Grain elevators used to dot the prairies . You could see the next one eight miles away as you left one town after another . ( Eight miles was the distance a steam engine could go before refilling with water .)
FROM THE EDITOR
Draw Them In
Margaret Sadler | Editor-in-Chief , news & views , ARTA
Grain elevators used to dot the prairies . You could see the next one eight miles away as you left one town after another . ( Eight miles was the distance a steam engine could go before refilling with water .)
Imagine all the people you ’ ve known as a scattering of dots . Remember when those dots were close together ? Some even rubbed up against each other . It took little effort to connect with them . You may have noticed that some of the dots are gone now while others have drifted apart . This is normal . As we age , the dots seem to move farther apart . Our dots used to be larger and easily connected . A halo of coworkers , friends , and family surrounded our dot ; each cluster was large , flexible , and mutable . Playmates , school friends , university friends , early career colleagues , late career colleagues , all drifted away over time . Now , as the scattering of dots thins , we may wish we hadn ’ t let the drift happen .
My mother-in-law died last year . She kept us connected to all the other dots in the family constellation . It takes deliberate action now to connect with the scattered members of the family . We love them dearly , but Mom doesn ’ t automatically gather us in for celebrations as she did for so many years over several generations .
I ’ m soon going to meet a cousin I ’ ve never met . I met her father and her aunt when we were all teenagers and they were living in northwestern Ontario . Recently I discovered letters her grandmother Ruby had written to my mother , her second cousin , describing life in a remote settlement in the 1950s and ’ 60s . Through the magic of the internet , I found Ruby ’ s granddaughter . She lives within 90 minutes of Edmonton ! She ’ s thrilled to drive in to meet me and pick up the letters . We are reeling in these dots that had drifted apart a generation or two ago .
As we age , social connections become more important at the same time as family members and friends of longstanding pass on . This can be a sad and lonely time . According to the Canadian National Seniors Council , approximately fifty per cent of people over the age of 80 report feeling lonely . Medical professionals in England connect their patients with other people in a treatment called “ social care .” It ’ s part of the National Health Service where a “ social prescribing link worker … can give you support and connect you with what ’ s going on in the community to help you take control of your mental health and well-being .”
For our own health and well-being , we need to draw some of the dots closer again . Perhaps it ’ s a matter of finding new dots to insert into the spaces , or reaching out to those who have slipped away and drawing them in again . And consider reaching out to those who are ill-equipped to do the reaching for themselves .
Connect the dots on your behalf and on behalf of others , and live a fuller life !
SPRING 2025 | 7