My Journey With Health And Fitness – A Reminder That Life Is Precious

I had planned to do a major rant today based on a really bad experience yesterday but something happened that changed my mind (the rant will be on the next blog). I was checking Facebook yesterday when I read something that made my heart break, a colleague had apparently passed away. I immediately sent a message to the poster to find out what the hell happened. Soon I was seeing information all over social media and this morning even in local papers. This brilliant young woman had suddenly died I am sure making all of us who knew her cry.

In 2019 I had just started my pre-retirement leave. I was probably at the lowest point in my life. During the previous 4 months I had dealt with nearly losing both my siblings, finding out my health had also become very precarious and leaving a job that had left me beaten to the point of being mentally broken. I was asked if I would be willing to start a business and do some work for a union helping them with some financial processes. I decided that would be something that might help me to start to heal so enter Gwenne Farrell Consulting.

I met Kim my first day at that union. She was the newly acclaimed president of the union and was also the first female in the role as well as the youngest person to run the union. My short consulting gig went on for about 18 months as my role expanded several times. I worked with Kim to dramatically improve not just the financial processes and policies of that union but also to improve their financial health. Kim was constantly appreciative of what I was doing and I heard frequently about how valued I was. I noticed within a few months that I was feeling so much better about myself and realized it was from being given respect for my knowledge and expertise. About 6 months ago Kim asked me to do another small project and when I praised her for how the union’s finances had turned around under her leadership she told me how much my comments meant to her.

My understanding of what happened is that a little over a week ago Kim suffered a brain hemorrhage and died at home surrounded by her family this passed weekend. She leaves behind not just her partner in life but also 2 young sons. I was so devasted to think of how horrible this must be for her family, her staff and the members of her union as well as the people in our labour movement. There were even several social media posts from politicians including our BC Premier talking about how great she was. Today a notice came up on Facebook that today would have been Kim’s 39th birthday. My heart broke again for what today must mean for her family.

But this was a heavy reminder, life is precious and we need to cherish each and every day. There is no excuse for putting off reaching out to family and friends that mean something to you, this just demonstrates they may not be there tomorrow. Today I ask that you hug those around you and appreciate that you have them. I know that is what I plan to do.