Page 6 FRIDAY, December 7, 2018 BARRHAVEN INDEPENDENT
IndependentEditorial
INDEPENDENT Editorial
Yes, Barrhaven, there is a Santa Claus Thank you. Thank you to everybody in Barrhaven and beyond for lifting a tremendous burden off the shoulders of a family in distress and allowing them to move forward and enjoy the Christmas season with one less thing to worry about. In our last issue, we presented a story about the Kraft family. Wendy, who retired from the LCBO two years ago, became ill with a rare kidney disease during the Christmas holidays in 2016. Wendy has been on dialysis for eight hours a day for more than a year. In order to survive, she needs a transplant. Wendy’s daughter, Kielli (pronounced Kylie), stepped up to the plate and went through the testing process to see if she was a match. When she discovered she was, Kielli decided to give her mother the ultimate Christmas gift and give her one of her kidneys. Kielli works in a retail lighting store and has no benefits, no insurance and no paid sick leave. The cost of saving her mother’s life is financial ruin. A GoFundMe page was set up in conjunction with the article, and as of press time, nearly $10,000 has been raised for Kielli to cover her rent, living expenses and prescription drugs while she heals from the operation and misses three to four months of work. “I don’t even know where to begin,” Kielli said. “A thank you to everyone who helped us doesn’t even scratch the surface of how grateful we are.” Kielli and Wendy were featured on the CBC Ottawa news last week, and many people who saw the feature on them on TV and many who read about them in the Independent have reached out to them. “One thing that has been really special is that several people have contacted us and told us that we inspired them to sign their organ donor cards,” Kielli said. For Wendy, the surgery will be risky. She knows she may not survive the kidney transplant surgery. But she also knows that she will not survive without the transplant. For her, though, a blanket of warmth from the community has subdued her fears and worries. “I want to let everyone know how grateful our family is for the wonderful support we received from the community,” she said. “We have been given love and support from friends, colleagues, and from people we don’t even know. You are all in our hearts and God Bless all of you.” Our meeting with the Krafts ended with hugs and tears, just as the last one did. But this time, there was something different. There was a feeling of hope. And it was because of all of you who stepped up to support this incredible family. So, yes, Barrhaven, there is a Santa Claus. Thank you for being the most loving and compassionate community in Canada. JM
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Miss Dee’s special ingredient of life I love to put myself in situations where I will meet exceptional people. Last month, the Diva and I were kicking it at Boca Raton at an Aramark corporate retreat. As we looked around us, we saw and met people who were every day heroes. Dee Pollard was one of those people. “I think I’m going to head down to the domino challenge,” I said. The Diva said she was going to just chill and recharge in our room for an hour. “Maybe I will meet someone cool I can write about.” There were a few dozen of us gathered on the lawn bowling greens. It was hot – about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and humid – and the sun was beating down on us. We were given coloured bandanas, kind of like on Survivor, and we were divided into teams. I was on the red team with about a half dozen other people. Our task was to build a pattern with our dominos and then do that thing where you knock them down and watch them fall. We tried to overachieve and build an elaborate pattern, mocking the blue team and the green team and the others for their remedial and simplistic patterns. But a gust of wind or an unsteady hand by one of us – usually me – would knock everything down and make us start over. We would get frustrated. No, make that most of us would get frustrated. Miss Dee would just pick up and start all over without a worry. I watched her and her mannerisms and her body language. There was something special about her. She had a quality that so many of us wish we had. “You know,” she told me, “this is my 76th birthday. What a beautiful place to be for it.” The way she danced and the way she laughed and smiled, I never would have guessed she was 76. Miss Dee is a chef at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She has been an Aramark employee for 50 years, never missing a day of work. She is loved by the students there, loved by her co-workers, and loved by the faculty. “So what’s your specialty?” I asked. “I like to make everything,” she said. “I put in a little bit of this and a little bit of that until it’s just right.” She smiled. “But no matter what I make, there is always one special ingredient,” she added. “I make it with a lot of love.” As the week went on, I couldn’t help but to think what it must have been like when Miss Dee started in her career as a cook. It was 1968, and in the United States, it was one of the most turbulent years on record. There were civil
rights protests and marches, especially at colleges and universities. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. So was Robert F. Kennedy. The Vietnam War dominated the news. The Black Panthers got in a shoot out with police in Oakland. And in that same year, a young Dorothy Pollard landed a job at St. Joseph’s, working for FROM THE Aramark as a cook in the school’s cafeteria. “They were looking for people,” she said. “I could cook, and I could also read, write and do by Jeff Morris math. That’s how I got hired.” Miss Dee even brought her first ever work shirt from 1968 to show it off. The following day, a group of us went on a yacht tour of Boca Raton. The yacht was beautiful, and so were the homes we passed. “You know, on this trip it’s the first time I have ever been on an airplane,” she said. “And I have never been on a boat, either, and here we are on a cruise ship.” On the final night of our trip, Aramark CEO Eric Foss had the entire audience of close to 500 people sing Happy Birthday to Miss Dee. Among the 200 Aramark Ring of Stars Award winners at the conference, Miss Dee and Felecia Wilson, the Food Service Director at Alabama A&M University, were celebrated by Foss for being with the company for 50 years. Foss asked how he could possibly thank someone for 50 years of excellence and dedication to the company. “When I heard Miss Dee call the yacht a cruise ship, I thought maybe it would be a great idea to send both her and Felicia, and their families, on a real, all expenses paid cruise.” The crowd roared, then most cried. Miss Dee broke down in tears and gave Foss what was probably the most genuine hug of his life. There was not a dry eye in the house. The Diva and I talked about the moment several times, and we have both replayed it in our heads countless others. Sitting on the plane, I figured out what made her so special. Everything she did in her life – not just preparing food, but absolutely everything – was done with love. That’s how she lives every day, and that’s why her happiness was so infectious. When we come across every day heroes and exceptional people, we often wonder if they were put in our lives for a reason. I don’t know if Miss Dee was put in our lives for a reason, but I left Boca Raton wanting to live every day like she does.
OTHER SIDE
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