Saturday, June 16, 2018
I am saddened by the death of Colleen–a bright light snuffed out too soon. My sympathy to Mark and the rest of Colleen’s family. Colleen worked for me at Independent Living NS some years ago. Her strong commitment to the principles of Independent Living and the quality of her work earned her the Consumer of the Year Award from Independent Living Canada. She travelled with me to the IL Canada conference in Vancouver to receive her award, taking time out of the workshops to to zip line in the Rockies.
I will not be able to attend the celebration of life tomorrow because of prior commitments, but here’s my favourite Colleen story to share. One of her jobs at ILNS was editing our quarterly newsletter. One week in winter we were getting close to deadline. The weather was exceptionally cold, and Colleen asked if she could work on the newsletter at home, as the frigid air was causing her breathing problems as she waited for the bus. I agreed. “I have my laptop, and you’ll get the final draft for the printers on Friday,” she assured me. On Thursday, she emailed me to say she was being admitted to hospital. “But don’t worry,” she said. “I will finish off the newsletter and get it to you tomorrow afternoon to meet deadline.” On Friday afternoon, I received an email from her that went something like this: “You will find the newsletter attached print-ready. I am just doing the final edits. I am on the gurney being wheeled into the operating room. They are going to remove one lung.”
Colleen met her deadlines.
