Olivia Chow interview

Last night, I watched her on the giving the first personal interview since her husband passed away. Dressed in black, a mourning widow who had just lost her rock and soulmate, she was however elegant, composed and bravely answered questions.

Even the difficult ones. About Jack Layton's illness, final days, about what was most memorable in their marriage of over twenty-five years. At one point she shed a tear, and the sky too was crying. My heart ached and went out to her...

She talked about the cancer that took Jack's life, even though he fought so hard. She explained why she and the family didn't want to reveal what cancer he had or what treatment he underwent, despite  the media's obsession and probing:

"For what purpose? We know what cancer do to people. The majority of people who have cancer are fine, are able to continue […] We all die one way or another. Let’s live in that moment of hope and optimism, the kind of love he talked about."

And reading a magazine article about Jack and Olivia Chow together brought me again to tears. A chance meeting, at a fundraiser... two people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, connecting so deeply on so many levels, sharing their passion of politics and community involvement together with their passion for life and one another... "It is a uniquely Canadian, multicultural, inclusive love story". As Jack himself once put it, "I fell in love with Olivia in four nano seconds [...] I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but I was smitten from day one..."

How very beautiful, how very romantic....


 Video tribute to Jack Layton from the Celebration of Life gathering at Roy Thomson Hall