I was just reading Cathy’s Bucket List.Cathy McDonald (my friend Maxine George’s only daughter) passed away from Acute Myloid Leukemia in May 2008.
When the writing was on the wall, Cathy, facing the inevitable with optimism, shared four wishes with her mom.Magic Carpet Journals tells the story of Maxine determinedly ensuring that her 52-year-old daughter’s final dreams would come true. Appropriately, the story was posted on Valentine’s Day.
One picture in particular made me pause.Cathy is walking away from the camera next to a heart-shaped, flower-decked accent pool. Slim in a long skirt. A small backpack over her shoulders. Waist-length blonde hair lost to chemotherapy. A long-sleeved blouse guarding now delicate skin from the Hawaiian sun.
The lone figure, digitally captured during her last days on the island of Maui, strikes me as haunting.
Two weeks earlier I had called her parents’ home near Aldergrove, B.C. She was home alone, and feeling philosophical.
We talked about the pending trip to Maui.“I want to spend the time on Maui with Mom,” she said. “But, I also want to see Vegas one more time.”
We talked about books we’ d loved (or hated), movies we’d loved (or hated), and men we’d loved. We decided we didn’t hate any. But, we sure had learned a lot!
And what about those dating sites? What did we think of those? Not much, it seemed! We chuckled about it all…and much more.
Behind the laughter and the telephone were the tears in my eyes, and maybe in hers. We didn’t talk about that.Independent eavesdroppers would have assumed we were just two gals passing the time of day - unless they heard Cathy say: “I’m not afraid to go.”
She then speculated about what was ‘on the other side’.Nothing she thought. She wasn’t anticipating a celestial welcoming committee.
Only the pain her parents and family would feel after she was gone distressed her. Against this, she was powerless.
Or was she?
Scanning the photographs, and reading her mom’s tale of Cathy’s Bucket List, I realised she’d actually arranged to stay with them.She had just wandered a little out of sight - to the otherside of the pool.
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