I will never be able to repay these kindnesses, but in my nightly prayers I give thanks for them, and ask for a day to come when I'll have the time and energy to be as kind to others as so many others have been to me.
Thank you all.
Personal note, without much elaboration: the kindness I have received these last few months is staggering. I'm a cynic — well, a disappointed idealist, I guess — but the support and tangible, practical help I've received from people who don't owe me anything in particular is just overwhelming.
Well said @mattgurney.bsky.social @thestar.com
Any infrastructure project over billion $ threshold should be required to do a public accountability post completion to examine mistakes made & innovation implemented - lessons that other governments can benefit from
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Please be patient with me. Please be kind. Pray for us if you can. And help us if you have the power.
She and our two children are my everything.
And I am going to fight for her and for this family with absolutely everything I have. I will never surrender. I can’t. There is no me without her.
Nearly 20 years after we stood in a park and agreed to be together, I am as hopelessly in love with her as I was then.
It is a crippling love — more than I contain. I can barely think about it. It feels like too much when I try.
She isn’t perfect. She isn’t easy. Neither am I. We’ve had good times and bad.
But she is the absolute foundation of my world. My entire sense of self is wrapped up in her. I don’t know where I end and she begins.
Not without false starts. Not without fear. But we made it.
And my life has been amazing since. Because of her.
She is all I have ever wanted.
We didn’t become an official couple until late in university, after a long period of circling each other — trying to understand what to do with a deep friendship that was evolving into something much scarier and more consequential.
We made the jump.
To me, she is as beautiful today as she was at 17. I did, and still do, feel like I’ve been winded when I just look at her.
We weren’t high-school sweethearts. Our journey was longer.
But now I want to talk about my wife.
We met when we were 17. We had math class together. I changed my seat so I could look at her. She was stunning. I can still see her exactly as she was then.
As we settle into a new rhythm, I’m beginning a gradual return to work. Don’t be surprised if you see more from me about the health-care system. I’ve been amazed and humbled by some of the care we’ve received. I’ve also been shocked and frightened by parts of the experience. More on that later.
I’m assembling an army for her. This is the most important thing I’ve ever done, and I can’t imagine a better use of my energy or my skills.
Many of you noticed I went completely to ground. This is why.
If you are the praying type, we would appreciate your prayers. For those who may be able to offer medical help or options, please reach out — I’m easy to find.
We have cause for optimism. The metastasis is real and terrifying, but limited and small. We didn’t catch this “early,” but we may have caught it early by the standards of such things.
We have a real shot. And we are determined to fight.
She is young, strong, and otherwise healthy, and her recovery so far has been remarkable.
Now we are entering a long, grinding phase of this fight — chemotherapy, and we hope other treatments — with the goal of getting ahead of this nightmare.
Last fall, my wife became very ill. A series of medical tests ruled out the non-scary explanations. Just before Christmas, we were told it was metastatic cancer.
She has since undergone urgent surgeries, including successful removal of the primary tumour.
That’s partly for their safety. But also because, despite appearances, I am an intensely private person. The public part of my job is exhausting and often a little frightening.
I’m now facing something far more frightening. And I may need your help.
Hey guys. This is going to be the most personal update I’ve ever shared publicly.
I live in public view — my work does, anyway. I’ve never been shy about sharing my ideas or passions. But I’ve always worked very hard to keep my family out of view.
They stepped up with almost zero notice when I had to completely, and I mean completely, go to ground.
I could not ask for a better team. I do not deserve them. They saved me. I can never thank them enough.
More from me soon. Take care.
I’ve been reluctant to share too much as events were moving very quickly. I will make a public comment in the near future. But today I just want to thank my colleagues at The Line — especially Jen and Andrew but also our incredible assistant Melissa.
Personal note:
I’m not very active here but some of you had noticed my sudden vanishing. After a very challenging month, and sadly with many more challenges to come, I’m going to begin gradually returning to work over the next two weeks. I see a lot has happened since I’ve been otherwise occupied!
I hadn’t. I just did. It reminded me a lot of a column I wrote about our expectations being a problem. I published mine in 2021, too. I guess the history nerds were sensing that something was afoot on both sides of the ocean that year.
It’s important for me to not spend too much time there. But it’s a nice place to visit.
He’ll get over it.
A somewhat longer answer that I actually did tell that American official I was giving a hard time to was that even when the MAGA fever eventually passes, because it will, it won’t be her and her buddies that replace them. But an entirely new generation of Americans with different reference points.
You’ll get over it.
…
They fuck up in ways we find maddening.
