Let’s Chat: 13 is my lucky number

By Linda Tooth on January 21, 2026.

I have learned when you start to share your life experiences it is important to follow through and keep sharing even if you are tired and not sure you have the energy to do it. So, to those people who have approached me asking how my partner is doing or are wondering and have not had a chance to ask me or are cautious in approaching me, here is the latest update.

We got the call on New Year’s Eve Day informing us his surgery date at Foothills Hospital is scheduled for Feb. 13. We have truly been blessed that his appointments and now surgery is progressing very quickly. I know some people in this province have been waiting excruciatingly long times for surgery.

Since we received that phone call, we have been to Calgary to meet with an internal medicine doctor. Their role in this journey is to advise my partner what medications he can and cannot take before surgery.

As my partner is diabetic there are some concerns with sugar levels pre/post-surgery and infections that will be monitored closely by the team of surgeons, doctors, and nurses. I have no doubt in my mind that the team at Foothills Hospital is some of the best this country has to offer.

Some people may think that Feb. 13, which this year is on a Friday, is a day of bad luck. I have often wondered why, so I did some research and did you know that in Western cultures the number 13 and Fridays when combined are said to bring misfortune.

It has been suggested many stories have biblical references like the New Testament and Judas who was the 13th apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ on a Friday and the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis when Cain killed his brother Abel on Friday the 13th.

Also, in literature Chaucer’s story The Canterbury Tales warns readers not to begin a project or start a journey on a Friday. I must admit I have not read that story but now I am intrigued to do so. Last interesting fact about this date is that in medieval times executions were scheduled on Fridays and prisoners had to ascend 13 steps to get to the gallows.

Anyway, I am going to reframe this day to be something positive. First of all, Feb. 13, 1992, not a Friday, but a Thursday, was the day I became an aunt for the very first time. This to me has been one of my life’s greatest joys.

Second, for all the Swifties out there, Taylor loves the No. 13, and she loves cats. Third, my partner under the care of the cancer team at Foothills will have surgery to get rid of a cancerous growth on his liver. For me, it will be a great day.

I would like to thank everyone who has reached out to ask how we are doing.

Have a Meowtastic Day and keep reading.

Linda Tooth is a philanthropy and youth support worker, YMCA of Southeastern Alberta