Yarrow
When I think of Grandpa, I now think of yarrow. It was a few years ago that Grandpa first told me about yarrow. We had been out for a walk in Vernon when he picked some along the way and handed me the yellow wildflowers. He told me about the medicinal properties of yarrow and the many places he had seen it used to bring healing and good health. He showed me how to remove the buds from the stems and steep them into tea.
I already knew that Grandpa had a wealth of knowledge about plants and wildflowers, and he often shared what he knew on our walks. His real love, though, was for rocks.
While I would only see a stone covered in dirt, Grandpa would see something different. With one lick of his thumb, he would reveal the true beauty and complexity hidden beneath the surface, letting himself be drawn into another world. When the rock dried, he would place it back on the ground, leaving it for the next person willing to take the time to see such things.
A few years ago, when Grandpa picked the yarrow for me, I felt grateful that the march of time had not taken that knowledge from him. I felt grateful that he could still pass his stories down to his grandchildren and relive experiences as though they had happened yesterday.
When the comings and goings of life can sometimes feel unfair, it is important to remember the moments when life feels kind.
Only now that I am older do I realize how much of Grandpa lives on through me. The places where I feel happiest and most myself are, I know, the places where he would have felt happiest too. Grandpa's love for nature, from the smallest rock to the tallest mountain, is a gift he passed down to my dad, and a gift my dad passed down to me.
One day, I will take my own children for a walk in Vernon, pick yarrow along the way, and tell them how their great-grandfather believed that even the smallest of things could heal us.
My grandfather developed dementia in his seventies, and as time went on, his short-term memory began to fade. Yet his long-term memories and wisdom seemed only to grow stronger, becoming more vibrant and
bringing comfort to both him and our family.
Kate Stelfox is a registered nurse whose work is grounded in a strong commitment to improving the quality of life for older adults, especially those living in institutional settings, and to strengthening how nursing students are prepared to care for this population. She recently completed her PhD in the
Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary, where she used a philosophical hermeneutic approach to explore experiences of death and dying in long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kate recently joined the Faculty of Nursing as an Assistant Professor, where she will continue this important work.
