MY Fiftieth Independence Day
My father, one of twelve children, age 12, alone, minimally educated, with no knowledge of English or French, somehow made his way out of eastern Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada, which, to my eternal gratitude, took him in, and where he built his life. He uncomplainingly worked six days a week. The seventh day was not entirely free either. I remember, as a child going with him to the basement of his store, and watching him shovel coal into the furnace. He was most proud of the fact that during the Great Depression he always managed to work. After 1945, he and my mother spent their resources on rescuing what was left of their decimated families from Europe. The only time I ever saw him cry was the day I told him that I would be graduating from medical school. He tried to hide it.
I was neither tired nor poor. I was probably complacent. I did wake up one morning to find federal troops and a tank in my quiet residential neighborhood. Terrorists had been planting bombs in mailboxes. I foresaw difficulties with the implementation of single (government) payer universal healthcare coverage, and had personally addressed those concerns with my then member of Parliament, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. He listened politely, then, in a very matter of fact manner, told me "If you don't like it, leave." There was a very limited option to opt out of the plan, with penalties. I chose the option. I soon, however, found myself involuntarily drafted into the plan for six months, with criminal penalties threatened to any physician who didn't show up to work. I was amazed when I arrived at my office the first day of that draft to find patients sitting on the floor of my rather spacious well appointed waiting room, At the end of the six months, I immigrated to the United States. I was a licensed certified specialist on both sides of the border, and to my immense gratitude I was warmly received by U.S. colleagues.
I will celebrate my fiftieth Fourth of July on American soil in the coming days. I came here by choice, in "the pursuit of happiness". #Independence Day # July Fourth Ronald Caplan MD www.rmcpublishingllc.com