Margaret (Midge) Douglas (nee Wheeler): 1924-2009

After a very long illness, my maternal grandmother, the last of my grandparents, died today in a palliative care home in Charlottetown. I wasn't especially close to her--all of my life, we lived in different provinces--and we've been anticipating this a long time, but it's a sad day. Her illness was epic, in large part because her constitution was so strong and she had, up until her last days, such a powerful will to live. Doctors were at a loss to explain how she survived as long as she did. As a consequence, she suffered not only from her disease, but--often worse--from the treatments she was always up for trying, no matter how taxing they were and how slim the chances of them helping her. She was staying at home, just up the hill from my parents, until last month, when a rapid downturn led to her hospitalization. A few days before this happened, fortunately, she had the opportunity to meet our son Kaleb, her only biological great-grandchild. She said that holding him she had a feeling of continuity. She is survived by my mother, Lynne; daughters Anne and Ruth; three grandchildren: me, my brother Ben and my cousin Mikhaila; and one great-grandson. Goodbye, Grammy.