Lives well lived: Cathy Watts' farewell
I have read obituaries for at least fifty years, as a life lesson. Like many women, I've been immersed in those for Ruth Bader Ginsberg. We knew her time was s short, but still. Then, thinking about lives large and modest, about women who were compelling personalities, but not as widely-known, I returned to the Globe and Mail obituaries, which I read periodically.
You're an obit reader, or you're not— I am one and especially fond of an idiosyncratic self-written summation. I once met a woman who published a book of her favourites!
Today, as a counterpoint to the obituaries and tributes for the remarkable RBG, I'm linking to one by the late Cathy Watts of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
As a bonus, it's so Canadian... not to give spoilers, but quilting is in there. Her qualities are different from Bader Ginsburg's, but each is a vivid, authentic individual.
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| Happy Trails, Cathy Watts |
"What will we do without them?" we ask when we lose someone like them. Keep moving forward, inspired by such examples, and most simply, live as yourself. As RBG said, "My mother told me to be a lady. And for her that meant, be your own person, be independent."
Comments
Now there is a new focus on the appalling increase in pedestrian deaths and serious injuries. No, they aren't kids texting on their phones: they are women over 60 (and especially shorties like me) and almost all were crossing intersections properly. Drivers seem not to see us, in broad daylight. Most were killed by drivers turning far too fast.
There are cities in northern Scandinavia where people cycle all winter in temps like those in Saskatoon. (I confess that the very thought chills me). I've visited Copenhagen and spent far more time in Amsterdam, working at an NGO but also observing and studying proper walking and cycling infrastructure. Blessings to Cathy's family and friends, and the Saskatoon cycling community.
https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/get-on-a-bike-head-for-a-trail-and-feel-what-it-s-like-to-be-free-saskatoon-cycling-advocate-cathy-watts-has-died-1.5100676
Here in Ontario, you get a mini fine or wrist slap for killing someone. One woman in Toronto killed a lady on a sidewalk and the fine was a partial licence suspension of one year where she could somehow still drive to medical appointments, groceries etc so she wasn't even told to use transit in Toronto, a city with some of the best options in Canada.
As of 2019 ON significantly increased penalties for distracted driving... a good step, though you might want higher ones. See https://www.preszlerlaw.com/blog/careless-driving-penalties/
In March 2015, I was crossing an intersection on foot, had the light, clear sunny morning..and was hit by a car. The EMTs asked me if driver was texting. (How would I know?) I was not injured beyond bruises... luck plus I had a heavily padded coat and Blundstone boots. All I wanted was an apology from the driver, which I never got.
Always fascinating what families want included—and what they leave out.
As to the phenomenon of women pedestrians killed in crosswalks, isn’t it just a case of invisible women?
Re crosswalks, when we lived about 40m from a very busy Toronto one while our sons were growing up, we taught and then bugged them to never use the crosswalk, always walk, less conveniently, to the intersection. Drivers do not always look up to see the flasher, or to the edge to see a small person pointing. After 25 years living near one, and seeing how many drivers blew through them, I would say never trust a crosswalk, regardless of sex.
Laura