Dear Editor:
One of the nicest things about living in a small place is that you get to connect with so many people over the years. The hard part of those connections is that eventually you have to say goodbye. Western Manitoulin lost a beloved man on January 14 when Ted Culgin passed away, but he left us all with something worthwhile.
Who can help but be impressed by Ted’s courage and positive attitude in the face of health troubles that dragged on for years. If it ever comes to pass that I have to go through what Ted did, I hope I can live up to the beauty and strength of his example. But it wasn’t just an example of courage Ted left us with, it was also humour. He thumbed his nose at adversity by holding on to humour through the kind of challenges that would cause most of us to give up.
I was reminded of Ted’s resilient sense of humour when I saw him at church this past Easter Sunday wearing bunny ears. Imagine, a grown man, a veteran of a long, hard personal war with cancer, barely able to walk on his own, wearing bunny ears in public. That was so “Ted Culgin,” wasn’t it?
There are other things, too. My kids and I will always remember Santa Claus roaring down Meredith Street on his Harley, and not necessarily at Christmas time, either. Red suit, red cap and no helmet. The no helmet part was the best. That was Ted thumbing his nose again.
Ted and his wife Barb brought such a grace and elegance to Gore Bay over the years with their funeral home and flower shop. If life on western Manitoulin were made into a TV show, Ted and Barb would be prime and beloved characters.
In a way, life really is like a kind of show, isn’t it? We’re written into certain scenes, we play a part for a time, then we move on. But unlike television, the part we play here on earth is potentially just a rehearsal. The main event is yet to come. I’m looking forward to the day when I’ll get to see Santa Ted riding down gold-paved streets on his Harley (helmetless, of course), perhaps with some bunny ears sticking out of his back pocket. Hats off to you, Ted. You’ve left us with a fine example that we won’t forget.
Steve Maxwell
Evansville
