What passion means

Ihad

the good fortune to work with Margaret Hitchens beginning in 2009. Though I had known of her, and our paths had crossed in various artistic and craft pursuits years before, we hadn’t really worked together until she invited me to help with one of her volunteer projects.

It was a connection that I valued and thoroughly enjoyed. Sadly it was one that was cut short with her untimely passing last week. In listening to her friends, family and colleagues talk about their memories of Margaret, I learned just how widely she had cast her net since her arrival in Newfoundland 56 years earlier.

I knew her as a committed volunteer and a passionate supporter of community — be it the arts, sports, education, health and city affairs. She was also an actor and storyteller who believed life was a grand story to be enjoyed on and off the stage. She was smart, wicked and fun.

Margaret was a force to be reckoned with, and it is hard to believe that there was something in this world that could conquer her indomitable spirit. I saw a poster once with a quotation on it that represented Margaret to a T: “People who say it can’t be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” I think the words “can’t,” “won’t” or “impossible” just weren’t part of her vocabulary.

While Margaret had firm opinions, she also wanted people to think creatively. No idea was worth dismissing until we had chewed it over, turned it inside out, and taken it apart. She was a big believer in finding information and people to support her perspectives and her projects.

What I hadn’t known was that Margaret had also been a formidable tennis player, receiving many awards, including being inducted in the Tennis Hall of Fame and the Sports Hall of Fame.

I knew she played tennis, and that she relished the sport, because our meetings were always booked around her tennis dates. However, I had no idea how tremendous a player she was. I do know that she looked forward to every game as a physical and mental challenge to be embraced. As it is, I think her passion for tennis gave Margaret the strategic tools she needed to play the game nonprofits often have to play to succeed in a poorly funded environment.

I learned a lot from working with Margaret. Be it playing tennis, volunteering, performing or practising her profession of physiotherapy, Margaret believed every job was worth doing well. Margaret supported learning and taking up new challenges. Late in her life, after a long career in theatre — some might say even it was her second one after physiotherapy — she took up storytelling, proving once again, that age was no barrier to learning something new.

More than anything, Margaret felt participating in one’s community, however you defined it, was not just a duty but a promise to make things better for the next generation. We will be reaping the rewards of her countless contributions to our city and province for years to come.