What’s the best thing that happened to you in 2023? Canadians share uplifting stories

Read Transcribed Audio

Nidhi Sachdeva says the best part of 2023 was getting her PhD from the University of Toronto — and how her kids reacted to her robes on graduation day. 

Sachdeva graduated in June, with her nine-year-old daughter, Noor, and five-year-old son, Rumi, in attendance.

“His reaction was, ‘Yeah, this is … a cool outfit you’re wearing. Are you in Harry Potter or something?'” said Toronto resident Sachdeva, 41.

“But my daughter looked at me and I think her eyes just became wider … I could just see that she was so proud of me. She saw more than her mum,” she told CBC Radio’s The Current.

Sachdeva shared her story after The Current asked listeners for the best thing that happened to them in 2023. She graduated with a doctoral degree in curriculum and pedagogy, after four years of study that spanned the pandemic and the birth of another daughter, Mira, now two years old.

I saw her smile … and it was all worth it, in that moment​​​​​– Nidhi Sachdeva

Passionate about learning, Sachdeva said she hopes to use her qualification to help address challenges faced by schools and young learners across Canada. But she’s faced obstacles along the way.

She came to Canada as an international student from New Delhi in 2007, but didn’t qualify for the master’s program she wanted to study. Instead, she had to take classes to earn credits that would bolster her application for the following year — which added to the challenges and uncertainty of being a newcomer in a strange country. 

“I did that with a little bit of fear, resentment, and a bit of frustration and anger. But I’m glad I did it. And the following year I got into the master’s program,” she said.

Walking across the stage at graduation, Sachdeva could see her daughter Noor on the balcony. 

“I saw her smile, and I saw those eyes again. And it was all worth it, in that moment. It was just so, so special for me,” she said.

Picking up a new sport — in your 60s

Michele Rigby says she can’t emphasize enough how “unathletic” she was for most of her life. But when she turned 60 a few years ago, she decided to learn to play tennis. 

“Every time I go on the court I’m just amazed that I am there,” said Rigby, now 68 and living in Truro, N.S.

“It’s a lot of fun, and people are so patient with me. They’re so kind.”

I was so flummoxed. I was so flabbergasted. I was literally speechless– Michele Rigby

Last month, Rigby received the Romaine Piers 3D Tennis Award, presented by the Truro Tennis Club where she plays. The award is named in honour of long-time club volunteer, Romaine Piers, and the three Ds stand for dedication, desire and determination.

“I think that’s extraordinary to be acknowledged for showing up. Not for your skills or your expertise, but just to keep coming,” Rigby told The Current’s Matt Galloway. 

“I was so flummoxed. I was so flabbergasted. I was literally speechless.”

Rigby said it’s the first athletic award anyone in her family has ever won.

She didn’t get the hang of tennis right away, but said that a breakthrough came when a coach told her to just look at the ball as she played. 

“I didn’t know you had to do that … that changed the game,” she joked.

“It changed the game from really bad to OK-bad.”

She thinks anyone can pick up a new hobby if they show up and don’t worry about looking like a fool at the beginning. And now she has the award to prove it. 

“Believe me, it’s well displayed. You couldn’t miss it if you came into my house,” she said.

A life-changing gift

The best thing that happened to Ottawa resident John Allen this year was the new lease of life he received after a second kidney transplant — from a donor who surprised him with the offer.

John, 77, had his first kidney transplant in 1991, with an organ donated by his own father, Sam Allen. 

“It lasted almost 30 years. And then I went into kidney failure again,” said John, who lives in Ottawa with his wife, Terry Taraby. 

“Kidney failure means the toxins in your body build up and it changes everything — the way you taste food, your energy levels, your outlook on life.” 

John started dialysis to alleviate the impact. But little did he know that his wife’s sister, Gay Taraby, was looking into the possibility of offering him her kidney.

“I just saw Terry and John’s, you know, quality of their life declining,” said Gay, 69.

“They’re in Toronto, we’re in Montreal, [but] being able to come to Montreal for three days was impossible because… they were on dialysis,” she said.

Taraby sought out organ donors and recipients to hear about their experiences. She had one example close to home: John’s father Sam, who donated the first kidney when he was 76 — and lived a long and healthy life before he passed away in Nov. 2022, aged 105.

Encouraged by these stories of positive outcomes, she spoke to her own husband, Mike Shields, before approaching John. 

John said he and his wife couldn’t believe Gay’s “incredible generosity and our great fortune.”

“Terry and I just couldn’t stop, you know, smiling and thanking her,” he said. 

The transplant happened at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto on Oct. 17. 2022 — 30 years to the day since John received the first transplant from his father.

John said that meant he experienced “a total change of life” in 2023, as the effects of kidney failure faded away. By summer, he was back on his feet and reaping the rewards of his new kidney.

He said he hasn’t felt this good in 15 years, and now feels a deeper connection to his sister-in-law, thanks to her “incredible gift.”

The pair have also found plenty of humour in the whole experience, referring to the kidney they’ve shared as Kobe, after the high-quality cut of beef from Japan.

Gay says she’s just grateful that she was able to help.

“Never in my life had I thought about doing something like that … and I would do it all over again,” she said.