Find the Fun

I said I wasn't going to write any more about Cameron for a while but I was wrong. I have tried to write some other stories but at this point they just seem frivolous and lead me nowhere. So I have parked them in the shade for a while, as I continue to remember and share what Cameron was all about.

We all know he had strength and courage, a love of life and a great sense of humour. But we tend to overlook some of his other qualities - such as his independence and his work ethic. He worked almost four years at one of the most unglamorous jobs in the world and managed not only to stick with it - but to make it his own and find the fun in it. He was a dishwasher, plain and simple and he was proud of it - something that means a lot more than a fancy title or big pay cheque when all is said and done.

One of my favorite writers, Garrison Keillor once wrote a story about his first job - coincidentally as a dishwasher. He told of how proud he was of that job because it was his own, he did it well and it was his way of showing his independence. That sums up Cameron's work ethic quite nicely and I think Garrison would have liked Cameron a lot.

I am not making Cameron out to be some sort of working class hero, but I just want to make it clear that he genuinely liked what he did. He told me quite unashamedly more than once that he was the best dishwasher in town. How many of us can honestly say that about our jobs - and mean it?

I knew Cam missed working and he often said so. He was concerned about what he could do with his disability and knew his options were limited. That is why I was happy to have him come to work with me when he was feeling up to it. We found a task that he was well suited to - inspecting microfilms; a job I still do to this day. He was able to load and unload the film rolls on to the viewer, visually inspect the films, take down notes and enter the results into a computer database.  And all with one arm... which by the way never seemed to slow him down much. I even found out that as recently as last fall he had offered to work a weekend shift at the Lunar Rogue. Imagine that...

Cam certainly knew how to make the best of things at work and knew how to find the fun. He often talked about the slow times at The Lunar Rogue when he baked cookies, watched movies and had snowball fights. And one of his favorite things to do at work was to run errands for other staff members to pick up coffee, cigarettes etc. He saw it as a great way to have a break, do someone a favor - and to keep the change, which I understand was always part of the deal!

We could all learn a lot from Cameron's attitude towards life and especially from his attitude towards work. He did what had to be done, accepted what came his way and always made time to find the fun. He learned in 4 years what I haven't learned in 40, so I guess I'll just keep working and try to find the fun.

Boop

Boop is the last story I will write about Cameron - for a little while anyway. I have written about Cam and about me, but this one is different because it is more about Cam and Julie - and their special connection. And how that wonderfully complicated relationship can be summed up in one word - Boop. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes a word is worth a thousand words too. Read on...

As you know, Cam was a very "techy" person and he never went anywhere without his cellphone, laptop or iPad. Whenever we went on the road or when he was in hospital or in a motel the most important piece of luggage was always his tech bag. And it was usually off limits.

Communication with Cameron was always difficult, especially when he was in hospital as he rarely answered his phone or returned calls. Thank God (and Friedhelm Hillebrand) for the invention of texting, which seems to have been developed with Cameron in mind as it is very short and to the point - not a lot of words and sentences to get in the way. He was very skilled at texting and could type faster and more accurately with one thumb than most of us could with two hands and a full keyboard. I did my fair share of texting with Cameron but Julie did most of it. And it was looking forward to those small, brief messages on her phone that kept us going.

Sometimes it was just a request to bring something - like a phone charger or a back-scratcher.  I won't say there were no complaints, but they were few and far between. Other times it was a demand for food - especially breakfast! Cameron loved his breakfast and sadly most hospitals seem to consider cold cereal and one piece of dry toast to be sufficient. Cam always preferred heartier fare and Julie received many a text requesting a bagel with cream cheese or his favorite - the famous D.E.C.H. muffin. Egg, bacon and cheese on a toasted English muffin, and nobody makes them like the Chalmers hospital cafeteria. Whenever Julie received a text for one of these it was always a good sign and we were more than happy to deliver.

But the messages that meant the most were the ones that Julie and Cam sent to each other with that one word - Boop. As far as I know Cam got the word from a TV show he used to watch called "Archer" and apparently the characters would touch someone on the nose and say Boop. There are other examples all over the internet but Cameron took this simple gesture and made it into an unspoken expression of affection. I have to be careful not to read too much into these things so I will just say that to Julie and Cam 'Boop' simply meant "Hello" or "Good night" or just indicated that they were thinking about each other.

I never got a Boop and I am fine with that - Julie always shared them with me, although I understood that it was something special between her and Cameron. Boop was more than just a word. It was a symbol of a special connection between them that will remain a great memory forever.