Margaret Evadney Neeposh-Joliy was born to Johnny Neeposh and Rosie Tent-Neeposh on September 18,1949. Margaret lost her battle with cancer on March 9,1996, the same illness that took her father on December 23,1988 at 71 years of age. She was a loving daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend. She married Abel Jolly on June 6, 1968 and raised eleven children, three girls and eight boys and had nine grandchildren (a tenth grandchild has been born since and is named Ricky Ross Mark-Garrett). Margaret was the eldest of ten children and raised by her parents in the traditional way of life. She accepted the Lord as her personal savior in 1980 and loved to pray, go to church regularly and told others to prepare and be ready for the second coming of the Lord. She was always faithful and caring towards everybody. Margaret is my sister.
Margaret complained of headaches and dizzy spells around the end of May 1995. She had to return home from the bush, where she loved to be, to seek medical attention. She explained her symptoms and was told “there is nothing wrong with you, you are tired, you need a lot of rest, go home and take some Tylenol.” Taking the word of the medical staff, yet knowing she was not well, she did as she was told without a fuss. The headaches soon turned out to be what she described as “pressure by something on my forehead” and she could hardly get around on her own. Then she was bedridden. However being the caring mother that she was, it didn’t stop her from visiting her daughter who lived only a few houses away. It took all she had.
One of her sons was graduating from high school. Despite of how ill and uncomfortable Margaret was, she and her husband came with me to Chibougamau to buy clothes for the graduation. The clinic somehow heard I was taking her to Chibougamou and they took the opportunity to refer her to the hospital. I still ask myself why they didn’t send her out by plane after seeing the condition she was in.
On the route du Nord, she began vomiting. It was not food she was spitting up, she hadn’t eaten in two days. Upon arrival at the hospital, a doctor examined Margaret. After assuring us she was “O.K.”, the doctor saw her having a dizzy spell. She would have fallen to the floor had it not been for the wall behind her. The doctor said, “she is tired, all she needs is rest and Tylenol.” It was obvious she was not well, but she was released without further examination.
As planned we met our siblings at the mall except for one. During the time we were there, Margaret had to remain seated. Each time she tried to stand up, she would end up with yet another dizzy spell. We took her to rest. Harriet Matoush from Mistissini offered her a bottle of cold water. Bless her heart. We then went to Micheline Bishop’s house to have her dress fitted. She ended up on Mrs. Bishop’s bed while we were waiting. Mrs. Bishop knew she was not well.
A sister took her to Mistissini to seek medical attention. A nurse at the clinic made her as comfortable as possible with some medication. Furthermore she arranged for a specialist to see Margaret. Due to the specialist’s busy schedule, he would only be available in two or three weeks. Margaret had to wait till then.
She was a good mother. Graduation was held on June 21,1995. Anyone who attended the graduation ceremonies saw how ill she was. She was in no condition to attend such an event, but she did for her son, her first graduate.
Beginning of July, Doctor Scott arrived in Nemaska. He took one look at Margaret and he knew that something was very wrong. She was sent to Montreal immediately. The next day we received news that she had a cancerous tumor, one of the deadliest kind. The doctor said that it could kill her. In my opinion, they were the wrong choice of words. It will kill her and sooner than it did, after all the wasted time. The end result was that the tumor was too large to remove all of it. Margaret returned home.
