Swaky

I had a really nice day today. My family, minus Katie, have taken up golf and I had a golf lesson this morning with my Mum down at our new club, which was really fun. The coach, Ben, brought the fitting bag so we got to play around with all these different composite clubs as well as hitting with our own. The fitting bag is the golf club chemistry set. It is full of different handles and club heads which are all detachable, so you can mix and match to find the perfect club. 


Then I had a lunch in the city with a lovely friend. I was able to talk to this friend about a problem I've been grappling with and she seemed to have all the answers I needed and was very generous in offering me her support. I went to the gym in the afternoon and went to the most enjoyable BodyAttack class I think I've ever been to. The instructor was a young, very cute English guy whose energy was infectious (thought I suspect women may be of no significant interest to him). 


There wasn't anything particularly special about my day but I think those days are the best kind. The days where nothing remarkable happens, you just enjoy your life. 


Today I will be writing about legacy. 


I was prompted to think about legacy from reading the blog of a very dear friend, Kate. I came to know Kate when I was 12 or 13, in high school and still living in Adelaide through, of all things, dating her younger son. I was going through a very rough patch in adolescence at the time I came to know Kate. In particular, the relationship between my Mum and I had turned septic. I was either giving Mum the silent treatment or we were ripping each other's throats out in verbal stoushes that would put federal parliamentarians to shame. For a period of time I effectively adopted Kate as a surrogate mum. Ironically, when my family moved to Melbourne her family bought our house.


Kate is an incredible woman. She is intelligent, witty and charming, with a natural warmth that draws people of all ages to her. She is empathetic, generous and very funny. She has the kind of insight into humanity one can only gain from experiencing acute hardship and seeing the seedier side of life close up. She is one of the most passionate and courageous people I have met. You would struggle to find a person with a better track record for overcoming adversity than Kate. She possesses more resilience, courage and strength than anyone I know. I admire her immensely and love her dearly.


Kate has been unwell the whole time I have known her. She has confronted so many life-threatening conditions in the time I have known her that I'm not going to attempt to remember them all. The condition pertinent to my discussion of her is that Kate has early onset dementia. Her blog gives tremendous insight into her experiences as a person who is slowly and uncontrollably losing the cerebral functions most of us take for granted. 


Kate is not a passive sufferer of her disease. She is fighting it, through advocacy. 


I think she is creating a legacy. By recording her experiences, Kate is articulating her own unique life as a person with dementia and voicing some of the fear, anger, hurt, frustration and love that affect all sufferers would feel. Through her advocacy work and her writing, she is drawing attention to the inefficiencies in global health care for caring for dementia sufferers and the elderly with the dignity and quality of life everyone deserves. 


I hate to contemplate a world without Kate in it. Unfortunately, I have grappled with the idea for some time. Mortality is a challenging concept. It reminds me that whilst human beings are capable of so much we are each still just a cog in the wheel of life or death. I think a legacy has to do with how many people still feel the affects of your cog once it has stopped turning. 


Kate reminds me that each of us has the chance to build a true legacy with our lives. We can each be the kind of person who works to change the world they live in so that the next generation will reap the rewards without ever having met you. We are each capable of building something remarkable that will exist beyond ourselves. 


My life is profoundly impacted by her involvement in it and I am so grateful to be able to call her my friend. 



"I want to leave my footprints on the sands of time.
Know there was something that meant something
That I left behind...
Leave something to remember
So they won't forget
I was here"
                                                                      (Beyonce)