For Helen

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The word great is lodged in my head this morning. Perhaps it was put there by the reruns of quotations of Muhammed Ali including, “I am the greatest.” Maybe it was reinforced by the words of a commentator regarding the 90th birthday of Her Majesty, Elizabeth II, “She’s the greatest monarch the world has ever seen.” Perhaps it was the outpouring of accolades for the late Gordie Howe who, for some, was the greatest hockey player ever to have played the game.
      It’s been a week for the word great.
      Don’t get me wrong; all three of them lived lives (one still living a life) from which the people who knew (and know) them drew courage and hope, and each served as a role model to which others directed their children. Ali was reported also to have said, “Service to others is the rent we pay for our place on this earth.” Gordie Howe was loved for his humility and his generosity to his fans and Elizabeth must be admired for her fortitude and courage in the face of her family’s antics in the public arena, if for nothing else.
      On Friday last, we attended the funeral of a former classmate at RJC and learned again what greatness in a life well-lived looks like. Helen Fehr was a victim of polio when she was 12 and suffered with its effects until her death: undergoing various major surgeries, spending a lot of time in hospitals and rehab and generally having to expend double the energy and emotional stamina with which most humans are gifted.
      Meanwhile, she acquired a post-secondary education, taught primary students in demanding situations, adopted and raised two girls and let her curiosity and zest for life take her on trips around the world. Laid low once again by pneumonia and slipping further into the consequences of all the physical hardship she’d endured, she chose to forego extraordinary, life-extending procedures and left this life as she had lived it: courageously, confidently. Her many friends gathered with her family in Waldheim to honour her, to thank her for her generosity of spirit, for her kindness and grace in all she did and was.
      Great is, in the end, just a word. The life and legacy of Helen Fehr has given it a new meaning for me, though, and, I daresay, for many. She never laced on gloves and excelled in a boxing ring like Ali; she didn’t have the legendary elbows of Gordie Howe that could level any opponent on the ice; she was never the centrepiece in a massive parade of pomp and circumstance down the Mall in London.
      But she was “the greatest.” Ali, Gordie and Elizabeth would have been blessed to know her as friend.
      Requiescat in pace, Helen.

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