Wow. That was tough. This is my sixtieth post. The first was on March 14th. I have posted faithfully every day since. On two occasions, I posted twice. Last night's post generated such hostile commentary with ample use of insults and profanity that I honestly considered quitting. I was going to delete the offensive comments but I decided to leave them. I did delete one. I could barely stomach reading it.
So, instead of posting about the positive things we need to be aware of during this pandemic, AND THERE CONTINUE TO BE MANY, I am going to indulge in providing you with a little information about who I am in the hopes that such scathing commentary will not don the pages of these posts again.
I was born and raised in small town Ontario by two, very hard working parents. My father immigrated from Holland as a teenager and my maternal grand-parents immigrated from Italy in the 1920's. I was raised in a home with 4 siblings that I love dearly, crammed into under 1400 square feet of house much like many of my neighbours in the 1960's. My mother was a devout Roman Catholic who went to church every day. She was a woman of prayer. Both my parents were heavily involved in their communities. They were incredible volunteers. They encouraged me to work hard and to set no limits on my goals. Their actions taught me to love others and give back, constantly.
I was lucky enough to get into medical school. I married a very strong and brilliant man when we were both 22. I had three children whom I love more than life itself, and I focused my career on treating and caring for the most vulnerable and marginalized people on earth. I was blessed to be in the room when the first dose of the first medication available to treat HIV was given to the first patient in the country which set me on a life-long path of fighting to end HIV. I am not a hero. I am hard wired to serve. This desire does not come from a place of ambition or a desire to achieve. It comes from the pure example of love and generosity passed on to me by my parents and by my own faith which has taught me that nothing is in possible, that faith and love conquer all and the loving God first and then my neighbour is the most pure and the most difficult of all callings. To whom much is given, much is expected.
I have put into intense practise what I believe for decades and I will continue to do so. My community, my country is suffering. We are walking though a very dark valley. We need each other more than we ever have. But, we need to be the best of ourselves and to give the best of ourselves to those around us. I can promise you this. Every post that I write is based on my own intense research and my faith in humanity's ability to overcome when we work together for the good of all.
I will honour and respect who you are. I will serve you to the best of my ability because, you, my own fellow citizens are now the vulnerable ones. To you, I will give my utmost to help us all overcome our present hardship and suffering.
But in the future, I will follow the comments carefully and delete everyone one that diminishes, defeats, discourages or defames. We are better than this. We are stronger than this. We are smarter than this.
On a bright note, I have to share one piece of news that proves many of my points. I put a call out last night for 2,000 cloth masks for a First Nations community. As of tomorrow, we have 700. That's a beautiful community in action. Well done. Well done.
Sleep well. We've got this.
Anne-Marie
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