Pathways Issue 4: COVID-19 and Seniors' Health | Page 24

SENIORS DESERVE OUR UTMOST RESPECT AND CARE -- NOW MORE THAN EVER
When I was a young science student in the 1970s,
I lived in Vancouver, not far from Commercial Drive.
It was a smaller city then, with more trees and
fewer condo buildings, and life seemed to move
a little slower. I’d ride the bus every day, along
Broadway and out to UBC.
On several occasions as I sat in the bus with a backpack
on my lap, I would watch elderly passengers slowly
climb the two steps and drop their coins into the fare
box. Many of them were in good health, yet some were
fragile. It was in these moments, even though I didn’t
know these seniors and had no reason to believe they
were in distress, I felt a great deal of compassion for
them. They represented the past and the present, and
deserved all of our respect.
“Our seniors are our treasure…they
deserve the very best care as they age,
gracefully and in good health.”
 — Dr. Edwin S.H. Leong