HELPING EACH OTHER -LEARNING AND GROWING

Many new residents here at Carrington find it difficult to become accustomed to this sudden change. Their children may be among the working poor and cannot help their parents. Some churches offer help and one such place I know about is located next door to the Alliance Church where the working poor can come twice a week for clothing and food. These people may have to work all their lives to pay for the retirement of government and elected officials who receive generous retirement packages.

With the new wing of Carrington now open, volunteers were asked to help new ones fit in and find their way around. At the end of this Welcome Week one ticket is drawn and a prize awarded. We volunteers have had a great time getting to know these early builders of Canada during the depressions.

Our son put himself through the University of Victoria with summer jobs and scholarships. With the desperate need for doctors here we have had to import them from other countries, so we offered to provide help by paying the interest needed for needy student loans. Our parents had lost their three year old son, Harold, during the 1930s from a scarlet fever epidemic when vaccinations were not available. To honour his memory they decided to have one more child who might become a medical doctor and help others avoid such a sad loss. He became a teacher and now helps the people of Kenya establish group farms in light of possible food shortages in the future. My husband and many others working with him were required to use harmful chemicals in the work place. Unwittingly, these are the ones who helped invent our great improvements in communications TVs and iphones. My husband was dying of Parkinson’s disease that gradually damaged his brilliant mind. Companies selling them did not know how harmful these chemicals were. Since my nieces had registered in pre-med courses hoping to become medical doctors I offered to pay the interest required for their student loans. Other nieces and nephews were helped for just one year since they had chosen other professions and were doing well without further help. With some of the money our son returned to us when he paid his own way through university I advanced $30,000.00 for student loan interest. Their mother now says it has been used for good causes in promoting “the Lord’s work.” No medical doctor’s degrees happened. Please put all deals in writing or face the loss of your own retirement funds. Both parents have good government jobs and future pensions in place. Management here is working with me for a part-time job. I am 87 years old.