Two Women, One Birthday, a Lifetime of Care
Today I celebrate two incredible women who share the same birthday and so many of the same qualities: fierce loyalty, a passion for health care, deep love for family and friends, resilience, and the strength of smart, compassionate women.
Alanna is my sister from the heart. We have travelled through life together since our first year at STFXU, more than 40 years ago. We both went on to become educators, careers that reflected our shared belief in supporting, encouraging, and caring for others. Over the years, we have celebrated together, cried together, supported one another through illness and loss, and watched over each other and our families along the way.
Our lives have intertwined in so many ways, including both of us facing cancer more than once and learning what resilience truly means. Alanna has always been just a phone call away. Along with her husband, a highly respected surgeon and cancer researcher, she's someone I can turn to when I need reassurance, perspective, or simply a trusted voice. I am deeply grateful for the excellent health care I receive here in Canada, but there is comfort in being able to fact-check or ask a question of people you trust completely.
This year brings a beautiful new chapter for Alanna as she joins me in the wonderful role of grandmother, with a new baby arriving in November. My wish for her is continued good health, much joy, and many years surrounded by the people she loves and who love her.
Carolyn, my sister-in-law, is another remarkable woman. As a nurse, caring for the health and well-being of others has been both her profession and part of who she is. Whenever our family faced a health concern, one of the first calls was often to Aunt Carolyn.
Carolyn quite literally helped save my life. Before I was preparing to leave for Asia to work in an international Canadian school, she strongly encouraged me to have an X-ray for persistent back pain. That X-ray changed everything. It led to my diagnosis of Stage IV breast cancer and grounded me in Canada, where I could immediately access the care I needed.
She was also on speed dial when I later broke my back. Her guidance helped me get seen quickly and ultimately allowed me to spend a winter healing in Costa Rica rather than waiting through a cold Canadian winter for a consultation.
Today, Carolyn has turned her lifelong passion for health care into something extraordinary through Luscinia Health, an all-women health care team focused on helping people access excellent care in a timely manner. It feels like a natural extension of the nurse, advocate, and caregiver she has always been.
Two birthdays. Two extraordinary women. An educator and a nurse whose lives have profoundly shaped mine.
Happy Birthday, Alanna and Carolyn. May the year ahead bring you both good health, joy, continued purpose, wonderful family moments, and all the love you have so generously given to others returned to you many times over. 💗
Self-care is the new health care.
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