hometown hero

It’s not often you get to shake hands with a local hero and come away thinking he’s one hell of a good guy. That’s all the time you get with Andrew Cogliano – a handshake -- because there’s a long, long line of others stretching down the street wanting to do the same.

He’s with the National Hockey League (NHL) Colorado Avalanche who won the Stanley Cup this past season. He shoots left, for those who might want to know.

It happened last week when Andrew (number 11on his jersey) arrived home to Woodbridge, Ontario to greet fans on sunny day. Get a good look at him in the photo (below).

The nice thing is he’s approachable and in his own unassuming way. Yet his firm handshake and smile tells you he’s just a guy who happens to play at the top of his sport.

At 35, Cogliano has played 15 seasons with the NHL. He is a forward with the Avalanche. His parents Carmen and Teri and brother Matt could not be more proud. Round it all out with his beautiful wife Allie and two darling daughters, the guy makes all of Woodbridge very proud.

Author’s comment: It goes without saying the Cup made a trip across Canada, from Halifax to British Columbia, where other Canadians on the team showed off the Stanley cup to the public. Me? I actually touched it. With no permission needed.

WHAT'S WITH NURSES.

Hospitals are closing across the country mainly because of the lack of nurses. Where are they? What are they doing? When we’ve always relied on them, and find ourselves caught up in one ailment or another?

I’ll tell you where they are. They’re quitting their jobs in droves because they're pushed to the point of exhaustion.

.

My wife, Rosanne, is a registered nurse who spent 31 years working on the front lines. She's with a private medical clinic now, although she returns the hospital when nursing staff call pleading with her to do an 8-hour shift.

Here’s what’s wrong. Not paying nurses enough to live on. Take the province of Ontario and Premier Doug Ford. He’s thinking of giving hospital nurses a one dollar an hour raise. Thinking of it! One dollar, for God’s sake.

When he’s thinking of offering union workers in another field seven dollars an hour more. Nurses work their buns off. They are both physically and mentally drained these days when short staffed because of being worn out.

Author’s comment: Nurses are the lifeblood who dedicate their lives to save others. They are there when we're caught in some dilemma and don’t know how to handle it. Premier Ford can’t see, or won’t bother to see the problem. Maybe if he needed sudden hospital care and arrived in the Emergency Department -- arrived by ambulance? -- he’d have a better idea what angels nurses are, bar none.