Liz Sinclair-Kruth had no idea her simple plea to help her mother cope with the grief of her father’s sudden passing would trigger an avalanche of kindness from the community.
A day after her father, John Sinclair, died in his sleep, Sinclair-Kruth posted on Central Saanich Talks, a Facebook community page, hoping people would be willing to send her mother a card to help her get through a tough time.
Her father had advanced Parkinson's disease but was in relatively good health. He spent some time in the hospital in January and when he was discharged, he was told he would never walk again. With the help of physiotherapy, he managed to get back on his feet and with assistance, was able to walk again. Despite years of bad tremors, he has also recently been able to use his hands to write again.
“He was just having a nap and he didn't wake up,” Sinclair-Kruth tearfully recalls. “They think he had a cardiac event, that his heart stopped working.”
It was her mother who found him dead, just five days before what would’ve been their 52nd wedding anniversary on Oct 20.
Sinclair-Kruth turned to the community to help her mother and their family cope with their grief.
“My mom, Elaine, lives with us but doesn’t really have anyone else – her life revolved around dad and his care. She’s in for a very tough road ahead,” her Facebook post said.
The day after her father died, Sinclair-Kruth saw her mother’s face light up for the first time when her daughter brought her a rose plant and a neighbour dropped off some flowers from her garden.
“I could tell my mom felt loved and that my dad’s life mattered.”
Since posting on Facebook, they have received over a hundred cards, dozens of flowers and gifts through the mail.
Just last weekend, a teacher dropped by their house in Brentwood Bay to hand-deliver 21 cards from her third-grade students.
They get at least 10 cards in the mail every day, prompting Elaine to say, “I don't think this would happen if we lived anywhere else."
The response from the community has been all sorts of wonderful, with one local landscaping company owner even pledging to build a little memorial garden for John.
Much as the family is benefitting from the touching response from the community, Sinclair-Kruth is humbled at how people are also finding ways to seek comfort from their own grief by being vulnerable and sharing their stories with her mom.
Elaine is grateful for the outpouring of support and would love it if people could also donate to Parkinson’s disease research in honour of her beloved John.
It may take a while for the Sinclairs to mourn their loss, but each day, with each card, comes a reminder, there’s a warm hug of a thousand words of kindness from the community waiting for them.
