On 16th August, 2003, Doris and Arnold celebrated their Congratulations the both of you and may you celebrate many, many more!
Describing my sister, Doris is like trying to describe my wife, Joyce. How does one describe and angel? How does one describe such a devoted husband that has taken such loving care of Doris for over forty seven years so faithfully? It's pretty hard to do but I am going to do my utmost in this section and I hope I do justice to them both.
Doris is five years younger than me and at the age of nine she developed sugar diabetes. We lived in Rouyn, Quebec, a mining town where the streets were just dirt (usually muddy), board sidewalks, honky tonk taverns abounded and there was no shortage of crime. Shootings and stabbings were an every night occurrence. In those days the population was about 95% French-Canadian and the rest were considered by them ... "Mon dit Anglais!" The other 5% population there was really a "mixed bag" to be certain. I was raised with Poles, Russians, Cheks, Hungarians, German, Maltese, Finnish, Latvians, Croations, Serbs, Austrian, Bulgarians, Yugoslavians and I could go on and on.
Not too many doctors had any urge to serve in the "far north" (I've seen it 72 degrees below zero there!) so the ones we had were busy as hell and I daresay more than often of somewhat questionable background. When my sister at age nine starting showing signs of weakness, loss of weight, extreme thirst, etc. the doctor told my mother to feed her a chocolate drink called "Vi-tone", which was simply a very sweet chocolate mix. He said she needed it to build up her iron and calcium content! Very few people knew anything about sugar diabetes at that time including the doctors, so what he made my mother do, unknown to her was to make her condition much much worse by giving her what the doctor had ordered her to give!
I have been trying for ages to find a certain picture of my sister Doris, taken way back in the "dirty thirties" in Rouyn, Quebec before she got diabetes. Doris found it recently for me and e-mailed it to me just a few minutes ago, 28th August, 2000. Even though she has a very bad heart condition now and is almost blind, she very determinedly works at her computer and is now learning how to scan pictures, etc. with it! I remember the photographer that came to the door, tattered clothes and all, hungry but trying, like everyone else to make a living. That was indeed a hard thing to do in the "dirty thirties." Mom let him take the picture and fed him as well. You can see how "rich" we were at the time by the condition of the "beat up old chair" with only one back post left that he used to perch her on. I believe he asked Mom for some sort of linen or mural so he could use it as a backdrop, which didn't come out badly at all. However, he did get a pretty damn good picture of her and as I remember right he charged a dollar for it! That was a lot of money in those days, believe it or not! Anyway, here it is just as he took it. I did not do anything but sharpen the resolution a bit. The color must have been "painted" in there by him because I don't think there was too much color photography in those days
It was around that time that Drs. Banting and Best discovered "insulin" and we also found out she indeed had diabetes and she was rushed to Toronto in a coma! My father drove her to Sick Kids Hospital almost 400 miles to the south of us. The roads were all gravel then except when we got down right near Toronto. The Police escort couldn't keep up with Dad as he, being a Chrysler Rep had a big Chrysler which nobody could keep up to anyway. The Police just had to wave Dad on as he passed them. Remember now, there were no fancy things like the radios they have today.
Well thanks to Drs. Banting and Best my sister survived but just in the nick of time! She has lived with sugar diabetes ever since. She met a great guy, Arnold Metaclf from Sprucedale, Ontario and they were married in 1953. I remember .. whoops! I was about to say "I remember clearly" but I'd be lying. I did imbibe at times in my younger years :-) and I have to admit that I got pretty high the night of their wedding dance. What hang-overs I used to get! :-( The picture at the top left is Doris and Arnold ... not sure whether it was before they were married or not. However the picture on the right needs no explanation. That was in 1953 so you see they too have been married a long time. The picture on the left was taken a few years later at my home in Stouffville with their two children, Cindy and Darwin. Of course they are both now married with their own families.
Around Christmas time last year (1999) Doris with all her problems like being almost blind, arthritis, thyroid problem,etc. suffered an attack of heart failure and was rushed to the hospital in Sudbury. They found she had such badly blocked arteries they are unable to operate on her.
It was touch and go for quite a while and although she is at home now, she is on constant oxygen and says she is going to live life day by day and every day is a bonus. Arnold, always the wonderful help he has been is with her constantly and what with all their challenges, they both keep up their wonderfully positive philosophical outlook on life! Others would have just grumbled about their lot and gave up but those two are real true "troopers" and that's why we love them so very very much. As a matter of fact I was talking to one of the nurses at the hospital on the phone when she was in there and she informed me that Doris was more concerned about everybody else on the floor while she was in there! That's my sister Doris. We talk on the phone two or three times a week but she is too easily tired just yet for company. She is also on the Internet (that's right ... she's almost totally blind!) but we "talk" via ICQ and e-mail regularly. Can't keep those people down boy!
**** Footnote **** As I write this today, 22nd July, 2000, I am happy to announce that my sister Doris is hanging in there like a "trooper!" She is on oxygen most of the time and has her "good days" and her "bad days" but all in all, stays cheery and up-beat! Her husband, Arnold is her constant "shadow" to make sure she is okay and does not do anything she shouldn't be doing. I talked to her the other day and she said that she and Arnold had gone shopping for an hour or so! That is the first time since she took her attack. God willing the good Lord will see her through this challenge. He doesn't usually fail us when we need Him badly. **** Another Footnote **** It is now 21st May, 2001 and I was purusing my Web Site when I realized it should perhaps be brought up-to-date again. Happy to announce that Doris is doing much better than we ever expected and can get along most of the time without the oxygen!! Occasionally she has to "give herself a shot" of it but her and Arnold are doing real well under the circumstances and for that, we all thank God!
Well it's now 22nd September, 2000 and we just got back from visiting my sister Doris and her husband, Arnold. My brother "Pete" and his wife, Sheila and Joyce and I met up there and took a motel so we would not be a bother to them. We took them out to dinner in a nice restaurant in Dowling called "Two Thumbs Up." Although my sister is in a wheelchair most of the time and almost blind, she and Arnold seemed to enjoy themselves and were glad we came. We are glad we went. I thought I'd drop a picture of them in here as they were sitting in the restaurant. They both look real good considering what they have both been going through this past nine or ten months. They both have a wonderful outlook on life and take it day by day ... perhaps a lesson we could all learn ourselves.
I'm not sure why I'm "popping" this picture in here except I do remember it was in 1953, the year Doris and Arnold were married. Whether this was during that visit (the wedding) or another time but we all coincidentally had bought brand new cars almost at the same time that year. We just couldn't resist lining them up side by side in front of the old farm house for a picture. Showing off I suppose. If I remember right there were two new Dodges, a Chevrolet and my new Studebaker on the left. Too bad it wasn't in color because I picked one that was "coral red with a yellow top!" Neat! Damn good car though the Studebaker. It was way ahead of it's time!
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Describing my sister, Doris is like trying to describe my wife, Joyce. How does one describe and angel? How does one describe such a devoted husband that has taken such loving care of Doris for over forty seven years so faithfully? It's pretty hard to do but I am going to do my utmost in this section and I hope I do justice to them both.
I have been trying for ages to find a certain picture of my sister Doris, taken way back in the "dirty thirties" in Rouyn, Quebec before she got diabetes. Doris found it recently for me and e-mailed it to me just a few minutes ago, 28th August, 2000. Even though she has a very bad heart condition now and is almost blind, she very determinedly works at her computer and is now learning how to scan pictures, etc. with it! I remember the photographer that came to the door, tattered clothes and all, hungry but trying, like everyone else to make a living. That was indeed a hard thing to do in the "dirty thirties." Mom let him take the picture and fed him as well. You can see how "rich" we were at the time by the condition of the "beat up old chair" with only one back post left that he used to perch her on. I believe he asked Mom for some sort of linen or mural so he could use it as a backdrop, which didn't come out badly at all. However, he did get a pretty damn good picture of her and as I remember right he charged a dollar for it! That was a lot of money in those days, believe it or not! Anyway, here it is just as he took it. I did not do anything but sharpen the resolution a bit. The color must have been "painted" in there by him because I don't think there was too much color photography in those days
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Well thanks to Drs. Banting and Best my sister survived but just in the nick of time! She has lived with sugar diabetes ever since. She met a great guy, Arnold Metaclf from Sprucedale, Ontario and they were married in 1953. I remember .. whoops! I was about to say "I remember clearly" but I'd be lying. I did imbibe at times in my younger years :-) and I have to admit that I got pretty high the night of their wedding dance. What hang-overs I used to get! :-( The picture at the top left is Doris and Arnold ... not sure whether it was before they were married or not. However the picture on the right needs no explanation. That was in 1953 so you see they too have been married a long time. The picture on the left was taken a few years later at my home in Stouffville with their two children, Cindy and Darwin. Of course they are both now married with their own families.
Well it's now 22nd September, 2000 and we just got back from visiting my sister Doris and her husband, Arnold. My brother "Pete" and his wife, Sheila and Joyce and I met up there and took a motel so we would not be a bother to them. We took them out to dinner in a nice restaurant in Dowling called "Two Thumbs Up." Although my sister is in a wheelchair most of the time and almost blind, she and Arnold seemed to enjoy themselves and were glad we came. We are glad we went. I thought I'd drop a picture of them in here as they were sitting in the restaurant. They both look real good considering what they have both been going through this past nine or ten months. They both have a wonderful outlook on life and take it day by day ... perhaps a lesson we could all learn ourselves.
I'm not sure why I'm "popping" this picture in here except I do remember it was in 1953, the year Doris and Arnold were married. Whether this was during that visit (the wedding) or another time but we all coincidentally had bought brand new cars almost at the same time that year. We just couldn't resist lining them up side by side in front of the old farm house for a picture. Showing off I suppose. If I remember right there were two new Dodges, a Chevrolet and my new Studebaker on the left. Too bad it wasn't in color because I picked one that was "coral red with a yellow top!" Neat! Damn good car though the Studebaker. It was way ahead of it's time!