ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE...

That's what I was thinking on hearing the sad news of the death of one of our patients recently. The man in question was reliable as clockwork, so when he had not shown up for his appointment 2  weeks ago, and not returned our phone call, we feared the worse. His health was ailing...It  was only by googling his name that we discovered he had died in early September.

Poor Stan (not his real name). He lived all alone and had very few friends.
He was separated from his wife who lived in Ontario. He had one daughter who would visit him from time to time. Other than that, he did not have many people in his life. He had retired early, due to ill health   and was a few years younger than me. Stan was easily, the most courteous and pleasant of our patients. So reliable and always friendly. He loved music and always wore interesting hats, his favourite one boasting a large peacock feather. He had an enthusiasm for life, lonely as he was.

I cannot believe he is dead. He had a larger than life personality  (a Sagittarius). I can still hear his voice very clearly in my head, as it was a distinctive voice. He would come to see us just to have somebody to talk to.  I know he would have been really sad not to have had the opportunity to say goodbye to us...or to have phoned and cancelled his last appointment, such was his reliability!

May he rest in peace, and if you know anybody who seems lonely, just give them a smile and share a few words...

O.K. O.K. I get it That Don Juan I met on the chip trail was probably lonely too. And I did say on Monday that I was all for the 'Waves of Kindness' campaign, and the distribution of free hugs and smiles...so no, I should not have been horrified when Don (Juan) asked for a hug! Gotta walk the talk. It's sort of a strange line to cross, isn't it? On the one hand you want to be kind, yet at the same time, there are 'strange' folk out there!

Listen to the Beatles song about all the lonely people...and say a little prayer for our friend Stan. There are lots of Stans in our midst, and it seems so sad that the only way we knew he must have died was by googling his name!

Choo Choo!

Patricia xxx