Thanks to an incredible turnout of golfers (165), unprecedented sponsorship, and a fantastic donation by the Mabbott family, Cochrane will be the new home of The Dr. Lindsay Kimmett Rotary Club of Cochrane Ultrasound Clinic some time in 2015. Congratulations to all involved in making the day very special! Along with The Rotary Club of Cochrane who partnered with the foundation this year by providing manpower and a $40,000.00 contribution to the project we have raised the $136,000.00 required to purchase the equipment for the new clinic. A planned two year project has been completed in one year thanks to the generosity of so many. Congratulations to Dave Marcial for adding another hole in one to make a total of 12 aces in 7 years! Thanks to all the volunteers who made the day possible! We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
Kelly’s 2014 MTA Address
This past Wednesday was the first hockey game of the season for my oldtimer’s team the Cochrane Ranchmen. I had been looking forward to the game with much trepidation, not because of my failed attempt at getting in shape in the offseason but because of the location of the game – the Brentwood Sportsplex. Because you see, Brentwood was the last place Dianne and I saw Lindsay alive. As I entered the arena the memories came flooding back – great memories. As we stood waiting for the Zamboni to finish I looked out at the ice, around the building, in the stands. As I did my pre-game stretches I looked across the ice surface and thought. I thought about the game that night (game 1 of the Atrophy Cup Med School Playoff) over 6 years ago;
- I thought about Lindsay playing the game of her life
- I thought about how she was matched up against Jackie (first year class), a former varsity player, always on the ice together
- I thought about how exciting the game was even though most of the players were beginners
- I thought about how Lindsay’s team the Macaques took a one goal lead but the game was tied late in the third
- I thought about Lindsay taking a penalty late in the game against Jackie and how the Macaques’ goalie stood on her head
- I thought about Jackie then taking a penalty just before OT and the Macaques scoring the winner early in OT
- I thought about Lindsay rushing from the penalty box to join in the joyous celebration – the girls’ first win in their 2 years of medical school
As I looked up from the ice into the stands i pictured where we sat and stood through the game and where we talked to Linds, glistening with sweat, exhausted, beaming with happiness. She was at her absolute peak, in school, on the ice and in her life. 4 1/2 days later she was gone. I thought about the last picture we would be in with our daughter and how Lindsay would leave us in such good hands with many of
those in that picture and at that time we had only met very few of them. On the ice you can see coaches Joe MacLellan and Todd Leaman. In the stands are Jess Brown and Ben MacLellan and just to the left of us is Jason Baserman. All 4 guys are here with us tonight and they have been there for us ever since we met them all at Lindsay’s med school wake at our house 8 days after “The Game.” With all this thinking my teammates may have thought I was distracted and not at the top of my game – that didn’t happen as I played just as badly as always.
As I sat in the dressing room celebrating a win (the Kimmetts now have a 2 game Brentwood streak going) I thought about everything Lindsay did and stood for – volunteering, helping those less fortunate, healing people, setting a good example, being a good friend, supporting community and CARPE DIEM.
“Carpe Diem – Seize the Day. We need to live life to the fullest savouring each moment. We should embrace every opportunity that we encounter, because it may never come our way again. We need to strive to live our lives so that, when our time has come, we can leave happily, knowing that we accomplished everything that we could in our short time on Earth.”
So what do we take from my week and Lindsay’s words? There are a lot of defensemen in the room so I have simplified the answer as much as possible:
- Friends and family – love them;
- Bucket list – do it;
- Life – live it.
Thanks everyone for seizing the day today!
