Donald, a letter from your Palestinian friend by Rania Arabi

I met Donald years ago through my good dear friend his daughter Elizabeth.  I have never met a ‘Canadian family’ before and I felt a deep warmth in the Patterson family. I really got to know Donald mostly when I used to come to his home and read with him after his stroke in 2006.  Donald has always been passionate about Palestine which I had seen from his participation in the PAJU demonstrations every Friday.  I would say to myself: ‘I cannot believe how Donald and Genevieve would go every Friday and demonstrate.’  I have never seen that level of commitment.  I thought only Palestinian can truly know what their suffering is about.  I was wrong!  Donald was Palestinian.  He was every cause of human rights on our planet.

In reading with Donald, I was touched by his love for social justice and the environment, and his interest like me in consciousness.  I remember how he would want to look through articles on the Middle East and especially Palestine, even though at times I would say:  Donald let’s check out this to move him away from the disturbing news of the Middle East.   I didn’t always succeed….he brought me back gently to what he wanted to learn about.  He cared deeply more than I could imagine. I experienced this being close to him, seeing him excited and moved by what we were reading.  What an honour for me it is to have met him, and to have known a human being who with all his successes academically and socially was challenged by personal illnesses notably the strokes he had and how he had to learn to be in the world in a new way!  He did it.  You did it Donald!  I honor his courage, his resilience and big heart…I always saw him smiling like saying all is well and will be well.  For me, he is a teacher in the true sense, a teacher in words and deeds…and how he lived his life.  Thank you Donald for the chance to know you as a friend from Palestine.   I love you and honour you.  My last words to you were ‘until we meet again’ and so it is and so it shall be.  May your soul sour high in magnificence for all the good you have done.  May you bath in divine light and love and know that your life made an important difference.  May your light of spirit continue to shine on our world.  Bless you.