Update and Thanks for the Stories

Dad's condition continues to worsen, as expected. He is comfortable and not in pain. Pam's niece was home recently for over a week to do the night shift to give Pam and Suzie a break. Thanks from everyone, Laura.

We appreciate all of the stories that you have emailed. Keep them coming if you have them. I have been sharing them with the rest of the family and they have really been fun to read. Some made us laugh and others brought a tear to hear how kind he was. I am going to share a couple of the stories that show the different sides of Dad.

From Jan Shepard:

"I clearly remember one Sunday morning when I still worked in Paeds. and had a small child (Christopher) who believe it or not also had a brain tumor. Barry came in to make his rounds and asked why Christopher was crying so. I told him all he wanted was a banana and apparently, having called dietary, there were none in the hospital that morning. Barry did not say a word. However about 30 minutes later Barry turned back up after going out to a store to buy bananas for Christopher. I found him in beside Christopher's crib where he was feeding him bananas and Christopher was nothing but smiles and banana mush. I cried at his love and generosity and told that story many times after."


From Jean Tingley:

"When Barry and I were both candidates in the 2003 election, it was then that I got to know him as a friend and really was thankful for his sense of humour. Anyone who is on the campaign trail definitely needs a sense of humour just to endure the rigorous schedule. I'm sure Barry remembers how great it was when we finally got rotated to the back row on the stage, far away from the prying eyes of the audience and he would let loose with his comments that had us in fits of laughter. Somehow, losing didn't matter because we really enjoyed the time we all spent together thanks to his sense of humour.

Near the end of the campaign I got really run down and my mouth broke out in cold sores and my bottom lip had a huge crack on it. The last night we were standing in line waiting to be announced to go on stage and Barry was making his usual crazy comments. Everytime I started to laugh at him it caused the crack on my lip to open and bleed. I finally told him to leave me alone because everytime he made me laugh my crack opened. He looked me right in the eye and said 'Wish I had known you when you were 16!' A classic Barry moment. "


From Sheila Molyneaux:

"I was told a story about the very proper head nurse on Unit 2 surgical unit at the QEH (Miss Charbelle? I think). One day, Barry sauntered to the nursing station and went up to Miss Charbelle, handed her sweater to her and said "you forgot this at my place last night". As the story was told, Miss C was mortified."

As Dad would say: "Don't wait until there is a crisis to appreciate your friends and loved ones. You know how much you appreciate a hug. So do they. We are very lucky to have each other. Show it."

Jamie