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Home My WebLink AboutLucknow Sentinel, 2009-05-20, Page 5Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - P Having concerns about the women in one's life is a labour of love for some For the past few weeks, the focus has been on mothers and I have to tell you that I'm a bit con- cerned about the ones I know. My wife came home from work the other day with a pounding headache and two ibuprofen in her hand. "Must...stop...headache..." was the only thought passing through her mind. She went straight to the kitchen where she spied a cup of water on the counter. "That's great!" she thought. "Now I can take these pills." As she reached for it, she noticed that the cup was "grimy." (Mother language!) Griminess did not stop her or even slow her down. Nor did she hesitatewhen she brought the cup to her lips and smelled perfume... She actually thought to herself were two older women sitting at a red stoplight in a. van just like your mom's. Anyway, along came a hot rod type car up beside them, rumbling with exhaust noise and the radio cranked up, revving and shaking, and carrying on, just waiting for the light to change to green. When it did, the* driver in the . van who looked very much like your mother, I hear) , just tramped the gas, squealing her tires across the intersection, leaving nothing.: but a streak of rubber on the road and a sur- prised look on the other driver's face. My neighbor said that the two women must have really enjoyed it, because as soon as they cleared the intersec- tion, he could hear them . laughing and they gave each other a high five. He followed to the next intersection and saw the same thing again. He wondered if I thought it ` could really be your mom and her friend. I said, "Probably not," but I'm. not really sure. At least it would explain why the last set of tires didn't wear as long as I thought they would. It seems to me that I'm stuck between pulling her keys and wishing her well, but I hate to make a big fuss... Maybe it's no big deal..." What does all this mean?. I have no idea. But I made sure that on Mother's Day, I did all the cooking and my dad did all the driving. • Mark Thrice is our nationally syndicated humour columnist. AS SHE SWALLOWED: "Hmmm. There nest be soap in this." As she prepared to take her second swig, she real- ized that it wasn't soap that she smelled, but some- thing more like AIR FRESHENER. This, however, did not stop her from taking her second gulp. She knew that she was downing a Summer Bouquet martini and she did it anyway! Yes, she'd been drinking our six-year-old's "exper- iment." A few days later, my dad sent me an email, explaining why he was so worried about my mom and her friend: A neighbor of mine was in the city, and told me that he saw the strangest thing today. It seems there teaches kids to be Dear Editor, . It' s the end of another terrifying "Bruce County Winter," and those of us that have thawed out the ice On our doors and windows are beginning to rediscover • things such as grass, flip-flops, and t -shirts that have been lost to us for the last five months or so. However, while we are starting to remember what it feels like to be warm again, the change in season brings a few Iess d▪ esirable changes. It is at this time of year that we teenagers start to party harder than ever. Without snowy roads to stop us, it is` so much easier to get to 'a party. The weather is getting warn enough for "bush parties." School is in its final few months, so we are all getting excited: Sooner or later, someone is going to push them- selves too hard and get hurt. I have known that this is the case for. many years now, but last week I had an eye opening experience. I attend- ed the P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) program, and learned what happens to those of us who party a bit too hard. . Forthe program, each of the students in attendance walked ttuough the steps to rehabilitation after an injury. My first thought was that 1 :was about to sit through a long lecture about drinking and driving, however, I was proven wrong. Very little of the program focuses on drinking and driving; we all know the many dangers of that _ _ The incident in this case' was an overdose on some kind of drug, whether it was alcohol, pills, or any other substance. We were then led through the Owen Sound Hospital, taken everywhere that an overdose victim would go, from the ICU, to the Rehabilitation center, and even the morgue. • All the students present, including myself, were shocked by all the things that the patients had to endure, but our trip didn't stop at=the ICU. We learned first-hand what it was like to be disabled. When a person consumes too much alcohol or drugs, they can suffer a massive stroke. While everyone knows that strokes are terrible, it is far more drastic and eye-opening when experiencing it first hand. I use the term "eye-opening" with irony, as onsible we were in fact blinded during our demonstration. We sat on the beds in the rehabilitation room, watch- ing as a man tried to pull himself into a chair with using his legs or hands. This special seat stood him up and allowed him to be upright for a whole twenty min- utes. It was quite rattling to realize that he considered something as simple as being able to be upright to be a rare experience. Throughout the ,pnesenta on, I was consttintly realiz- ing how difficuIt life was for people disabled by :over dose and tr 'c injury.' we all knuw that peo- ple with disabilities such a& paraplegics and quadriple- gics live difficult lives, it is not until.you.see and experi- ence their daily lives for yourself that you realize how trulytorturous it is to build yourself back up. With all kinds of new knowledge and experiences in my mind, I ;was ready to head home and tell my friend about *hat I had learned. However, there was one more _piece, of the presentation left. It was the one that hit home the hardest with all of us. We. met Doug. Doug overdosed on cocaine several years ago and suf- fered a massive stroke. He was in his home for two straight days before being found 'by his mother. Atter going through the ICU and rehab center, we met some- one who had been doing it for real, for years. Doug told us about himself, or he tried to. When asked about his story, all he could say was that he "doesn't remember much." Much of the left side of his brain was dead: This meant that he had tore -route simple tasks, like walking and talking, through different partsof his brain. I could not even comprehend how he did it. This great educational' program is made possible through community support from Grey Bruce Health Services -Owen Sound site, Canadian Paraplegic Association -Grey Bruce Chapter, Boston Pizza (Owen Sound), Bruce Power, Grey Bruce FOCUS and Pepsi. Nathan Wise Peer Leader, Grey Bruce Health Unit Grade 12 Student, WDSS Submitted photo Julie Hamilton, daughter' of John and Nancy Hamilton, was the female recipient of **Athletic Leadership DevelopmentAward ' at the University of Windsor Lancers Evening of Excellence in April. Julie is an assistant captain of the women's hockey team. In Seioternber she will be entering her fourth year' at the univer- sity studying human kicso Rating: 4 4 9 5 1 • 9 6 4 9 1 More at: www.lovattspuzzle4,com To solve a SuIoku puzzle, every Dumber •from 1 to 0 must appear In: • Each of the nine vertical columns • Each of the nine horizontal rows • Each of the nine 3x3boxes • Remember, no number can occur more than once In any row, column or box This week's punkt sponsor+td jby: WAS( Remax Land Exchange Ltd., Brokerage Independently Owned and Operated Mitchell Twolan Broker 100 Lake Range Drive, Point Clark RR 1 Kincardine, ON N2Z 2X3 Office: 519-3954620 Email: mitch.twolan@remax•ix.ca Ce11 519-955-0664 www.RemaxLandExchan e.ca Fax: 5 19-395-0142 g See answer on classified pages 1