an elderly couple holding hands as they nap in their bedroom; part of a photo series on Medical Assistance in Dying

Alma and Wylie, March 2017


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In his book, How, Then, Shall We Live the theologian and psychotherapist Wayne Muller poses four questions that guide readers to consider what makes for a meaningful life. The questions are designed to “reveal the true nature of our love and our strength, our courage and our wisdom.”

Of the four questions, it is the third, “How shall I live, knowing I will die” that resonated most for me as I finalized this series, The Leave-taking. Whereas the concept of death is understood by all, few of us really consider our own demise unless faced with illness or the death of a loved one. For most of us there is always a limitless tomorrow. However for my friend and neighbour Alma, tomorrow was contained within five months, from the time she decided to avail herself to the services of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) to her passing in early November 2020. The Leave-taking offers a glimpse into how Alma spent those final five months, living with the intimacy of her death hovering on the periphery.

To be sure, The Leave-taking is a project about Alma, death, and MAID. It is also, at its most fundamental, a meditation on Time: how it is measured in the small, homely activities that make up a day; how we note its passing in the changing seasons; how we shuttle between past and future while rooted in the present. We are sometimes caught by surprise by the elasticity of time, how it can go from stretching out luxuriously to suddenly compressing to a tight deadline. For Alma, the endless and languorous summer yielded to autumn almost without notice, and she found herself running “out of time” to settle her affairs as she would have liked.

Alma chose the autumn as the season for her death. She lived the weeks that preceded MAID joyfully and simply, deriving pleasure from the quotidian of neighbourhood walks, phone calls and visits, bakery treats with coffee, and afternoon naps. Time moved gently and slowly, until there was no more time.

a Black Lives Matter sign at the entry to an elderly woman's home; part of a photo series on Medical Assistance in Dying
An elderly women sits in her back garden staring up at the sky; part of a photo series on Medical Assistance in Dying

June 2020


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the kitchen and dining table of a senior's modest home; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
portrait of an elderly woman as she speaks about life after death; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying

October  2020

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an elderly woman, clad in shorts and t-shirt, on the front deck of her home staring at the trees; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying

August  2020

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the den of the senior's modest home where the old couch serves as an afternoon bed; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
an elderly woman, clad in her bathrobe, looks out her window; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
a doctor assesses an elderly woman in application for Medical Assistance in Dying; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying


September 2020


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an elderly woman has her blood pressure taken in her home; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying



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kitchen still life of items on the counter; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
Remains of a Meals on Wheels dinner in its container; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
a stair climbing assistance devise installed in a senior's home; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
an elderly woman is seated on her couch; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
an elderly woman, looking anxious, is lying across her bed; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying

Late August 2020

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an elderly woman is clutching a heart shaped box to her own heart; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying

October 2020



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the feet and lower legs of an elderly woman who is resting on a couch; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
an elderly woman, clad in a t-shirt and adult diaper, stands in her bedroom; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
a heart-shaped box on a night table with pills nearby; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
close up of the torso of an elderly woman wearing a t-shirt and adult diaper; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
night table with old letters and medication on it; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
the legs of an elderly woman on her bed in her messy bedroom; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
an elderly woman lying clothed in bed; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
the front door to the house with reminders and photos attached to it; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
old photographs tacked to a cork board; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
an elderly woman sitting in the sun on her front deck; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying

November 5 2020

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an elderly woman, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping on the ground with fallen leaves around her; part of a series on Medical Assistance in Dying
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