Saturday, June 11, 2011

Betty's Run



Tomorrow, Sunday, June 12th is the date of Betty's Walk and Run for ALS here in Calgary, and I'm all registered for it. Should have gone to pick up my shirt and all that stuff today. And I meant to solicit donations and promote the event. But I haven't done any of that because my mom, Marilyn, passed away last Tuesday at age 68, after living with this damned disease the last 18 months. And let me say right now that the recent passing of Dr. Kervorkian didn't go unnoticed in my household. I read Licia Corbella's ridiculous editorial about him in The Calgary Herald today and it made my blood boil.

Ms. Corbella, you should thank the God you seem to be so fervent about that neither you or nor any of your loved ones have ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).  Because if you did, you would pray for the same mercy that decent people extend toward their pets. Would you watch your dog or cat slowly become paralyzed and finally die of CO2 poisoning because they were not able, in the end, to exhale? No, I didn't think so. But because euthanasia is illegal in Canada, that's exactly what my mother had to go through. You call Dr. Kervorkian a murderer because he spared people from this kind of suffering?  Um. So who pronounced you Judge of All Things because you write editorials?

I just can't face participating in Betty's Walk and Run for ALS tomorrow, although I did last year and I intend to do it  next. But I would encourage anyone who's interested to donate to the fight against ALS here:

http://www.alsab.ca/contactus.aspx

My mom and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.