Grieve

It's starting to snow again in Vancouver – the latest in a series of unseasonable events this winter in what's supposed to be Canada's mild West Coast.

Few things take me back to childhood as much as the sight of white flakes in the sky. I see them, and I'm suddenly transported back to the living room window of our house on Bearbrook Road, wondering if this would be the snowfall that closed the schools for the day. Or the front passenger seat of my parents' car, with my dad driving, windshield wipers urgently dialing slush off the windshield, and the snow doing that swooping-toward-you thing it does when you're in a moving car – a feeling of danger barely held at bay by the reassuring presence of a parent. Or walking home from a friend's house at eight or nine, when the sky turned orange with reflected streetlight and the tires of passing cars crunched grooves in the road.

For all of us thinking about death and grieving, the Body Worlds exhibit is holding an interesting event this weekend:

Religious Views of the Human Body and Soul After Death
In conjunction with the InterSpiritual Centre of Vancouver (www.interspiritualcentre.org)
Saturday, November 4, 2006
7:00pm — 7:50pm
Science Theatre (seating is limited)

CBC Radio host Priya Ramu will host a discussion among representatives of Vancouver’s Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh religious communities regarding their perspectives on death and dying, the body and soul, funeral practices and the public display of human bodies for educational purposes. The remainder of the program will provide an opportunity for the audience to address questions to our panel.

This event is FREE with purchase of a BODY WORLDS 3 ticket for that evening. Seating is limited and is available on a ‘first come/first served’ basis.

Featuring:
Orai Fujikawa Sensei: Bishop of the Hongwanji Buddhist Temples in Canada
Pandit Prameya Chaitanya: Priest of the Shree Mahalakshmi Hindu Temple
Giani Jasbir Singh Ji: Priest of the Akali Singh Gurdwara Sahib
Dr. Amr Hafez: Islamic Society of BC
Tara Bentall King: Vancouver School of Theology
Rabbi David Mivasair: Ahavat Olam Synagogue

Three years ago this autumn, my mom called from Bancroft and told me she'd been to see the doctor; she was getting some tests back shortly for some swelling in her abdomen. Nothing to worry about, she said, but there was an edge to her voice and she seemed distracted.

Within three months, both she and my father – who had been living with prostate and bone cancer for a decade – had died.