MURIEL SHAW had always said the only way she’d leave home was “feet first.” For Shaw, a retired British Columbia Institute of Technology clerk in her eighties, home was a double-wide trailer in Coquitlam, in what her family describes as the “second-best trailer park in British Columbia.” Shaw was living an independent life and had endured a series of challenges, including the loss of her partner, in 1996, and breast cancer. She was proud to be in her own space and host friends and family. “Home is home” is how her youngest son, Chris Jarvis, explained it. Jarvis often travelled, but he would stop in to stay with his mother whenever he could. As Shaw got older and her health waned, another son moved in with her. This arrangement worked well until Christmastime in 2010. According to Jarvis, as the holidays approached, Shaw didn’t seem herself: she was anxious and confused —“just acting strange.” The family took her to the hospital.
This story is from the April 2020 edition of The Walrus.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2020 edition of The Walrus.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"
Vaclav Smil Is Fed Up
The acclaimed environmental scientist is criticizing climate activists, shunning media, and stepping back just when we need him most
It's Time for a Birth Control Revolution
What the pill teaches us about the failure - and future - of women's health care
Would You Watch a Play about Hydro Electricity?
How documentary theatre struck a chord in Quebec
Still Spinning
One record chain has bet big on a new appetite for physical media
Just So You Know, I Love My Mother
In many ways, multi-generational living makes sense. But that doesn't make it easy
Art of the Steal
Why are plundered African artifacts still in Western museums?
Canada in the Middle
What role can we play in easing the war in Gaza?
Canadian Multiculturalism: A Work in Progress
As we mark fifty years since the adoption of Canada’s federal multiculturalism policy, human rights advocate AMIRA ELGHAWABY celebrates its merits and reflects on the work that is yet to be done when it comes to inclusion, acceptance, and fighting systemic racism in our country.