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Celebration of Life 2019

Yesterday I attended a ‘Celebration of Life’ gathering at De dwa da dehs nye s Aboriginal Health Centre in Hamilton.  KMHC tenant little Debbie lost her son due to unfortunate circumstances and I wanted to personally offer my condolences.  I can’t imagine the loss of a child no matter how old they are.  I’ve known little Debbie for 10 years and we are members of the same First Nation's band.

I’ve never visited De dwa da dehs nye s Aboriginal Health Centre before, thankfully I didn’t get lost.
When I arrived I was greeted by little Debbie I gave her my condolence card and she invited me to help myself to the buffet table in the next room.  Oh My Gosh!  One good thing about our culture when it comes to a gathering the food is abundant.  Marilyn Wright a very nice woman was the server at the buffet table she used to be a UNH board member and is currently a case worker for aboriginal mothers dealing with addiction.  

After filling up a plate I went to the community room and sat with my former KMHC tenants and friends Teresa, Bernadene, Sandra and Linda, Dwayne and his woman and others.  All of us were concerned how little Debbie is coping with her loss.  Eventually she got up and gave a nice speech thanking everybody for attending, then later she joined us at our table and shared the events that lead to the loss of her son.  I was impressed with her tenacity. 

After doing a little socializing it was time to leave, I was offered to help myself to the buffet leftovers to take home, which I gladly accepted. :)  Before leaving I approached little Debbie and gave her a hug and invited her to join us at Super Crawl in September.  Legendary singer and aboriginal activist Buffy Saint-Marie will be performing.

June is Aboriginal month so please attend the Pow Wow celebrations in your area.  Tell them Tony sent you. :)

Tk
Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada

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