I’m heartbroken about Jack Layton’s death this morning.
We all knew it didn’t look good a month ago when he stepped down temporarily from his job so he could get treated for cancer. He looked so thin. ‘Gaunt’ was the word everybody used. And the alarming thing was he had become so gaunt so quickly – he looked great two months earlier when he cheerfully lead the NDP to official opposition status. But even though he looked so suddenly gaunt, I never expected him to die. At least not so quickly. I thought he had a fighting chance. I thought he might be back. And suddenly the next thing I hear is that he has succumbed, at age 61, to an unknown cancer.
I was shocked, and heartbroken. I got goosebumps, and I burst into tears.
You’d think, living in Ottawa, that I’d see politicians all the time. You’d think I’d see the prime minister from time to time, and cabinet ministers, and party leaders, and MPs. But I don’t. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a prime minister in person. Occasionally I see an MP speaking into a microphone on the front lawn of Parliament Hill when I go there for a rally. Maybe I’m just not that observant, but I really haven’t had many politician sightings.
Except for Jack. He was everywhere! Handsome and dashing in his bright orange scarf on a cold grey picket line or on a peace march or at any kind of public gathering that had anything to do with social justice…there was Jack! (And that’s what everybody always said, too. “There’s Jack!”)
I’m going to miss him.
And I feel sad that he won’t get to find out how it all ends. He got just the tiniest taste of victory before cancer seized him by the throat. Mere weeks.
Apparently he wrote this in his book a few years ago:
“Oftentimes, life’s highs and lows are inextricably linked. That has certainly happened to me and, occasionally, the ups and downs were virtually simultaneous.â€
Kind of spooky, eh?
Goodbye Jack. Canada’s a better place because you were in it. Thank you for everything.
I am shocked and saddened too.
Jack and Ed (Broadbent) are the two polticians I’d literally bump into all the time – they both *lived* in Ottawa, bought produce and pastries in the market, rode their bikes through Centretown.
I’m so very grief stricken today.
What a terrible and sad loss. I feel just devastated today.
I, too, am shocked and saddened by Jack Layton’s death. I followed your last election closely and cheered the NDP. I’m from Washington State and spend years living along the BC border and following the news on Vancouver and Victoria stations. Even though I live a bit farther south now, I’m still fascinated by Canadian politics.
It’s so sad. I don’t think I’ve ever cried about a politician dying, but I did today.
Very sad. He was the guy you’d most want to sit and have beer with. And you’d know it was because he was enjoying it too, not just putting it on for some photo-op or working some angle.
Many of us knew this was coming, but allowed the Summer to lull us into forgetting. It’s a sad day for this country.
It is a sad day for Canada.. Jack Layton was a believer in Canada. Jack Layton’s absence from the political table will be a profound loss.
– Nalliah Thayabharan