We'll change the world.

At 4:45 am Monday, August 22nd, we lost one of the finest Canadians the world had. Jack Layton never gave up fighting. So in the middle of the night one of the cruelest of diseases took him away from us. I don't understand it and it's unfair. He had many more years ahead to accomplish his dreams and become Prime Minister. He was carrying on Tommy Douglas' legacy and dreams as well. Now it is up to us to carrying them on. He taught me so much personally, he inspired me to become the person I am today and to take the paths I have taken.
I want to say I became a New Democrat when I was sixteen, back in grade 11. I fell for Jack's charisma and personality I suppose, but I also loved what he and the NDP stood for. When I was seventeen, in March 2007, I got to meet Jack at a rally for Kyoto in Toronto. I was so nervous when he walked my way and my friends pushed me to go up to him because they knew how badly I wanted to. I asked him for a photo and we talked briefly. I told him when I turned eighteen I would vote for him and how I was planning on studying political science at university. He told me how he studied political science too. It ended with an enthusiastic, classic Jack high-five.

Well I did study political science, and environmental policy. I've attended NDP rallies, helped campaign for his wife Olivia Chow, and was fortunate enough to be at his election night party on May 2nd. This is why I never believed he would lose hist battle with cancer. He was a fighter, the most courageous there can be. I truly believe I am a better and more compassionate and intelligent person because of him. He inspired me. The bright green Jack Layton poster I got at that Kyoto rally in 2007 is still on my wall, with the vibrant message he lived by - "All it takes is political will."

If you haven't read his final letter yet, read it. http://www.ndp.ca/letter-to-canadians-from-jack-layton
Remeber his words. "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." Jack, we will change the world. I promise you I will never stop fighting the good fight.

+ Lorelie