For me, 2023 will go down as the year we lost my Uncle Charlie, about six weeks shy of his 100th birthday. He was doing his daily walking exercises in his residence when he fell, fracturing bones in his spine and hip. Taken by ambulance to the Alexandra and Marine General  Hospital in Goderich, he never returned home. 

Having been named as his POA for personal care, I have learned a lot about aging over the past couple of years. I had a lot to learn. While I felt honoured to have been entrusted with this role, I also often felt inadequate and as if I was groping through a dark tunnel, when I really needed to be running towards the light and getting important things done. 

Because of this role, I had the opportunity to sit with Uncle Charlie through several trips to the emergency  room. While spending a beautiful sunny day waiting to be seen, knowing that his age and his not-so-serious condition could put him at the bottom of the list, might seem like something I should be hopping mad about, that was not the case on that day.  

We were there for seven hours. They are seven hours I never had time for before. Uncle Charlie had lived an amazing life and I was amazed every day by his active mind and determination. On that particular day, he did not have his trusted Kindle with him, so he didn’t have access to any of the 200+ books he had downloaded. It was important to him to keep learning about quantum physics, how to cope with dementia in your loved ones, and world politics. So he talked. He told me stories I had never heard before. Stories about his time spent as a soldier, training in Canada and then working in England. Thankfully, the war ended before he had to go to the front line, but he had his adventures too. I tried to envision him, a little younger than my sons are now – leaving home, flying across the ocean, preparing to battle an enemy who in reality, was embodied by a group of young men much like him. 

Uncle Charlie had always been mechanically inclined and he worked for the local radio station, CKNX, before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was able to continue using these skills, helping with communication once in England. He told me some rather hair-raising stories of riding motorcycles and hitchhiking when he had days off. 

He had kept a small package of documents from those days, which paints a bit of a picture of the life he lived at the time. His “Statement of War Service Gratuity” from the Department of National Defence detailed his payment for stepping up to serve his country. For 1063 total days of service, of which 318 qualified for a twenty-five cents per day bonus for “Qualifying Overseas Service”, he was paid a total of $387.01, in four monthly installments. While he didn’t know it would happen at the time, I am happy to report that he has continued to receive some financial support for bravely volunteering. 

There were a couple of letters saved in the package as well – including one to his little sister, Ruth, who was not even 10 at the time. I tried to imagine him, across the ocean, living in a different country, preparing for the unknown, yet taking the time to write to his little sister. 

After the war, Uncle Charlie worked for the Atomic Energy Research Facility located in Chalk River, Ontario, before moving on to help build early warning radar stations on the Pine Tree Line – a job that took him across Canada. He was also employed by the Burroughs Corporation, which at the time, was one of the largest producers of main-frame computers in the world. All of this before 1963, when he returned to the farm and became a founding partner of Bodmin Limited, with my dad, George, and other brother, Ross. 

Always an adventurer, he travelled around the world more than once. His passports tell the stories – and the stamps provided an interesting  way to imagine him travelling at a time when it wasn’t as common or easy as it is now. Perhaps one of his biggest adventures started in August 1976, when he quietly left on a trip to Scotland and returned with a surprise - his new wife, Grace. Together they built a loving home, enjoying antique car restoration, gardening, raising sheep, and entertaining friends and family. 

Uncle Charlie embraced the changes he saw throughout his life, while holding onto his skills, interests, and talents. Having taken up the bagpipes as a young man, he taught countless students with his patient and quiet manner, and held the role of pipe major for many years. As a member of the Ontario Massed Pipe Band, he travelled to the UK and played for the Queen.

As I reflect on 2023, I am grateful for the time that I had with my Uncle Charlie. His mind, active and busy right up until the last day of his life, had him reading and doing his own online banking, which kept him engaged and learning. He loved coming up with ingenious solutions for pesky problems.  He joined our Procter Rockets team in the Great Cycle Challenge and logged 500 km each August on his stationary bike during the past two summers. 

In spite of the fact that his last few weeks were spent in the hospital, patiently healing, he never complained, never spoke of pain or suffering, but rather would ask us how we were doing. The last time I talked to him, he was teasing my sister and me about our ongoing house bat problems – and we discussed possible solutions. He will serve as an inspiration and an example of aging gracefully – adapting and continuing to be engaged in life in whatever way he was able. ◊