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MAY 2003 mmmmmmofimmmanmdmur- agsyounmmmammhamTommMemptaflM mwmmmmmmwmmywmaame numbednotmbepubishemtovvafiafimdwmm. MileMo‘tdwrdrâ€" WMMMIMMMefiMMtOMMW, inmost casesleflasuilbepnmndsm mmmgmzmuemm: Wilma: autumn-«mam mxmom. mm; WWMMisonmemb. mmmmwmuumnmm Dr. carol A. Genin llr. J. Martin McIloWell . Optometrists Preschoolers take a break during a busy morning at the original Children's House on Albert Street, Circa 1983. The facility, which is now located on Church St. North, also occupied premises at the east end of Main St. before moving to its current location. LETS HEAR FROM YOU “MUM-SIOUFFVILLE Eye Baggy! §to_uffville Historic photo submitted courtesy of Whitohuroh-Stoumille Museum 905 642 3937 6085 Main Street MOLLER INSURANCE ‘ Home *1: Auto ‘ 1 905-642-2745 64 Sandndrd Drlve, um: 1, STOUFFVILLE Exams are a hot topic at Chateau Gilderdale these days. as our daughter wades through her university studies and Mr. Wallethead and l totter relentlessly towards our dotage, stopping at hospital waiting rooms for checkups along the way. And whenever I chafe against the fact that even the most well-tended body -- of which mine can hardly be considered an example -- needs the occasional exam to get it through the night, I am comforted by the wisdom of SoCrates. who sagely observed sometime in the fifth century B.CNN that "The unexamined life is not worth living." Then the drugs took effect and if Celine Dion had appeared at my bedside and sung My Heart Will Go On in its tedious entirety; if Saddam Hussein had dropped in and lobbed a weapon of mass destruction at my head, or if an application to build a Wal-Man in my back yard had been approved by council. my state of blissed-out serenity would have remained inviolate. Even the sight of the gastroenterologist. making his way towards my gumey to announce my fate shortly after I woke up, did nothing to disturb my equilibn‘um. Happily my drug-induced optimism was not misplaced. and I was rewarded with a clean bill of health and the excellent news that I could chow down on a sandwich as soon as l was dressed and ready to leave. - It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as you start looking up a med- ical condition, you find you have every single symptom listed. By the time 1 clam- bered onto the gumey at Markham-Stouffville Hospital the next day, l was vacillat- ing between Girls lust Want to Have Fun and Mozart-'5 Ave Verum as the swan song I would choose to mark my shuffle off this mortal coil. Until then. I had been so busy trying not to think about a toasted bagel with everything and cream cheese, not to mention the nasty stuff I'd be required to drink that evening and the following morning, I hadn't given so much as a passing thought to the fact that there might actually be something nasty lurking in the woodshed. so to speak. To reassure myself. I investigated my potential illness on the lntemet. It wasn't until I had struggled through a full day without ingesting so much as a wafer-thin mint that another helpful soul cheerfully remarked that despite being designated as high risk -- they usually only offer this procedure to high n'sk people, she added, in case I didn't Quite catch her drift -- I should look on the bright side. "They probably won 't find anything." ' However, with a family history of the complaint for'which Pamela Wallin recently became a poster person, I reluctantly made a date with my friendly neighbourhood gastroenterologist, then put the whole ghastly prospect firmly at the back of my mind until two days before my appointment. Well- -meaning friends who had already undergone the procedure said things like.‘ 'Don' t worry, the exam doesn't hurt at all. " . Not content with leaving it at that. they went on to describe in gruesome detail the preparation that was required beforehand. Suffice it to say that the best part turned out to be the requisite day-and-a-half of starvation that preceded the event. Since pre-emptive strikes are all the rage these days, I let myself be persuaded to have a precautionarymedical procedure even though I was symptom-free, and would rather join a gym than see a doctor. Withstanding The Tests Of Time 'WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE THIS MONTH” - 7 te ,‘Iagcarte