A banner day
Bill Higgins: A tribute
This one is personal.
Among the “signs” I have noticed and written about as part of the “Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs” series, this one’s the most special. It’s on a plaque embedded in a bench in downtown Windsor’s Dieppe Park and honours the memory and legacy of my friend and co-worker Bill Higgins who died on New Year’s Day six years ago.
Beside the bench is another sign on a plaque at the base of a sweet gum tree. It too honours Bill.
The bench and tree were a gift purchased by generous co-workers, family and friends shortly after Bill’s death following a brave and spirited battle against cancer. It was our way of honouring such a good soul in a way that seemed appropriate: Bill was a civic-minded citizen who approved of beautification efforts —from downtown merchants who improved their businesses to city improvement initiatives to stooping to pick up a Tim Hortons cup or gum wrapper from the sidewalk and place them in a garbage can.
Bill also loved gardens and would have have appreciated the location of his bench and tree, next to a pond and a sad but lovely drooping cork screw hazel tree.
His green thumb was recognized by so many people, including another co-worker at the Windsor Star at the time, columnist Gord Henderson, who knew Bill as a neighbour and fellow gardener and wrote about our common friend.
He was also remembered by Linda Azzopardi, a horticulturist who worked for the city of Windsor’s Parks and Recreation Department at the time and took a special interest in ensuring our donations would honour him in a dignified, appropriate manner. Bill would talk to Linda during lunchtime walks in Dieppe Park, peppering her with questions about plants and trees, and she remembered him. She was the one who suggested the sweet gum tree and location for the bench and tree.
The local United Way annually awards the Windsor Star’s Civic Beautification Award in memory of Bill.
Bill taught me many lessons about gardening. He helped me plan some of my landscaping and trim the silk mimosa tree in our front yard during one spring, his last. He gave me numerous perennial plants and another silk mimosa for my backyard. Sadly, that mimosa succumbed to the ravages of winter a few years ago.
One of his sayings was: “The best plants are the ones you get from a friend.”
An artist, Bill’s sense of style, design and proportion was always appreciated and on the mark, whether creating a logo, an ad or a special feature cover at work, or creating his beautiful backyard pond. I remember when I told him about our plans for our front yard — he would recommend I design it on a big scale and pointed out: “This is like a big canvass that you paint on.”
Bill carried all of his humanity in a humble manner, often liberally sprinkled with laughter. He knew how to make us laugh and we still remember his wit and clever turns of phrase about many characters we would see in downtown Windsor during our walks.
In the weeks leading up to Bill’s death, I spent many days at his bedside at Hospice Village — about as humane and honourable a place as the man who spent his last days there. We shared a lot of laughs and some tears, drank wine and watched hockey. It was here that he bravely told me how his last days would go: He would slip into a deeper and deeper sleep and then not wake up.
On our visits, my wife and I would alternate between stops in Bill’s room and that of another friend, Elena Mazzalonga, who was also in the last stages of her battle against cancer.
On New Year’s Eve, Elena died. The next morning, we learned that Bill died.
The double-blow at the turn of the calendar hit hard but it was softened by those precious memories and time we spent visiting both Bill and Elena. You would think spending time in a palliative care home during the holidays would sap whatever joy and hope you hold in our heart but it was quite the opposite: It gave us an opportunity to celebrate two kind, precious souls during their last days.
And those markers that we placed on Bill’s bench and tree also remain as signs of hope and honour. They were covered with snow in the days leading up to Christmas but that will melt away and soon the spring will bloom again and this special place will provide respite and peace again to those who wish to take a break from the busyness of life and absorb a world of wonder around them.
Soon, New Year’s Day will be a memory and it will be Bill’s birthday again and then spring and our world will wake up again. And there will be those glorious days — those 70-degree, sunny days, perfect for raking and hoeing and digging in the yard — that would inspire my friend to look around and up and say: “It’s a banner day.”
Part of “Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs” series. Click here to see more.
Claudio D’Andrea has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazine and online publications for 30 years. You can read his stuff on LinkedIn and Medium.com and follow him on Twitter.
