November 10, 2004 2:00 a.m.

The night nurse has just made his rounds and I have learned a most interesting story of the man, Richard, with whom I am sitting a Palliative Care shift. This long-term facility is adjacent to the hospital on the shores of Elliot Lake.

Richard has celebrated his 100th birthday, for there are congratulatory certificates on the wall from Prime Minister Paul Martin and MPP Michael Brown. This indicates that Richard was born in 1904, and from what I am told, in a cabin that once sat on the present Spruce Beach of Elliot Lake.

The land was given to his father by the loggers in the area and the transaction was recorded on a piece of birch bark. Richard learned trapping as a young native boy and his family had trap lines between Elliot Lake and Quirke Lake some ten miles north. Richard’s mother is buried on the large island that can be seen as you look out his window that overlooks Spine and Spruce beach. He has been a resident here since the Manor opened two years ago and will end his days here, probably on land that was once owned by his family and then passed on to Richard. He is sleeping peaceful, with no mechanical support system, and appears to be in no obvious pain. His life’s journey will end virtually in the same place where it began, 100 years ago.

Richard died peacefully in December 2004 in his 100th year.

– Marge, Elliot Lake Palliative Care Program, Elliot Lake