Re: Memorial Garden sparks controversy at Guelph landmark
I am thankful for the privilege to respond to the coverage of the “Garden of Grace” in The Ontarion Thurs, Oct. 13, 2016.
I am a recipient of the value of the “Garden of Grace” as I have had both a saline abortion and six miscarriages.
I found myself in a very unstable relationship in 1975, and as there was no responsibility on either the young man’s part or mine, I became pregnant. He told me to “get rid of it.” At 12 weeks, I was taken into surgery at Soldier’s Memorial Hospital in Orillia, Ont. My baby was scalded and burned and then expelled.
Post-abortion syndrome is very real. I began by trying to lose weight and this resulted in bulimia. I graduated in 1978 from Centennial College in Scarborough with a diploma in Research Technology and found full-time employment at what was called the Addiction Research Foundation.
The father of our aborted baby was very unstable and I was finally able to remove myself from this abusive alcoholic. Sex was really all he wanted me for. I then chose to attend Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology, with my mother in the last stages of spinal cancer. My professor, Dr. Brimner, encouraged me to attend the University of Guelph and I applied to Family and Children’s Services (FACS), then changed to Soil Science, then a General Arts degree planning to go overseas in mission work with the Brethren in Christ churches.
I met my husband Scott at U of G and we married in 1990. My bulimia was an extreme state. I found answers and help through pro-life resources and much prayer. We enjoyed a great life with four term kids, our third with Down syndrome, and a homeschooling lifestyle.
My request is that as we dialogue, we see the medical consequences of abortion.
-Mrs. Linda Preston (nee Kallaste)