it.
fresh water. We need to drink deeply. different sizes, hues and textures to
My new favourite term is “hygge.” interest the eye. Although I tend
The Danish word describes the feel- to colour in my work digitally
ing you get when you come in from these days, I like producing a hand-
the cold or sit by the fire with loved drawn look—drawing with ink gives
ones. Life doesn’t get better than that! me that satisfaction.
A FULLER PICTURE
Reader’s Digest was a staple
in my household when I was
growing up. However, about
seven years ago, I picked up
a copy and I couldn’t help but
notice what was missing from
its pages. The stories, while
they were about the human
condition, didn’t feature fam-
ilies that looked like mine, or
many of the families in my
city. I stopped reading the
magazine. A few weeks ago,
I was drawn back to the pub-
lication, intrigued by the
photo of Buffy Sainte-Marie
on the November cover. As I
flipped through the pages, I was pleasantly surprised to see a new
RD, one that is far more reflective of my experience and the diverse
city I call home. I believe the media has an important role to play in
creating communities that are welcoming and tolerant. Thank you for
capturing a fuller snapshot of what it means to be Canadian in 2017.
NADIA C., Van c ouv er
MATT BARN ES
WRITE We want to hear from you! Have something to say about an article you read in Reader’s
TO US! Digest? Send your letters to [email protected]. Please include your full name and address.
Contribute Send us your funny jokes and anecdotes, and if we publish one in a print
edition of Reader’s Digest, we’ll send you $50. To submit, visit rd.ca/joke.
Original contributions (text and photos) become the property of The Reader’s Digest
Magazines Canada Limited, and its affiliates, upon publication. Submissions may be
edited for length and clarity, and may be reproduced in all print and electronic media.
Receipt of your submission cannot be acknowledged.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE
…learn
at least
…always have
one new
fresh flowers
and chocolates at home.
word
Resolutions like these
add something valuable
every week. …stop
smoking.
ABDULLAH
and upbeat to life. TANZEEM ANSARI,
DIANE DAKERS, VICTORIA HAMILTON, ONT.
NORMA ARMSTRONG,
CAYUGA, ONT.
…travel …be
to every province and
territory in Canada in 2017.
kinder to
CALEIGH ALLEYNE, TORONTO myself.
DEBBIE BROWNE,
SPRUCE GROVE, ALTA.
Visit the Reader’s Digest Canada Facebook page for your chance to finish the next sentence.
Screen Test
BY AND REW D UFFY
PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA DEEKS
! REBECCA HOLLINGSWORTH
and Mary Ellen Hughson are used to
Hollingsworth took Hughson
aside that day. “I said, ‘Mary Ellen,
sharing everything. Born four years you have to get checked out—I
apart, the sisters grew up as the best didn’t even have a lump.’” Less than
of friends in Ottawa before pursuing a week later, Hughson was diag-
careers in education and becoming nosed with the same disease as her
mothers. More recently, they’ve sister: invasive ductal breast cancer.
spent early mornings, late evenings Healthy eaters and avid volleyball
and weekends together at the ice players, the siblings were shocked
rink, watching their five children by their diagnoses, especially since
play competitive hockey. there was no family history of can-
So when Hollingsworth was cer. Extensive DNA testing revealed
diagnosed with breast cancer in that their cases weren’t genetic but
November 2016 at the age of 44, rather unlikely accidents of fate.
she immediately thought of her Together, the sisters endured che-
younger sister, who had discovered motherapy and radiation, lost their
a small lump on her breast a few hair, and recovered. They’ve since
months prior. joined forces to raise money to help
bring the best in screening technol- insisted that everyone turn out the
ogy to the Ottawa Hospital Breast lights at 8:30 p.m.
Health Centre, including a special- Without the usual distractions,
ized imaging machine—the 3 Tesla Hollingsworth decided to conduct
MRI, which costs $4 million—that’s a breast self-exam. While she didn’t
particularly effective for people with find a lump, she did notice that her
dense breast tissue. right breast felt different—“thicker”—
Dr. Jean Seely, head of breast imag- than her left. A mammogram later
ing at the Ottawa Hospital, says the that week revealed a tumour; five
state-of-the-art technology can help smaller tumours then showed up
doctors detect cancer in its earliest on an MRI.
stages: “This is the best tool that’s Hughson’s cancer was trickier
available, and it’s particularly effect- to diagnose: her first mammogram
ive in difficult cases.” With its ability didn’t reveal anything definitive,
to find tumours through dense tissue, but a follow-up ultrasound and
the imaging machine can signifi- biopsy were conclusive. The cancer
cantly cut down on wait times was nearing Hughson’s lymph
between diagnosis and treatment. nodes when it was discovered;
The sisters aim to raise $250,000 doctors told her it was about a
through their Tree of Hope campaign month away from spreading.
by sharing their story and organizing While Hughson credits her sister
special events, such as an online with saving her life, Hollingsworth
auction and a partnership with local thanks Owen: “If my son had let me
hair salons. They’ve already gathered watch Netflix that night, I wouldn’t
more than $125,000. have done a breast exam.”
“We feel very blessed,” says Hugh- Going through treatment at the
son. “We had great care and we want same time was both difficult and
to give back. Screening technology comforting. For eight months, the
can make a difference for someone sisters talked every day and took
who finds herself in our position.” turns lifting each other’s spirits.
Hughson and her sister were fortu- “I wish Mary Ellen had never
nate to discover their disease before experienced cancer, but on some
it spread—and it was all thanks to a level, it was beautiful that we did
hockey tournament in Boston. this together. She’s my dearest
On a Saturday night in early friend,” says Hollingsworth. “It’s
November 2016, Hollingsworth’s unbelievable that such a thing could
13-year-old son, Owen, was prep- happen. But it did, we got through it
ping for an early morning game and and now we’re on the other side.”
Modern Motherhood
BY COUR T N E Y S HE A
ILLUSTRATION BY AIMÉE VAN DRIMMELEN
RD Recommends
BY DAN I E L L E G R O E N
1
THE LEISURE SEEKER
Helen Mirren puts on a wig,
a South Carolina accent and an
expression of bemused determination
for the role of Ella, the wife of a retired
English teacher battling Alzheimer’s. Resolved
to have one last adventure, she and her husband,
John (Donald Sutherland), pile into a Winnebago
and nose their way from Boston to Key West. As with all
good road trips, the pleasure here is in the journey—and
the acting in this comedy is a wonder to watch. Jan. 19.
2 FEEL FREE
Zadie Smith
The British writer applies her fierce intellect and
considerable wit to essay subjects that swing from
German paintings to Italian gardens, from existen-
tialist Martin Buber to singer Justin Bieber, from banal
Facebook interactions to the six times Zadie Smith has
experienced unadulterated joy. Her examinations of
Brexit and climate change feel vital and urgent, while her
celebration of Joni Mitchell is a sentimental delight. Feb. 6.
4 CRAWFORD
CBC’s newest comedy
begins with a familiar situation—
(THE CURR ENT WAR) DEAN ROGERS/THEWEI NSTEI NCOMPANY; (C RAWFORD ) CBC
P HOTOS: (TI LLY) © LAURIE C AM P BELL 2012; (JONES ) P IERRE ARSENAULT. QU OTE S: ( TIL LY) PEOPL E (JU NE 5, 201 7 ) ;
I couldn’t be gone from my chil- What moves us to serve humanity,
dren’s lives for six to nine months. to achieve meaningful change, is
I had a challenging childhood, so genuine empathy; the capacity to
(OBOM SAWIN) SEPT. 5, 2017; (JON ES) M AY 16, 2016; (AKHAVA N) JA N. 6, 201 5; ( PE NNY) AU G U ST 24 , 201 7.
I didn’t feel like I could feel the pain of others, to experience
trust somebody else to an intimate shared humanity, to
raise them. accept discomfort and sacrifice
in the path of a greater cause.
A c t r e s s MEG TILLY
on why she left Hollywood PAYAM AKHAVAN, l aw profe ss or and
2017 CB C Ma ss e y le cturer, on CBC Radio’s Ideas
A stock price is nothing but an accu- I said, “Well, okay. I’ll do this and
mulation of investors’ expectations see what happens.”
as to what will happen in the future.
It’s a very ethereal thing. It’s all Wr i t e r DAVID ADAMS RICHARDS
about peoples’ imaginations. on how he became Canada’s newest senator
S e n a t o r RATNA OMIDVAR,
in reaction to President Donald Trump’s [Palliative care] is about providing a
cancellation of the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals Act
good death, if I can put it that way—
about optimizing the dying process
for a patient and their family. So in
I’ve written 30, 31 books and I would a way, it’s always about living.
like to do something else. I think I
might be able to offer something. Pa l l i a t i v e c a r e p hy s i c i a n
I was asked by friends to apply and DR. SANDY BUCHMAN, in Maclean’s
QUOTES: (WALKER) CBC NEWS (MAY 18, 2017); (MARTIN) FEB. 7, 2016; (OMIDVAR) CBC NEWS
(SEPT. 8, 2017); (ADAMS RICHARDS) CBC NEWS (AUGUST 30, 2017); (SEGAL) JULY 23, 2017;
(BUCHMAN) AUGUST 15, 2017.
HEALTH
Non-Allergic
Rhinitis 101
BY SAMA N T HA RI D E O U T
YAS U+ JUN KO; (PROP STYLIST) SARA H GUIDO-LAAKSO FOR HALLEY RESOU RCE S.
physician and clinical instructor of medicine
at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine
in New York. Stress can also cause you
to overeat or undereat.
WHAT TO DO: Snack on nuts. The pro-
tein will help if you’re undereating,
and the fibre will fill you up if you’ve
been bingeing.
2 A Fuzzy Brain
Too much cortisol can make it harder
to concentrate and cause memory prob-
lems, anxiety and depression, says Levine.
WHAT TO DO: Try to relax until you
regain your focus. Practise closing your eyes
and concentrate only on your breath.
3 An Outbreak of Hives
When your body experiences stress, it
releases a chemical called histamine and
then—boom—hives galore. Also, if your
immune system is weakened by worries,
4 Headaches
It’s common for your muscles
to tense up when you’re under pres-
immune system, it’s harder to fight off
bugs. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon
University infected volunteers with
sure, which can cause a pounding a cold virus; those who reported in
head. Prone to migraines? Stress can a survey that they were dealing with
trigger them or make them worse. many stresses were twice as likely to
WHAT TO DO: If you don’t want to get sick as those with fewer problems.
take ibuprofen, try inhaling lavender WHAT TO DO: One study found
essential oil or dabbing peppermint that zinc supplements or lozenges
oil—diluted in a carrier oil—on your can shorten the length of a cold by
temples when the pain starts. about a day if taken within 24 hours
of feeling sick. Regular exercise—
5 A Sour Stomach
Stress can cause the body to
produce more digestive acid, result-
although nothing too strenuous if
you’re still feeling ill—and plenty
of sleep can also give your immune
ing in heartburn. “It can also slow system a boost.
the emptying of food from the stom-
ach, which causes gas and bloating
and may even increase the number
of times your colon contracts, lead-
8 Acne…Again!
Cortisol is the culprit here, too—
it causes skin glands to make more
ing to cramping and diarrhea,” says oil. Along with dirt and dead skin
Dr. Deborah Rhodes, a Mayo Clinic cells, the oil can get trapped inside
internal medicine physician. hair follicles, producing pimples.
WHAT TO DO: Take an over-the- WHAT TO DO: Topical creams con-
counter antacid or drink ginger tea. taining benzoyl peroxide, which has
antibacterial properties, or salicylic
Don’t Be
a Flake
BY DI L IA N A R D U ZZ I
and an assistant clinical professor skin as the culprit, but in the 1950s
of medicine at McMaster University and ’60s, according to Hay, “It was
Medical School. While it most often regarded as a proliferate disorder,
affects the head and scalp, it can a condition in which the epidermis
What’s Wrong
With Me?
BY SY DN E Y LO N E Y
ILLUSTRATION BY VICTOR WONG
HOW TO
BANISH
THE
WINTER
BLUES BY VANESSA M ILNE
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFF KULAK
WHEN TED JABLONSKI was growing only have enough energy for binge-
up in Winnipeg, he could often be watching TV shows. But for the 15 per
found on winter days hanging out cent of Canadians who suffer from
in the sun. “I would always sit at the SAD, it goes beyond that—they over-
top of the staircase by the window—it sleep, overeat, and feel guilty, irritable
was my favourite place,” the 58-year- and hopeless. The symptoms usually
old remembers. “And even on the come on in the fall, peak in late Janu-
most frigid days, I would insist on ary, and go away in the spring.
walking to school.” About three per cent of Canadians
As he grew older, what had started acquire a more severe form of SAD,
as a seemingly benign preference for which can have a devastating impact.
sunlight took a darker turn. By the Before Diana Lillo, a 54-year-old
time he was an adult, Jablonski began entrepreneur who lives near Guelph,
to go into every winter with Ont., sought treatment for
a sense of dread. “It was a her more serious case, the
visceral feeling of gloom,” effects of it were debilitat-
he says. “I’d work longer ing. “My life was just falling
hours in order to distract apart,” she says, explaining
myself from my feelings; I that her marriage and
just tried to hang on until it career deteriorated, and
passed in the spring.” she was plagued with sui-
Then, in the winter of cidal thoughts. After the
2002, Jablonski slid into a sun went down every day,
depression. He recognized simply going outside was a
then that he’d been strug- struggle; most of the time,
gling with seasonal affective disor- she says, “I would get to the door or
der (SAD)—depression that occurs to my car and just turn around and
every year, most often in the darker go back home.”
months—for most of his life. Ironically,
Jablonski, who is now a family doctor IN 1981, THE Washington Post ran a
in Calgary, treated many people with story about a 29-year-old woman who
the disorder before he accepted that suffered from depression every win-
he suffered from it too. “It took me a ter, only to have it disappear in the
long time to admit that this was more spring—or two days into a vacation
than just hating winter.” to Jamaica. Researchers explained
A lot of us go into hibernation mode how they had helped her with light
every time the cold comes around, therapy—a treatment during which a
socializing less and feeling like we person sits in front of a light-emitting
isn’t as good as the real thing, add- spiral,” explains David Dozois, a psy-
ing more lamps to dark areas in your chologist and chair of clinical science
home is better than nothing. and psychopathology at Western Uni-
If you can afford it, head to the versity in London, Ont.
lands of minimal SAD near the equa- He suggests making a point of find-
tor. A sunny vacation will offer a wel- ing wintertime ways to do whatever
come, if temporary, respite from the brings you joy during the summer,
winter blues. whether that’s socializing, playing a
sport or being in a band. “I encour-
■ RELY ON ROUTINES. Winter’s long age patients to ‘fake it ’til you make
nights throw off your sleep cycle, but it.’ Just do it, even if you don’t feel like
keeping a regular bedtime and wake it at first,” he says.
time can help regulate it, and prevent
both insomnia and oversleeping. TREATMENTS TO TALK TO
Also, dim your lights at night and YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT
avoid screens for about two hours
before heading to bed. ■ GO WITH THE GLOW. Light therapy
During the day, regular aerobic ex- using an ultraviolet-filtered lamp is
ercise can help you manage stress, the most common treatment for SAD.
feel more alert and increase your “Patients prefer it, and doctors like it
emotional resilience. “When you ex- because it works quickly and it’s very
ercise, your dopamine and serotonin potent,” says Levitan. People typically
levels rise,” explains Jablonski. “Just are encouraged to use their illumin-
20 to 30 minutes, five or six days a ated unit for at least half an hour a
week, can really change the chemistry day in the morning, which essentially
in your brain.” A brisk noon-hour tricks their body into thinking it’s
walk can do double duty, as you’ll get already spring.
some sunlight, too. “I found immediate relief with
my light box,” Lillo says.
■ CONNECT WITH OTHERS. “When I sit in front of it,
“When people become my mood changes, I feel
depressed, they also start more energetic and more
to pull away from things at peace. The anxiety and
they like doing, and the depression just slip away.”
more you withdraw, the Some people with SAD
less pleasure and sense of also find “dawn simula-
accomplishment they feel tion” helps—this is usu-
in general. It’s a downward ally accomplished with a
Mahmoud
and
the
BY TRIS H NE WP O RT FR O M TH E G LOBE A N D MA IL
ILLUSTRATION BY JACQUI OAKLEY
For the past nine years, my pro- We stopped Mahmoud on the side
jects with MSF have placed me in of the road to ask if he knew where we
Africa and the Middle East. My time could find a room that would work.
in the Yukon has shrunk to only a few In Mosul, you need to be careful
precious months a year—not long about whom you trust, but we were
enough to get my hands dirty plant- all drawn to Mahmoud and his mint
ing anything. plant. He agreed to take us on a tour
But in March 2017, in the depths of of various buildings where we could
the ugly Battle of Mosul—a military set up our clinic. And wherever we
campaign to take back searched, he brought
the city from the Islamic the potted plant.
State (IS)—one Iraqi Once we selected a
man and his mint plant MAHMOUD good location, we hired
brought gardening back PROMISED HIS Mahmoud to be one of
into my life. DAUGHTER our guards. Every day,
HE WOULD he came to work with
THE DAY THAT I first KEEP THE MINT his mint plant. It was
met Mahmoud*, he was endearing but also odd.
WITH HIM AT
walking down a road in Later, I would learn the
West Mosul. Only two
ALL TIMES story behind it.
kilometres away, the
UNTIL SHE
fighting was intense— RETURNED. SINCE THE SUMMER of
the sound of explosions 2014, IS had controlled
pierced the eardrums Mosul. And during that
and the constant gunfire rattled the time, Mahmoud educated his three
nervous system. But then, in the mid- children at home so they would not be
dle of all that, there was Mahmoud, exposed to the IS school curriculum.
mint plant in hand. He taught his kids how to garden and
At the time, my team and I were his youngest daughter grew mint. She
in the middle of searching for a large loved that plant.
room to set up a trauma-stabilization During the Battle of Mosul, which
clinic. We wanted to be close to the lasted almost nine months, the Iraqi
front line, where we could care for the army slowly reclaimed areas from IS.
wounded and increase their chances When they took control of the street
of surviving the hour-long ambulance where Mahmoud lived, it was finally
journey to the hospital. But suitable safe enough for him to send his fam-
spaces were hard to find, as most ily to a camp south of the city for dis-
large buildings had been destroyed. placed people. Being there meant they
LOVE on the
Transplant
List
BY S USAN P E TERS
PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS FRICKE
into the wider world. They began to stable environment for their children.
meet for coffee or movie nights with His heart issues had forced him to
other members of HeartLinks, a small temporarily leave his job as an aircraft
group of Winnipeggers who have maintenance engineer, so he had a
received a heart transplant or are lot of time to think about the ways in
waiting for one. Being around others which he wanted his life to change.
with cardiac issues left MacDougall, Seven weeks after his separation,
a burly six-foot-two man, wondering MacDougall decided to ask out
what his future might hold. “I kind of Wright. For their first date, they drove
expected that I wouldn’t get a heart to a gun range to shoot rifles at water
because of my size,” he says now. bottles. “I was skeptical at first, but I
“When they determine got the hang of it and
what heart you’re going started to hit them!”
to receive, it has to recalls Wright. After a
come from somebody The upcoming dinner of filet mignon
similar in height and at a local steakhouse,
weight. The odds of
transplant the pair returned to
that happening for me altered the Wright’s apartment,
were low.” timeline of where she admired the
For patients who do the proposal. dozen red roses he’d
receive hearts, there are
concerns regarding the
The moment given her earlier. Over
a glass of wine, Mac-
health of their kidneys— was now. Dougall asked Wright if
which are affected by he could kiss her.
the anti-rejection medi- Once she had said
cations—in addition to a vulnerable yes, he gave his date a little peck.
immune system, a greater risk of Is that it? Wright thought. She
developing cancers and a potential leaned forward and kissed him back.
resurgence of cardiac issues. But
whenever MacDougall let worries and ON THAT FATEFUL spring morn-
self-pity take hold, Wright would tell ing in April 2015, MacDougall was
him to cut the negative thinking and resting at home when the trans-
focus on what really mattered to him. plant coordinator called to tell him
He resolved to do just that. After a heart was available. MacDougall
receiving the LVAD on August 19, asked about the donor immediately.
2014, MacDougall separated from his He was told the person’s age and
wife in hopes that ending their rocky sex, but other information was kept
relationship would lead to a more private, as per transplant policy.
it’s rare for those connections to turn FOLLOWING the transplant, when
into something more. “This is really MacDougall was intubated, unable
an extraordinary love story,” says to speak and desperately thirsty, he
Dr. Shelley Zieroth, a Winnipeg car- took out his frustrations on his bed.
diologist and the director of heart He kicked it so hard that a health-
failure and heart transplant clinics care aide came into the room to
for St. Boniface, who has treated both offer hope—and a dose of perspec-
MacDougall and Wright. tive. “Once you’re feeling better, you
Fifteen months after his surgery, can go have a drink,” the aide told
MacDougall returned to work. And on him. “I just came back from Cuba
a sunny day in September 2016, he and I went to the bar where they
and Wright were married as 110 loved invented the mojito. I’ll tell you what.
ones looked on. One of the brides- This time next year, you’re going to
maids was Jolene Scharikow, their be in Cuba. You’ll be having a mojito
friend from the cardiac unit, and the and thinking about this moment.”
guests included fellow HeartLinks Two years later, MacDougall and
members. Kaylin and Kaylyn, 12 and Wright—on their first overseas holi-
fast friends, were junior bridesmaids; day together—took a taxi to a bar in
Declan, 15, was a junior groomsman Old Havana that smelled like rum,
and watched over his new baby sister, polished wood and cigar smoke. As
six-year-old Averie, a flower girl. Wright pushed through the crowd to
Today the blended family shares a order a couple of mojitos, MacDou-
home in a quiet residential neighbour- gall couldn’t believe his luck. Here
hood, spending time together at the I am, he thought, with the woman I
beach, camping and watching mov- love and have dreamed about, the
ies. For Wright, it’s a relief to be with woman who treats me so well. Later,
someone with whom she can commis- when it came time to leave the bar,
erate on the difficult days, who is stub- MacDougall stood still for one final
born enough to make her rest when moment, watching the bartender
she’s sick and whose laid-back nature crush mint leaves, and vowed to hold
balances out her whir of activity. the memory close.
IN ON THE JOKE
for Death”
R
ubbing the sleep from his had always been passable by truck.
eyes, Cal Crombie stuck Even if the next part isn’t plowed
his head out the door of either, the Tulameen—a secondary
his camper. “Wow! We road that leads to Merritt—will be
really got a dump of snow clear for sure, Crombie thought.
last night!” It was the morning of “Don’t try to get back if the roads
December 29, 1996. Two days prior, are too bad,” warned 44-year-old Roy.
Cal and his brother Roy had returned “I’ve got enough groceries for a couple
to their logging camp after spending weeks. I’ll be fine.”
Christmas with their families. They Though the two loggers didn’t
had a contract to cut timber near the realize it just yet, a record snowfall
Coquihalla Highway, some 160 kilo- had covered the southern half of the
metres northeast of Vancouver in province, closing roads everywhere
the heavily forested mountains of —including the Trans-Canada and
British Columbia. Coquihalla highways.
On his way to camp, Crombie had
stopped in Kamloops to pick up a CROMBIE HUMMED a tune as he put
new crystal for his two-way radio, the chains on the tires of his blue four-
men’s only contact with the outside wheel-drive pickup. Then he checked
world. The shop had been closed for his fuel: nearly full. It was -20 C and
the holidays, but while there, Crombie snowing lightly. “See you later!” he
had gone down the street and bought called back to Roy as he pulled away
himself a belated half-price Christmas at about 10 a.m.
gift: a heavy-duty fleece-lined jacket. The road he was on, a single lane
Fifty-two-year-old Crombie had bulldozed through the forest, was
red hair, piercing blue eyes, and a rolling and hilly, with several hairpin
moustache touched with grey. Long curves, and Crombie quickly realized
days of hard labour had left him in he had a tough drive ahead of him.
excellent shape. Pulling his new Even on the level stretches, the truck
jacket over his muscular shoulders, could barely push through the deep
Crombie prepared to drive from snow. Thank goodness it’s mostly
camp into Merritt, 90 minutes away, downhill, he thought.
to buy diesel fuel for their logging On the uphill grades, Crombie had
machines—the men had run out dur- to back up and accelerate forward.
ing their first couple days of work. When the wheels began to spin, he’d
Snowplows usually cleared the get out to shovel the snow piled up in
road to within about 10 kilometres of front of the truck, then move another
the Crombie camp, but that stretch few metres.
tackled another uphill grade. The mostly uphill. He could stay in the
knee-deep snow piling in front of the truck, but days might pass before this
pickup broke the grille. logging road saw another vehicle.
Again Crombie had to shovel, back Crombie still wasn’t terribly wor-
up, force the truck ahead, then shovel ried. Having cut down his first tree at
some more. the age of 11, he was at home in the
Finally, he reached the top and bush. The self-employed contractor
headed down the other side. He was used to working alone and mak-
strained his eyes to see if the road ing his own decisions. Growing up in
ahead was plowed. It wasn’t. a family of 11 children had fostered
At noon he stopped, disappointed, an independent spirit. His father, a
and decided to eat. He finished off logger of Scottish descent, had taught
leftovers from the previous night’s his eight sons and three daughters the
supper at the camp: a thick soup he’d value of hard work, a lesson Crombie
poured into a jar that morning. had taken seriously.
darkness, with only the faintest track For the first time Crombie felt real
to follow, he doggedly put one throb- fear. He was now almost halfway
bing leg in front of the other. between the highway, eight kilome-
Another half a kilometre, then a tres ahead, and the truck, some six
hundred metres. Crombie plunged kilometres behind him. Blindly he
on, straining his eyes. Finally! There retrieved his orange, which was fro-
was the road, dead ahead. He turned zen solid. He gnawed the skin off and
on his flashlight, ready to wave it if he chewed up the frozen segments.
saw a vehicle coming, and urged his In a haze of fatigue, he stared
reluctant feet to move faster. down the road—and saw a body
Then he saw it: the Tulameen Road lying in the snow. It wore a red jacket
hadn’t been plowed. and a blue and white toque, just like
Ahead Crombie could distinguish his. Crombie stared harder. A wave
a dim glow in the sky: the reflection of horror passed over him: he was
against the clouds of the Coquihalla hallucinating, seeing what the next
tollbooth lights, another eight kilo- traveller on this road might find—his
metres past the Tulameen Junction. own frozen corpse.
He had pushed his body to the limit Crombie climbed a snowbank and
to get this far. Now he was exhausted sat hunched in the darkness, facing
and half frozen. down his own death. He thought of
All right, he told himself, as long Fay. All I’m going to leave her is a
as I have fire I can survive. He few pieces of logging equipment and
broke off some dry balsam limbs, a pile of bills, he thought.
wind abruptly died down. Strange, COQUIHALLA LAKES LODGE was filled
he thought. The air felt different. He with 40 stranded travellers, including
brought his mitt up to his face. I have snowmobilers Martin and Julie Lucas
feeling in my skin! With each breath, from Chilliwack. They had returned to
blessedly warm air rushed into his the lodge that morning after getting
lungs. There could be no doubt : stuck once too often on snowmobile
inexplicably, the temperature was trails covered with deep drifts. In the
rising—and quickly. lobby, Martin struck up a conversation
With the first flicker of hope, Crom- with two fellow snowmobilers. “Let’s
bie forged forward. The sugar from try one of those logging roads up the
the orange gave him a tiny boost of mountain,” one of them suggested.
energy. He paced himself by stopping It was another two hours before
to rest every 200 steps. Crombie finally reached a sign that
FOOD FRENZY
I can’t turn water into wine, but I can turn ice cream into breakfast.
@LOUISPEITZMAN
W
HEN, IN LATER DECADES, I would tell
people about the size of the small New York
apartment that my wife, Martha, and I lived
in for three years after moving from
Montreal, they’d always ask the natural
questions: How did you get on together at all? How come you
didn’t get furious with each other, or come to hate each other?
argument about food. My uncle Ron I would lie in bed, after we unrolled
insisted that the reason they give you and enwrapped the “triple fold” sofa
large portions at restaurants is to every night, and read what was then
charge you more. And my aunt Rose the premier guide to New York dining
insisted that the reason that they out, Seymour Britchky’s The Restau-
charge you more at restaurants is that rants of New York.
they give you such large portions. No one remembers Britchky now,
And they carried this argument but at the time he was the terror of
along like a Beckett play, from Phil- the New York restaurant scene—his
adelphia to Florida and then into tone scathing. I turned Britchky’s
the hospital, where my uncle Ron pages over and over in bed, relishing
had surgery on his vocal cords and the authority of his judgment, read-
would say, forced into a high fal- ing about restaurants where we could
setto, “The reason they charge you never go.
The only restaurants we could bodies out of the oven when we first
(very occasionally) afford were a cleaned it.) But I have never cooked so
hamburger joint on Second Avenue, ambitiously, before or since. I would
or else pork schnitzel and pota- stand there in that corner, creating pil-
toes at the old Ideal Restaurant on lars of smoke and flame, which would
86th Street. So if great food were to then go pouring out the single window
be had—fine food, French food—I and onto the street. Everyone was con-
would need to cook it. vinced we were running a crack den.
But that was the only way I knew how
I USED TO TRY every night ; my to cook. Sometimes, hard as it is to
mother was a wonderful cook, and believe, we had people “over” and I
she taught her sons how to cook. made them côtes de veau Foyot and
For our wedding, she had given me Grand Marnier soufflés.
a series of haute French cookbooks: And so I would sauté the little bit
Simone Beck’s Simca’s Cuisine and a of filet of veal, with its nicely reduced
book of Roger Vergé’s and something sauce, and put it out there on the din-
of Michel Guérard’s. Inappropriately ing table. Then Martha would come
haute—inappropriate for the space along and, bravely waving her way
and my skills, I mean—their recipes through the veils of smoke, sit down
demanded poaching and roasting and cut into it and make that face—
and marinating and above all sau- you know that face—and say, “Oh,
téing, even flambéing, along with can I have this a little better done?”
all the other high-heat and smoke- because, yes, that was her nature. She
making procedures of a French was a well-done person. And she had
country kitchen. married a rare husband.
We had a tiny three-burner gas
stove, with a matching Easy-Bake–style THIS WAS A HUGE abyss, much larger
oven beneath, to produce all this. (We than any religious abyss that could
had to haul crisply baked cockroach divide the two of us. She actually
that was true for Martha’s taste for generational mechanism that had
“well done,” that it was just a kind of made them so. They had grown up
flirtatious gesture. in Jewish families where there was
Until I went to her parents’ place for nothing but pot roast and meat loaf.
an outdoor barbecue, and I saw her Things that were cooked past blood,
father put a hamburger down on the things cooked not just past rare, but
grill and leave it there for the appro- beyond recognition.
priate five minutes, and then another And I believed in rare as a moral
five, and then another five, and then principle because, well, my parents
another five… Fifty minutes went by; had brought me up to believe in it just
the thing became as dense as a hockey as passionately as Martha believed in
puck, just sitting there, sizzling miser- well done as a moral principle. When I
ably on the grill. offered my young wife something that
Of course, there was a reason Mar- was beautifully pink and bloody, she
tha came from a well-done family. would make a face that said, “Can you
Two generations back, her ances- take this back and change it?”
tors had been Icelandic peasants.
And, basically, everything for them SO, ONE NIGHT in that first bleak-cozy
was rare—they had no fire, they had winter, I went off to a fishmonger’s
on 86th Street and I bought some disaster. You feel the real risk. You
tuna. Now, the early ’80s were a kind know that, while in most of the petty
of pivotal moment in the history of squabbles of early marriage resolu-
North American cooking, because it tion is coming right after the quarrel,
was then that we passed from tuna this quarrel is something more.
fish to tuna. Tuna fish was, of course, I succumbed to the moment’s
the thing that comes in cans; you mix potential because the rejection of the
it with mayonnaise and you have it rare tuna seemed to me so funda-
in sandwiches. Tuna, on the other mentally hostile. I did what I’ve never
hand, is the beautiful pink thing that done before or since: I got up from
is the fish eaters’ substitute for filet the table and I grabbed my raincoat
mignon, the thing you cook very rare and I headed for the door like a bad
and serve in the French style. husband in a ’60s sitcom.
I went back to the Blue Room and Headed for the door… There really
I sautéed this beautiful piece of tuna wasn’t very far to go, what with there
and I gave it an au poivre sauce made being only three steps between the
with brandy, filling the place with table and the entrance. Still, I went
black fumes. Martha pushed her way there, and I opened it.
NEGATIVE SPACE
Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it's the furthest thing from it.
STEPHEN COLBERT
Work
Perks
FROM TH E O N IO N
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE ONION, COPYRIGHT © 2015 BY ONION INC., THEONION.COM.
THE
In a world full of
digital distractions
and constant clatter,
carving out time for
contemplation and
tranquility is a must.
Here, 10 Canadians
share their simple
strategies for
finding peace.
UIETER
LIFE
BY A N N E B O K M A F R OM BE ST H E ALT H
AD D ITION AL R ES EAR C H BY A LE XA N D R A C AU FI N
ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW DALEY
Once a successful sales exec, yourself for five minutes,” he says. “It
Hecimovich succumbed to full- will evolve from there.”
scale burnout in 2010. “I felt dead
and lonely and without purpose,” Take a Solo Sojourn
he explains. After 15 years of rely- A trip on your lonesome doesn’t
ing on his sharp business instincts, have to be lonely. There’s freedom
that same inner impulse took him in not being beholden to others and
instead to India. in having the ability to do what you
“I had never practised medita- want when you want. In The Call of
tion, but I knew I needed space Solitude, author Ester Bucholz dubs
and peace,” says Hecimovich. “For alone time “fuel for life.” That’s some-
30 days, I sat on my cushion every thing Cheryl Paterson, a 53-year-old
morning and chanted in my head: teacher and mother of three in Dun-
‘May I be filled with loving kindness. das, Ont., has taken to heart.
May I be well. May I be peaceful and Paterson says she recharges by tak-
at ease. May I be happy.’ Those four ing regular solo treks. Her favourite
that call, helping people gain the Silence the Family Circus
best benefits from wooded walks by One of the reasons why many of us
encouraging them to move quietly have a hard time relaxing into quietude
and deliberately, covering as little as is that we’re not used to it; no one ever
400 metres over three hours. showed us how. That’s why James
“Many of us had a special spot to R.C. Smith, the Vancouver-based Brit
go sit in the woods, or somewhere behind the daddy blog socialdad.ca,
else in nature, as children,” says has made sure to integrate this lesson
34-year-old Sky Maria Buitenhuis, into his parenting. “I grew up in the
a trainer for the Canadian chapter of English countryside, which was always
the Association of Nature and Forest quiet,” Smith says. “I learned to listen
Therapy Guides and Programs. “It’s to the sounds of nature over everything
something we’ve lost in our adult else.” Now he’s trying to replicate that
lives. We often believe we can think experience for his two-year-old daugh-
or worry our way out of a problem, ter in an urban environment.
but what we really need is quiet time Lesson one: flexibility. “She’s a tod-
in nature so our inner wisdom and dler. If she doesn’t want to be quiet,
intuition can arise.” she’s not going to be,” Smith explains.
Forest guides engage participants “But it’s not always about lower vol-
in a series of “invitations” to soak up ume; it’s about less distraction.”
nature’s hushed sounds, evocative Smith always has blocks and art
scents or the sensation of running supplies handy, making it easy to
their fingers over the veins of an oak break away from noisy toys and iPads
leaf. This contemplative practice with an activity that’s still stimulat-
originated in Japan, where Shinrin- ing. He limits television to one hour
yoku—“forest bathing”—was rec- a day and encourages a low-volume
ognized for its therapeutic value in household. “If music is on, it’s not too
boosting the immune system and loud. There’s no shouting, and we take
improving peace of mind. turns speaking,” says Smith. “Quiet
My
Address
Book
MATTHEW COHEN
BY PAT R I C I A G O U L D
FROM THE G LO B E A N D MAI L
© 2016, PATRICIA GOULD. FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL (DECEMBER 28, 2016), THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM
Taking
a
Stand BY A N D R E M AYER
grievances as a bad, unwanted habit. that 40 per cent of adults are regularly
But eventually, she adds, “He started bullied at work.
seeing it as emotional abuse.” We know it also happens in close
Bullying can come in many forms— personal relationships, such as those
from physical intimidation to online between family members or romantic
harassment to mind games. “It can partners. Wenzel says that because
cross gender lines and often doesn’t each family is unique, victims might
follow a predictable pattern. That not identify a parent or sibling’s
makes it very hard to label,” says Anna relentless digs as bullying—they
Richards, a conflict coach and coun- might just see it as part of an estab-
sellor at the Neutral Zone, a counsel- lished household dynamic.
ling agency in Vancouver. Bullying can be deliberately sub-
The end result, however, is typ- tle, such as withholding affection or
ically the same in all instances of questioning someone’s intelligence
harassment: harmful relationships or life choices. Another example is
and potentially dire effects on the exerting control in a relationship by
victim’s mental and physical health. constantly insisting that your partner
Thankfully, there are strategies for is misremembering key moments or
dealing with intimidation. lying about them, to the point where
they start to question their own san-
IDENTIFYING BULLIES ity, a practice that has come to be
Simply put, bullying is a systematic, known informally as “gaslighting.”
repetitive abuse of power. When we “That is a psychological mind game
think of classic examples of harass- that happens in an abusive cycle where
ment, such as children being bullied it’s not right there in your face, which
in school, power is often derived from I think is even more dangerous—it’s
physical strength, or higher social sta- harder to detect,” says Wenzel.
tus. The victims are usually people Bullies often feel helpless in other
who are seen as weak or different. aspects of their lives, says Richards:
But bullying doesn’t always follow “People might feel disempowered at
this stereotype, or automatically stop work and come home to unload on
once you age. “The playground just their partner.”
becomes a bit more sophisticated,” When bullies take aggression out
says Tracy Vaillancourt, a psychology on their co-workers, the intimidation
professor at the University of Ottawa. tends to be more overt. The typical
There isn’t much data available on the notion of a workplace bully is a boss
incidence of bullying, but Vaillancourt who continually berates employees
cites a 2006 Canadian study reporting in front of their peers.
“I got into a fight with Emily over what colour we should make our friendship bracelets.”
RITA HICKEY, B ra m p t o n , O n t .
Two minutes later, she heard the
screen door close and turned to find PARENTING IS LIKE being a juggler
Graham’s PJs in a tidy pile by the except all the balls are screaming.
door. MARILYN PENLEY, O a kv i l l e , O n t . @KALVINMACLEOD
O F
T H E
F L O C K
READER’S DIGEST
SOME PEOPLE MAY complain Can- the smallest, only a quarter the size of
ada geese are dirty, spread disease the big guys, mainly out in B.C., and
and multiply too quickly, but to my up in Alaska. She looks slightly differ-
father they were magnificent birds. ent and her honk is higher but she’s
As a boy in Greenwood, Man., hear- a Canada goose all right. You can’t
ing them streak across the sky at mistake them.”
night, he’d leap from his bed to the “Invite them down, Dad. Put out
window to watch black arrows shoot- some grain. Dig a pool in the back-
ing through the stars. At dawn, he’d yard,” my two brothers and I would
pause from milking the farm’s cows tease him.
to listen as great honking families “Laugh all you like,” he said. “But
headed north in the spring or south when I retire, we’re going to build a
in the fall. nice little cottage near a lake where the
Later, as a grown man in Winnipeg, birds can fly in, fill up on corn, have a
my father looked for them each morn- drink and rest before taking off again.”
ing as he walked over the bridge to the My mother preferred the com-
warehouse where he worked for 30 forts of the city. The only birds she
years. In fall, crunching home through enjoyed were roasted until crisp and
carpets of coloured leaves, he’d sigh, served with green peas and mashed
“I saw them leaving—maybe 50 in for- potatoes. After her death, my father
mation. They don’t hang around; they hadn’t the heart to leave the home
know winter’s coming.” they’d built together.
For weeks in September and Octo- We kids left Winnipeg and settled in
© 2017, CORINNE LANGSTON. FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL (OCTOBER 15, 2017), THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM
A
s my flight neared the seed vault’s concrete wedge entrance,
Norwegian island of with its sparkly blue cap, from my
Spitsbergen—which airplane window. The building was
is dogsledding dis- remote and bunker-like, but hardly
tance from the North secretive. It was more like a beacon,
Pole—I was reminded of a BBC arti- one that begged the simple but fun-
cle I’d read listing the Svalbard Global damental question behind my visit:
Seed Vault as one of the world’s most when the world builds a pantry in
secretive places, along with the Vati- the permafrost and starts squirrelling
can Secret Archives and Area 51. away its most prized seed specimens,
The BBC stated that the seed vault is this an exercise in overprepared-
was nearly impossible to get into. Yet ness, or is there something about our
there I was, about to land at the air- food supply that we need to worry
port in Longyearbyen, having been about? And I mean really worry.
assured that if I made my way to the
Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in early WE ARE IN THE MIDST of an agricul-
March 2016, I would be allowed to tural mass extinction. In the 20th
gaze upon the frozen repository of the century, 75 per cent of plant genetic
most important specimens of crop- diversity disappeared, as farmers
seed collections from around the around the world abandoned their
planet. They were locked away in a local heirlooms for monocrops suited
mountainside on an island that is merely for industrial-scale farming.
60 per cent glaciers and 100 per cent It’s estimated that 90 per cent of his-
in the middle of nowhere. I was toric fruit and vegetable varieties in
among a handful of lucky people who the United States alone have van-
were invited that week to tour the ished. Nearly half of the western diet
seeds from 12,000 years of agricul- relies on the three big grasses of
ture’s past, present and future. wheat, maize and rice.
It had taken a year of back and The factors behind this downward
forth with the guardians of this trend are many and cumulative, but
strange project to organize the visit, they include war, climate change,
culminating in 5,000 kilometres of air population growth, changes to farm-
travel from Edmonton to Reykjavik, ing practices, regional specialization
then on to Oslo, Tromsø and, finally, in production and, of course, propri-
Longyearbyen. etary seed concentration in a handful
The site was certainly difficult to of multinationals.
access. But flying into Spitsbergen, The enormous size of modern
I could clearly see the “doomsday” farms, with their economies of scale
seed varieties are already protected inside, the cold seemed to hang on
COURTESY OF NORWEGIAN MIN ISTRY
within the vault, and it’s designed to the curved corrugated metal lining the
hold 4.5 million, a number that the walls of the first inner passage. The
OF AGRI CULTURE A ND FOOD
that such empty spots are out of the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He
ordinary. The seed boxes are always wrote: “This is an inspirational sym-
shelved in the order they are received bol of peace and food security for the
and aren’t catalogued geographically. entire humanity.”
There was an empty space because,
in 2015, the International Center WE RE-EMERGED INTO the blue light
for Agricultural Research in the Dry of the silent Arctic, and I realized that
Areas (ICARDA)—a non-profit con- I felt ambivalent about the stockpile
sortium that conducts research in of seeds I had come so far to see.
more than 50 countries—withdrew a Yes, climate change is confounding
portion of its seed bank. our farmers, and their options are
ICARDA preserves unique crops increasingly limited. And corporate
of cereals, legumes and forages from interests will try to further enclose
some of the most agriculturally sig- their ability to regulate seed sales and
nificant places in the world. Dur- control seed genetics. The narrow-
ing the civil war in Syria, ICARDA’s ing of the food system’s biodiversity
Aleppo office—once one of the most has nations and scientists alarmed
important seed repositories in the enough to stockpile seed genetics.
world, partly due to Syria’s historical But I wonder if this is truly our best
relevance as the country where wheat option. These ex situ collections are
originated—had to be evacuated. just a partial shelter against an
Only 87 per cent of the seed collec- onslaught of larger forces. Svalbard
tion was saved. has no power over the global climate
ICARDA requested its seeds so that or corporate interests, not to mention
crops could be replanted in Morocco generational knowledge transfer. Of
and Lebanon in order to grow them course, it’s critical to protect the
out and thus replenish seed stocks. genetic inheritance of humanity, but
There have since been two “redepos- keeping crop seeds locked up near
its” in Svalbard with seeds that have the North Pole is a bruising reminder
been regenerated. of their scarcity. Have we already
As Lainoff finished off the tour of accepted defeat? Wouldn’t we be bet-
the vault, I noticed my teeth chatter- ter off figuring out how to get as
ing. On the way out, my fingers were many of these seeds as possible into
numb as I added my scrawl to the the hands of farmers who keep the
guest book. The first name on the knowledge of when, where and how
very first page was that of then–UN to plant them?
© 2017, JENNIFER COCKRALL-KING. FROM “PANTRY IN THE PERMAFROST: INSIDE THE ARCTIC DOOMSDAY VAULT,”
EIGHTEEN BRIDGES (MAY 5, 2017), EIGHTEENBRIDGES.COM
Rd.ca
H E A LT H
DO YOU KNOW
THE FACTS
ABOUT DRINKING?
T F You’ll get tipsy faster if you’re drinking out of a curved glass.
T F Mixing booze with diet soda can spike your blood alcohol level.
T F The older you get, the more easily you become intoxicated.
HUMOUR
What do you get when
you run an ad for exotic
MORE READER’S travel destinations that
DIGEST—STRAIGHT ends up reading “erotic
TO YOUR INBOX travel destinations”?
A cool $10 million in
Want a daily dose of great
damages. We’re counting
ISTOC KPHOTO
Following a
devastating
diagnosis, a young
filmmaker and
father pushes
I Am ahead—for
his future and
Not a
his family
Tragedy
BY SI M O N F I TZ M AU R IC E FR O M I T ’ S NOT YE T DAR K
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MORSE
year but I’d been wearing these awful IN DECEMBER, I travel eight hours
shoes and now my foot has started to transatlantic, then five more to Salt
flop in them. Had he seen something Lake City, Utah. Nighttime at Sun-
like that before? dance. The dramas and documen-
“No, I’ve never seen anything like taries I see knock me down and pick
that before,” he says. The look in his me up. Because I am here with a film,
eyes becomes a twinge in my stomach. I’m forced to question whether mine
My first diagnosis is courtesy of a will move anyone the same way.
shoe salesman. I’m invited, along with the other
directors, to Robert Redford’s house
MY WIFE, RUTH, and I buy a 200-year- in the mountains. I meet him and
old cottage in the Irish countryside. we talk about Dublin. Later, follow-
Fields stretch in every direction to the ing a screening of my film, I trudge
horizon. We have eight apple trees, through the snow on the street. I feel
an overgrown herb garden and a sep- like a filmmaker for the first time. I
arate building—a garage—with a loft. step under a walkway and call my
I’m standing in the garage. It has parents’ house. My mother answers,
bare concrete walls and a window and I listen to her voice as I watch the
looking out to the garden. It’s a per- cars pass by. I tell her that my foot is
fect place for a home office and a hurting, that there’s something wrong
home cinema. with it. But we talk normally, neither
I’m painting the bathroom in the of us worried.
cottage. My arms feel funny, like
it’s hard to hold them up. It passes. RUTH AND I have two young chil-
I stand in the bedroom, the double dren, Jack and Raife. Upon my return
doors open to the garden. There’s no from Sundance, she has a miscar-
sound but the movement of the wind. riage. It devastates us both. The day
We settle in and name our new home after, I’m driving from North Cottage
North Cottage. to Dublin for a muscle and nerve test
We reach the restaurant, enter and sit start seeing a psychiatrist. I probe
down like everyone else. The waiter every private and embarrassing cor-
comes over. The place is under water, ner of my mind in the hope it will do
and I can’t hear what he’s saying. some good. The result of this is that,
Ruth is pregnant with our third child. emotionally and spiritually, I am the
I call my parents. I tell them ev- healthiest person with ALS you are
erything, fast, hearing the panic in ever likely to meet. But it does nothing
my voice. Later, my parents arrive at to slow the progression of the disease.
our house. They look at me as if I’m
insane and I become aware, for the I GET THE CALL. I drive through
first time, that nothing is the same. the city, in the middle of the night.
I park at the hospital. The distance
WE ARE LIVING in North Cottage, across the car park is longer than I’d
where we moved so we could afford thought. I can make it. I have to make
the life we wanted. I was working on it. I cannot fall. If I fall, I may not be
my films. We had a plan and it was able to get back up. Ruth is up there.
going well. We were happy. I make it down the corridor to Ruth’s
But that was before. This is after. room. I brace myself and try to wipe
Ruth and I cry a lot, at night, in bed. the crazed look from my face. I go in.
My family and I are determined to Ruth smiles in the breathlessness
prove the diagnosis wrong or find a of a contraction. I sit in a chair beside
treatment. We pursue every thread, the bed, take her hand, smile. I feel
every possible mimicking illness, like I’ve climbed a mountain.
alternative blood test and experi- Arden is born. Our third perfect,
mental trail. beautiful little boy. A war baby, Ruth
Ruth and I go to see a healer my and I call him.
mother has found. I do reiki three
times a week. I read books about how I HAVE A bad limp now. Everything
sickness is repressed emotion, and I is in the shadow of my health, and
we grow more haunted by the day. When the children are asleep, Ruth
I have been making myself walk up and I come out to the studio. I’m in
and down the hall with a walker a wheelchair, and we have ramps
twice a day, fighting to stay on my around the house. In the dark, Ruth
feet. One day I fall, badly. My body helps me out of the chair and we
folds beneath me, my back bending watch films.
to meet my legs. Our hall is tiled,
and I must have made quite a noise I WHEEL INTO the studio. The boys
because Ruth comes running. When are playing in the garden. I start writ-
I see her face I know it’s bad. I never ing my new film.
walk after that. But ALS does not let you rest. I
And yet we live. I work on the stu- keep losing more of my life. Every
dio. I buy cinema gear and crawl on time Ruth and I take a moment to
my hands and knees figuring out the breathe, we are knocked back.
exact positions for the cables and the I am getting weaker. I now have
IRISH TIM ES
the boys. In the evening, I introduce She pumps my chest. “Help me,” I
my boys to my love of cinema, as my say, and the world tilts.
father passed his on to me.
As much as we adore North Cot- I WENT INTO respiratory failure, col-
tage, the more ALS progresses, the lapsed unconscious and was put on
more living in isolation becomes dif- a ventilator. I now have a tube up my
ficult. We decide to move. nose and a tube down my throat. One
I get pneumonia in September for feeding, the other for breathing—
2010, the first sign that ALS is affect- both of which keep me from speak-
ing my breathing. Most people with ing. ALS prevents me from moving
the disease die of respiratory failure. my arms and legs. I communicate
I spend a week in hospital. through text messages on my phone.
in the future, does that mean you to be alive. That is hope. I am home,
should kill yourself now? in my bed.
In Ireland, ALS patients are gener- I recover, but everything is changed
ally not invasively ventilated. They are once more. My hands are weak. I use
kept as comfortable as possible, coun- my touch phone as a mouse for my
selled and eased into death. I do not laptop so I can write. My voice is low,
speak for all people with ALS. I only but I can still speak. I’m on a venti-
speak for myself. I want the choice. lator, with a little box beside me that
After four months in hospital, I am generates my breath, fills my lungs
set to leave with a home ventilator, with the air my weakened muscles
one of the first patients in the country can no longer provide.
to go home ventilated with the sup- There is a nurse in our house day
port of the HSE. An anesthesiologist and night. I no longer have to wake
I have gotten to know during my hos- Ruth through the night. She starts to
pitalization comes to say goodbye. He sleep, to leave the house without fear.
stands there, clearly wanting to say I start to write again, this time on a
something of meaning to me. It is an feature script.
Not long after, my hands stop mov- affect my penis was a red-letter day.
ing. My voice has become unintelligi- The disease doesn’t take away any
ble. My eyes remain, along with some feeling from my body. It removes my
of my facial muscles. I use my eyes ability to send messages to my mus-
with my new computer, and it prod- cles to move, but as the penis is not a
uces a voice. I can still move a tiny muscle, it is unaffected.
muscle in my left hand, just a twitch. Ruth and I treasure the physical
Ruth and the boys like to hold my connection we still have, and we had
hand while I move it, ever so slightly. decided to try for another child. It’s
It is a physical connection. the ultimate expression of being alive.
I’ve now had ALS for almost four
years. The prognosis of three to four RUTH IS GLORIOUSLY big. Rest-a-cup-
years did not figure in the ventilator. of-tea-on-her-bump big. It’s cold. It’s
I am into the unknown, just where I Christmas 2011. We go down for the
want to be. But I count forward now, Carol Mass. I’m all wrapped up. As we
not back. When I hear someone’s make our way in the darkness, the cold
age, I subtract mine from theirs. crispness, moving with the people
Sixty-seven. Thirty more years than toward the yellow light of the church,
me. I look at older people with awe. I realize I’m as far from hospital as I
You did it. can possibly get. I’ve made it. Out.
I’ve written a number of short
I’M SITTING IN a café. I have a pipe poems to tell the story of the nativ-
over my shoulder for air. Ruth walks ity, interspersed with carols. Sitting
toward our table, carrying our coffee. there, in the coolness of the marble,
She is pregnant with our fourth child as the children give life to the poems,
and our fifth. The love of my life is I am truly happy.
pregnant with twins.
My willy works. It’s that simple. THIS TIME MY mother is driving—
The day I found out that ALS didn’t like a madwoman. We are on our way
in the air but silent. Ruth and I look “Hi, Dadda.” And I remember.
at each other. They lay him beside Sa- And I write. Writing is my fighting.
die and he lets out a roar. Ruth and I
start to cry. RUTH AND I struggle. We worry
Six months now. Sadie and Hunter about each other, about our children.
are fat, beautiful balls of life, with We have a different life from many,
hands that reach to touch my face. and it is isolating. We wake up often
ALS fought back these last few and think, How did this happen?
And there is a sadness with it and a come from the theatre offering their
memory of a different life, lighter, like help. Ruth is by my side, pushing
a dream. Then it’s gone, and we slip with the others, propelling me across
back into the stream of now, where the road.
our children are. I like being alive. Suddenly I’m in the packed opera
I have lost so much and yet I’m still house, in my place. We go to turn on
here. I can let this life crush me, bear- my computer but it’s overheated. I
ing down on me until I am dead. Or I have no voice.
can bear the weight. Ruth is exhilarated after the mad
I finish the script and start looking dash in here. She whispers in my
for a producer. I find two, and we get ear, “It’s just you and the music.” She
to work. The film, My Name Is Emily, kisses me.
is a story of redemption involving a The lights go down as the orchestra
16-year-old runaway girl. I have a plays its introduction. I’m in the dark
simple, raw desire to make the film, with all these people, as alive as every-
not as a statement, not to prove I can, one else. The timbre of the live instru-
not out of ego—out of love for film ments fills my senses. In the darkness,
and the process. it’s just the music and me.
IT’S NOT YET DARK BY SIMON FITZMAURICE © 2014 BY THE AUTHOR IS PUBLISHED BY HACHETTE BOOKS IRELAND. HACHETTE.IE
A SONG TO REMEMBER
PACK IT IN (Difficult)
You must fill the three-
by-three-by-three box
with copies of the
pieces shown, made
up of three cubes each.
The L-shaped pieces
cost $1, while the stick-
shaped pieces cost $5.
How inexpensively
can you completely
fill the box?
Sudoku Answers
(from page 112)
BY I A N R IENS C H E PACK IT IN
You can do it for as little
as $9. Here is one solution,
step-by-step. The other
solutions cost the same
or more.
8 7 2 9
5 1 9
SUGAR, PLEASE
6 8 4 Put the four-pot weight
on one of the scale pans
6 9 3 H
K D A C
G I F J
6 7 8 E L B
any of them;
6 8 9 3 4 2 7 1 5
4 2 5 9 1 7 6 8 3
■ each of the 3 x 3 boxes 7 4 1 8 3 5 2 9 6
3 COMMON beauty
challenges, SOLVED
Stylist and Cityline contributor Lynn Spence offers
simple solutions so you can wear your age with
confidence.
Photo by: Andreas
Trauttmansdorff The challenge: THINNING HAIR
Pictures
“Thinning hair is something most of us deal with as we age,”
says Spence. “It lacks life and volume and can make
even the brightest outfits fall flat.”
The solution: PULL OUT ALL THE TRICKS
When it comes to healthy hair, choosing the right shampoo and conditioner is
crucial. “I’ve been wowed by the Pantene Colour Preserve Volume collection,”
Spence says. “I love that it helps protect my colour and keeps it radiant — and
that it doesn’t weigh down my hair. It’s great to have a product with dual benefits!”
The challenge: DRY SKIN
“You may have noticed that as you age, your skin becomes drier
and less firm. Staying hydrated is a great first step, but the real
game changer is what you put on your skin.
The solution: MOISTURIZE
After cleansing, use a gel moisturizer like Olay Age Defying
Advanced Hydrating Gel. Formulated with hyaluronic acid, this
moisturizer penetrates the skin’s surface and provides 24 hours
of sheer and breathable hydration.
The challenge: AGING TEETH
When you’re confident in how you look, you can’t help but smile. Spence adds,
“Your smile is what draws people to you, and stained or aging teeth shouldn’t
stand in your way. Put your best look forward with a healthy-looking smile.”
The solution: USE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR A BETTER CLEAN
Forty-eight percent of Canadians who haven’t seen a dentist in the past year have
gum disease, though this can almost always be prevented or reversed if caught
early1. Investing in the right tools can help. Using an electric toothbrush such as
the Oral-B Pro1000 Black Cross Action gives you a dentist-clean feeling and it
removes 300 percent more plaque along the gumline than a manual brush.
Spence suggests pairing your brush with Crest Pro-Health toothpaste to
promote healthier gums & stronger teeth. “Nothing completes a look
quite like a healthy, beautiful smile!”
1
Canadian Dental Association http://www.cda-adc.ca/en/oral_health/cfyt/good_for_life/
Answers
1. oxymoron—[C] 6. tautophonic—[B] 11. amphigory—[B]
combination of contra- composed of repetitive nonsense writing; as,
dictory words; as, Sarah sounds; as, At age four, Mahara aspired to com-
used the oxymoron Lulu was fond of tau- pose amphigory in the
“bittersweet” in an tophonic words like style of Lewis Carroll.
effort to convey the “yo-yo” and “bye-bye.”
12. etymology—[B]
nature of her love affair.
7. euphemism—[A] origin and history of
2. eponym—[A] person polite or indirect phrase a word; as, Researching
for whom something is referring to an uncom- the etymology of “robot”
named; as, The eponym fortable subject; as, Tim led Jacques to the Czech
for Baffin Island is the used the euphemism word “robota,” meaning
explorer William Baffin. “downsizing” whenever “forced labour.”
he talked about laying
13. logogram—[C]
3. anagram—[B] word off employees.
made by rearranging symbol representing
8. expletive—[C] a word or a phrase; as,
the letters in another;
exclaimed swear word; Advika used logograms
as, “Silent” is an ana-
as, The TV executives to take quick notes.
gram of “listen.”
debated whether or not
to censor the expletives 14. lexicographer—[C]
4. cruciverbalist—[C]
in their network’s day- dictionary editor; as,
crossword puzzle Peng was overjoyed
enthusiast; as, Many time shows.
when he was hired as
cruciverbalists get their 9. epithet—[C] descrip- a lexicographer for the
weekly fix from The tive phrase used with Canadian Oxford.
New York Times. or instead of a name; as,
Wayne Gretzky earned 15. polysemous—[A]
5. malapropism—[A] with more than one
the epithet “The Great
misuse of a word that meaning; as, The word
One” with his outstand-
sounds similar to the “break” is polysemous,
ing career in hockey.
one intended; as, Utter- with definitions ranging
ing a malapropism can 10. acronym—[B] from an injured bone to
be embarrassing, as for- abbreviation formed a rest from work.
mer Irish Prime Minis- from the initial letters
ter Bertie Ahern learned of words; as, “Radar”
VOCABULARY RATINGS
when he warned con- was originally an acro- 7–10: fair
sumers against “upset- nym for “radio detec- 11–12: good
ting the apple tart.” tion and ranging.” 13–15: excellent
We’re looking for people like you, who may be experiencing difficulty hearing in noisy
environments to evaluate a remarkable new digital hearing aid {1} and a rehabilitative process
that could be the solution to your difficulties. There’s no cost or obligation to participate!
Trusted
Partner of
Hearing tests are provided free of charge for adults ages 18 and older. Some conditions may apply. Please see clinic for details. {1} https://www.oticon.ca/solutions/opn
Promo Code:
MAG-WNTD-RDIG
Quotes
BY C H RISTINA PALASS IO
UNDERSTAND THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
YOUR BONES AND
YOUR SOUL.
CO LD S P E CK S , A . K . A . L A DA N H U S S E I N
PHOTOS: (CRAWFORD) © FRANTIC FILMS; (HUSSEIN) © 2017 ZACKERY HOBLER ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED; (CARREY) PAUL TREADWAY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO. QUOTES: (ATWOOD) THE GLOBE
AND MAIL (SEPT. 1, 2017); (CRAWFORD) THE GLOBE AND MAIL (JULY 15, 2013); (HUSSEIN) SPIN (JULY
24, 2017); (KISSEL) ET CANADA (SEPT. 2017); (CARREY) TWITTER (NOV. 9, 2016); (MOYSE) CBC
SPORTS (SEPT. 11, 2017).
n e w s e a s o n