theoldwolf

A friend and colleague of mine, Claire Parker passed away on 10 November, 2009, of complications in childbirth. This is a great loss, and a great sadness, especially in our day and age, in the Western world, where we expect our doctors to be Gods and our hospitals to be places of miracles, not tragedies.

She leaves behind a husband and three children, to whom my thoughts and prayers go out in great abundance.

A beautiful poem to Claire's memory, written by Robert (Dr. Bobus) Paquin, a gifted member of our translator/interpreter family:

DEATH IN THE FAMILY
(Pour Claire)

Toi qui nous faisais rire, tu m'as fait pleurer.
A great grief steals my words and my screen is blurry.
We lost one of our own, and our laughter is gone.
Tu as donné la vie en cette fin d'automne.

And your last gift to us now after you have left
Est de nous réunir tous, malgré nos griefs,
Au-delà de la langue, en un deuil de famille,
Where we can at least share just how close we all feel.

11 novembre 2009

Robert Paquin