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Our man Thomas |
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 John
F. Tomczak is the author of Shared Knowledge - Dealing With
Bereavement.
John's passion is to make all Canadians
aware of how hospice societies can help
them and their loved ones at a time
of need.
John
has been recognized for his many
exemplary contributions as a board
member of Victoria Hospice Society and
the Independent Living Housing Society
as well as a founding member of Canada's
first bereavement self help group.
John is
the owner of
bereavement.ca
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Our Man Thomas
By John F. Tomczak
No
organization would be complete without its share of
what we call “characters”.
I
want to tell you about one of the delightful members
of the Hospice Family.
His
name is Thomas Virtue and his wife died in the care
of Victoria Hospice. Thomas is a member of Walking
Group twenty-six. It didn’t take the volunteers in
the Walking Program very long to realize that one of
the “walkers” was a bit special.
However it wasn’t until Thomas joined the
Bereavement Self Help Group that we noticed the
whimsical side of his nature.
He
came to a Bereavement Self Help Social Group
barbeque dressed as a caveman. Halfway through the
afternoon he changed into a farmer’s outfit.
We
once met him on a Saturday morning with his walking
group. He was wearing a wig and for the life of me I
couldn’t connect the wig and Thomas.
I
will spare you the grisly details of what he pulled
off on his walking group one April fool’s day. Who
will ever forget his dignified and stunning
appearance at the third “Walk for Awareness” in his
perfectly fitted Superman’s costume.
Then
at a Saturday night social he came adorned with a
variety of well placed rings cleverly placed here
and there. I am not talking about fingers folks.
Thank the good Lord they were fake!
Of
course there is another side of Thomas. When it
comes to gathering and turning cans and bottles into
money our man Thomas has no equal. He has trained
his friends in his condo and several other buildings
to understand their cans and bottles belong to him.
Thomas supports several charities and Victoria
Hospice is one. Once again this year Thomas donated
a large can of coins totaling over a thousand
dollars.
Wait, there is more! Thomas has a grandson who is
following closely in his footsteps. The other day
Thomas and the grandson turned up with two large
bottles full of pennies for Hospice.
The
staff in the Victoria Hospice Foundation office
greeted Thomas and the pennies with suitable words
of appreciation but also with some misgivings. After
worried and meaningful looks amongst the staff,
Thomas was handed a bag full of penny wrappers and
invited to come back with the pennies in those cute
little wrappers. Thomas did exactly that. He picked
up the two bottles and came back with 120 rolls of
pennies.
During the last few years Thomas has lost most of
his hearing. Naturally this unfortunate turn of
events interfered with his “crib playing” so Thomas
promptly took a course in lip reading and life goes
on. Every year at our last gathering before
Christmas we hesitate to even think of the pranks he
will play on his friends.
Thomas is one of those people that demonstrate the
strength of the human spirit. I am sure we all
admire this free-spirited man but I love him for who
he is.
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| Copyright John
F. Tomczak. All rights reserved |
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For more information on bereavement support, or to
purchase Shared Knowledge, click on the
book cover. |
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