A lament for Dale Morrison

I’ve been so fortunate in my preparations for Rwanda in that I’ve had access to many personal friends that have participated in the Canadian Anesthesia Society’s education initiative here. Every question that a guidebook can’t answer, there was someone there to help me. And Dale was one of those people. Dale, trained as a respiratory therapist, and later, and anesthesia assistant, made the trek to Rwanda over a year ago with another Dalhousie staff person. He was well versed in monitoring equipment and machine function, which was a dire need at the time. He planned to return in early 2011, and asked me to take photos of anesthetic equipment interfaces. It was a simple task made simpler by virtue of the fact that he was an easy person to help out. Even if you just met the guy, you’d get the feeling that he’d help you in a heartbeat. Genuinely a nice individual, I’ve never heard him say a negative thing. He was one of those rare people that seemed excited to be at work everyday. He talked of his family often. He was engaging and interested in what you had to say. He appreciated a good scotch, and was that person that gave maritimer’s a good name. He died suddenly at home last month, to everyone’s disbelief. Though he leaves behind his wife, and two young children, I can’t help but feel that they knew exactly how Dale felt about them. So, if there’s someone you’ve been meaning to talk to, but haven’t, someone that should know that you love them, please take a page out of Dale’s book. There’s a veritable international army of people that will miss Dale, and his enormous capacity to care. And to everyone that’s reading this, Ashley and I love you!