A beautiful season! Reflecting this long weekend on how thankful I am for my family, friends and neighbours. As my campaign for Oshawa Ward 1 Councillor approaches election day, exactly 2 weeks from today, I count my blessings:
Being able to make face to face contact with Ward 1 residents is an experience for which I am very thankful.
I am also thankful that I have good health and managed to set aside the time since September 1st to do the door-to-door walk about Ward I's 125 streets, and around its 6,000+ residences. (Several Ward 1 homes now have front entrances sweetly decorated for autumn. The pictures here were snapped while I was door knocking).
I am thankful for the enjoyment I received meeting so many, at such varied moments, and in varied stages of their lives; and that I have gained a more heightened awareness of the gentleness and transience of life...beginning Sept, my door knocking between 2 - 4 hours each day so far has included handing out over 5,000 of my election postcards, and stepping into peoples lives at such times as:
the excitement of happening upon a new family on their move-in day on Oak Ridge Crt.;
to chatting with a wistful family packing for a move from Cocklin Cres..
to watching the ever shortening daylight hours... As streetlights coming on signal my quitting time, now they come on just after 6:30 p.m. compared with 6 weeks ago when I started, they came on around 8:00 p.m;
Remembering the heatwave in September, and my face dripping with sweat so much that a resident on Grandview St, offered me to a tissue to dry my face; and others on various days on Ormond Dr. and Selbourne and Rockcreek Streets passed along a cold water bottle;
and now, how with the colder evenings this past week, in Raglan a lovely woman noticed my cold fingers when we shook hands and invited me inside to warm up;
to meeting mothers with newborns, the youngest just 2 weeks old on Badgley Cres; and
to having a touching conversation with a gentleman who called from across the street ''Rosemary I hope you get in" learning, after walking over to speak with him, sad news about his wife's illness just diagnosed the day before, that her illness is a very rare incurable cancer;
to the incredible number of times I stepped on someone's driveway the same moment they were arriving home from work, or leaving to take kids to hockey practice or some other outing, and that they still would take a moment to be courteous to me and accept my election postcard;
to the also incredible number of times I would arrive on a doorstep the same time Fedex or UPS or other delivery services dropped off packages;
to the one time I arrived precisely the same time as Dominoes pizza, and all the times delicious dinner smells wafted to the front door and still the home owner answered the door and took the time to meet me as their meal waited
to watching a road hockey game with kids and a dad lose a ball under a visiting neighbours car, and not finding it, and one of the friends, an 8 year old, following me from house to house on his roller blades until we ended back a his house where he'd wanted to show me his black cat, Murphy;
to the number of times the words people responded at the door when I said I was running to be their city councillor "that's fantastic", "that's awesome", "cool!"
I am most thankful, no matter the outcome election day. to be alive here and now!
Being able to make face to face contact with Ward 1 residents is an experience for which I am very thankful.
I am also thankful that I have good health and managed to set aside the time since September 1st to do the door-to-door walk about Ward I's 125 streets, and around its 6,000+ residences. (Several Ward 1 homes now have front entrances sweetly decorated for autumn. The pictures here were snapped while I was door knocking).
I am thankful for the enjoyment I received meeting so many, at such varied moments, and in varied stages of their lives; and that I have gained a more heightened awareness of the gentleness and transience of life...beginning Sept, my door knocking between 2 - 4 hours each day so far has included handing out over 5,000 of my election postcards, and stepping into peoples lives at such times as:
the excitement of happening upon a new family on their move-in day on Oak Ridge Crt.;
to chatting with a wistful family packing for a move from Cocklin Cres..
to watching the ever shortening daylight hours... As streetlights coming on signal my quitting time, now they come on just after 6:30 p.m. compared with 6 weeks ago when I started, they came on around 8:00 p.m;
Remembering the heatwave in September, and my face dripping with sweat so much that a resident on Grandview St, offered me to a tissue to dry my face; and others on various days on Ormond Dr. and Selbourne and Rockcreek Streets passed along a cold water bottle;
and now, how with the colder evenings this past week, in Raglan a lovely woman noticed my cold fingers when we shook hands and invited me inside to warm up;
to meeting mothers with newborns, the youngest just 2 weeks old on Badgley Cres; and
to having a touching conversation with a gentleman who called from across the street ''Rosemary I hope you get in" learning, after walking over to speak with him, sad news about his wife's illness just diagnosed the day before, that her illness is a very rare incurable cancer;
to the incredible number of times I stepped on someone's driveway the same moment they were arriving home from work, or leaving to take kids to hockey practice or some other outing, and that they still would take a moment to be courteous to me and accept my election postcard;
to the also incredible number of times I would arrive on a doorstep the same time Fedex or UPS or other delivery services dropped off packages;
to the one time I arrived precisely the same time as Dominoes pizza, and all the times delicious dinner smells wafted to the front door and still the home owner answered the door and took the time to meet me as their meal waited
to watching a road hockey game with kids and a dad lose a ball under a visiting neighbours car, and not finding it, and one of the friends, an 8 year old, following me from house to house on his roller blades until we ended back a his house where he'd wanted to show me his black cat, Murphy;
to the number of times the words people responded at the door when I said I was running to be their city councillor "that's fantastic", "that's awesome", "cool!"
I am most thankful, no matter the outcome election day. to be alive here and now!
