A Cape Breton man is keeping his wife's memory alive with a sweet holiday fundraiser.
For 25 years, Carl MacLeod has been selling baked goods to fight multiple sclerosis – the disease that took his wife Shirley from him in 2013.
"She just went downhill so fast,” says MacLeod. “I looked after her. And (the fundraiser) sort of gave me a feeling of … I don't know if you'd call it satisfaction, or what."
MacLeod started selling his baked goods in the fight against the disease shortly after Shirley's diagnosis.
"When she was alive, she was my inspiration. After she died, her memory is my determination," says MacLeod.
MacLeod has five treats to choose from this year. Along with fudge and truffles, there are cookies, a dark fruit cake, and one of his best sellers: a Christmas cherry cake.
In a good year, he'll raise about $30,000.
At age 82, MacLeod has no plans of slowing down. But his holiday tradition nearly came to a halt last year when he got sick himself.
"I was working from the hospital bed, on the phone. Driving the nurses crazy, I guess," says MacLeod.
MacLeod says he'll keep doing this in his wife's memory for as long as he's able to.
"I miss her so much, and the memory of her,” says MacLeod. “People with MS, it keeps me going."
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
