Category Archives: Inspiration

Finishing Strong

We will encounter curves, pitfalls, unknowns and rewards. It’s always too soon to give up.

When we celebrated my 80th birthday on March 14 of this year, I felt I had attained a significant life milestone. Like many who survive to this elevated age, I had not expected to come this far along the path of life. Living to what is sometimes referred to as a “ripe old age,” was never on my bucket list.

The question that looked me squarely in the face at this juncture was one I had not anticipated. I began asking myself, “what lies ahead? Will I live out my remaining days contending with aches and pains and boredom, or is there more?” Dozing in an easy chair in front of a tv offered no appeal.

Looking back over my shoulder at the path Linda and I have travelled to this time, I realize that from the beginning, we were restless. At times we strayed somewhat inadvertently from a pretty safe path into challenging circumstances we really weren’t prepared for.

I’m certain we disappointed our parents when after about two years of marriage I left my job as a heavy equipment operator and Linda resigned from her position at the Royal Bank. We loaded our van with essentials, including camping equipment, and set off along the Trans Canada highway, without a destination or plan in mind. For almost three months we lived in a tent on the shore of Sheridan Lake, among mosquitoes, open range cattle and black bears.

Thinking about that decision now, I realize that this seemingly foolish move set the compass of our lives to this day. Sitting around our campfire one evening I said, “I’ve been thinking about our future. I’d like to go to university, but I know we don’t have the means.” Without hesitating Linda said, “I could get a job.” Shortly afterward, we took down our camp and returned to civilization.

After four years focusing on sociology and political science at SFU, I worked initially for Community Services in Abbotsford. Then, as a program coordinator with M/2W/2, I regularly interacted with inmates and staff at Oakalla, the BC Penitentiary, Matsqui Institution and other prisons. I finished my working career at the One Way Adventure Foundation, running work and recreational programs for young offenders.

In retirement Linda and I have devoted countless hours to community causes. We worked with the Lamont family to secure the release of their daughter Christine and her fiancee David Spencer from lengthy sentences in a Sao Paulo maximum security penitentiary. We also gave many hours to thwart a U.S. corporation’s plan to build a power plant that would have sent its pollution across the border to the Fraser Valley.

For eight years our adventures and challenges were featured in a weekly column I wrote for Black Press and for this blogsite. I also wrote about the people, events and history of the Similkameen Valley. Linda and I interviewed a number of individuals, including John Horgan, Princeton mayor Spencer Coyne, and John Terbasket, a highly respected elder in the Lower Similkameen Indian Band. This was an exciting, challenging time and I felt privileged to have an audience.

At the beginning of this year, after eight years of writing for Black Press, I realized I no longer wanted the pressure of producing a column each week. I decided to move on and focus on writing for the blogsite.

Although I’m tempted at times, I’m still not ready for the easy chair. Having visited my father almost daily when he was in a longterm care facility, I’m very aware of the emotional, mental and physical withering that inevitably comes with old age. I saw white haired men and women sitting quietly in their wheelchairs all day, lonely and bereft of meaning and joy. Some lived with pain.

A minority refused to bow before the onslaught of the years and compromised health. These courageous, indomitable souls won my great admiration and respect. For me they have become role models.

Now, having walked along the at times uncertain path of life so far, I consider myself blessed to still be able to walk, talk, write and more. The challenge that lies ahead is to stay as healthy as possible. Also to develop the will and courage to finish strong.

 

It’s Time To Think For A Change

photo by Anthony Tori on Unsplash

Discerning observers of the ongoing turbulence around the globe are expressing increasing unease as they attempt to understand what is coming. My friend Aaron is one of those convinced the future is murky, dark, and dangerous. Certainly the covid scare and predictions there is more to come is reason to feel jittery. Putin’s war in Ukraine is another of the myriad issues sending tremors to all corners of the globe. Add to these floods and droughts, and it’s not surprising that there is a growing sense we are being held hostage by environmental disasters, health issues, faltering economies, a grasping for power and wealth by politicians, and more.

Because Canada has enjoyed such a largely uninterrupted run of peace and prosperity, many of us are inclined to shrug off warnings of impending disaster. We hope the harbingers of doom are mere conspiracy theories, disinformation, or the concoctions of foolish minds.

But Aaron and and others with similar views and concerns insist a deluge of fateful events is about to overtake us. “When people are overly focused on their personal issues,” Aaron said, “they aren’t aware of storm clouds hovering just over the horizon. They may be acutely aware that the cost of their mortgage is spiralling upward and petrol, groceries and heating fuel prices are squeezing us more and more. Maybe they hope that by ignoring the increasingly ominous signs, they will escape the negative impact of what is coming.”

The Biblical account of Noah predicting a world flood is an early example of complacency. People indolently watched Noah building his famous ark day after day, not realizing they would one day bitterly regret their apathy and ridicule of Noah. Even if this account seems a stretch to some, we can learn from it.

According to Jared Diamond in “Collapse”, disaster may advance upon a society surreptitiously and unobserved. He suggests the people of Easter Island didn’t understand the disastrous ramifications that would flow from their denuding the island of trees.

Unless we experience a calamitous event personally, we tend to carry on as usual. I wonder if we have become so comfortable with our cozy existence, so complacent, we are unable to understand that we are beset by danger. And we may not know how to respond wisely when calamity overtakes us.

For at least the past year some alternative media have sounded the alarm about a looming global economic, environmental and political crises. Recently an American financial expert wrote an article entitled, “Should you Move your Money by September 21?” He suggested the U.S. government is preparing legislation that will enable it to seize the savings of many Americans. He reminded readers that in 2013 the government of Cyprus skimmed funds from the savings accounts of its people. To this time not all the gloomy predictions have come to pass, but significant upheavals in various places suggest all is not well and we need to prepare as best we can for an uncertain future.

Unlike Noah, I don’t know precisely what is coming, and like our politicians, I cannot offer an all-encompassing response. I do believe though that at the personal and neighborhood level, we need to think seriously about how we can undergird each other in scarce times. With grocery prices already making some foods out of reach for people with meagre incomes, the time has come when talk and good intentions are not adequate.

My friend David has impacted my thinking in this regard. He lives on a couple of acres on Old Hedley Road and each spring he plants an enormous garden. On Sunday mornings he brings vegetables and baking to the little church in Hedley. At times others follow his example, bringing fruit, vegetables and baking. Much of this food is consumed during the fellowship time after the service. Everything left over is given to anyone who wants it. We leave feeling we are part of a family that, when adversity strikes, will pull together and gladly share resources. The time may be coming when more of us need to follow David’s example of giving to our neighbors.

 

 

 

Canada Day: Remembering Our Forgotten Heroes

Raising the flag at the Hedley, BC museum for Canada Day.

As an adolescent growing up in a rural British Columbia community, I was profoundly impressed by individuals who accomplished the extraordinary. New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantel was at the top of my personal list. Scientist Albert Einstein grabbed my rapt attention, as did best selling writers like Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.

Examining my list now, I’m amazed at how little attention I gave to Canadians at that young age. With Canada Day approaching I decided it was time for a little re-education to fill in some of the gaps of my understanding of Canada’s history. I concluded that although to my young mind, Canadian achievements may not have seemed as spectacular as Mickey Mantel leaping high in the air to catch a fly ball at the fence, we have reason to celebrate our past.

I began with an obvious question. Who named our country? Lately I’ve heard some individuals say we should not call our celebration Canada Day because it likely is offensive to indigenous people. According to history texts, explorer Jacques Cartier heard the name Kanata referred to by indigenous people. It was the name of a village situated on the present site of Quebec City. Cartier assumed it meant the entire country and he named it Canada.

Indigenous people played a crucial role in enabling early Europeans to explore and exploit Canada, with its vast often treacherous terrain and harsh weather. They provided the light, versatile birch bark canoes which could more easily be carried on portages.

When greedy white hunters killed off the the buffalo herds and settlers stole the land, indigenous people became hungry and restless. It was a time of desperation and turmoil. The young men clamoured for war.

Chief Poundmaker of the Saskatchewan Cree recognized that the settlers would be able to eradicate his people with their superior weapons and numbers. A man of great dignity and honour, he was guided by a selfless desire to obtain a good life for his people. Rather than advocating violence, Chief Poundmaker asked the government to provide instruction in farming and other types of assistance in exchange for their land. With words and example, he reasoned with his people and averted much of the potential shedding of blood. The government moved people onto reserves, but reneged on the promises to provide the help they needed.

While indigenous people were being relegated to reserves, white settlers, mostly European, were setting in place the basics of this country. George Brown, a reform minded British Canadian established the Toronto Globe, which became Canada’s most influential newspaper at the time. He was active in the pursuit of national unity and attended the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences in 1864. In 1867 he participated in the forming of The Liberal Party. He was also a member of the Elgin Association, which purchased land for escaped American slaves to live on. He promoted westward expansion and opposed the policies of Conservative Prime Minister John A. Macdonald.

Kit Coleman, an Irish Canadian columnist has been largely forgotten, and yet her example inspired women to believe they could set more challenging goals and achieve them. Curious and willing to risk, Kit became the first accredited female war correspondent. She was elected president of the Canadian Womens’ Press Club. Throughout her career she shrugged off the disparaging attitudes of male co-workers who believed a woman’s place was in the home.

Bush pilots played a key role in the opening and development of Canada’s North. Of these pioneering aviators, Clennel Haggerston (1899-1995), better known as Punch, was one of the most daring and adventuresome. Flying more than a million miles across the uncharted North, often in treacherous weather looking for scarce landing strips, he became a legend among the hardy inhabitants of this rugged terrain. Indigenous people dubbed him “Snow Eagle.” He delivered the first air mail to the Northwest Territories. In WW1 he joined the Royal Air Force. A highly skilled pilot, he was credited with shooting down 7 enemy aircraft, a rare feat for bomber pilots.

Canada does have heroes. Some, like Terry Fox uplifted our spirits and will not soon be forgotten. Others, including Private Smoky Smith in WW1 inspired his comrades in arms, but his name probably is not recognized by many Canadians in our time.

Canada Day. It can be a reminder to pause at least for a few moments and honor our many unsung heroes.

Choosing A Life Path

 

In grade eight, I was profoundly stirred by Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road not Taken.” He wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Now, after observing individuals in my own life, and much pondering, I realize that the thoughts we think, the words we speak, and the actions we take, will determine what road we choose in life. One man, an elderly inmate serving a lengthy sentence at Matsqui Institution helped me understand that if we want adventure, fulfillment. and a sense of purpose, we cannot leave this decision to chance.

I met Albert at the Matsqui prison when I was doing research for a university course on inmate culture. For much of his 68 years, Albert (better known as Red) had experienced life from inside prison fences. Deeply addicted to heroin, he was doing time for possession and trafficking in drugs. He had been successful in the drug “business,” but not at staying out of prison.

Over many years, in dangerous prisons like St. Vincent de Paul in Quebec, Stony Mountain in Manitoba, St. Albert in Alberta and the BC Penitentiary, Albert had learned how to survive. He didn’t complain or annoy the guards, and he never hid a knife or steel bar in his cell.

If there was no one else in the hobby shop, Albert felt free to talk. Smoking was still permitted in the prison and usually he sat in his hard backed chair, blowing smoke rings or meticulously rolling a cigarette. His hair was always neatly combed. Wearing steel rimmed glasses, even in the grey prison garb, he could have been mistaken for a college professor. It was from him I learned the in-house language used by inmates so guards wouldn’t understand. I also learned about their values and attitudes, how drugs were smuggled into the prison, and much more.

Because he didn’t create problems, Albert had earned a measure of trust and had been given responsibility for running the hobby shop. He was at times awarded a “temporary absence pass” to go with a staff member to buy supplies. On one occasion I arranged for Albert and several fellow inmates to meet with a small group of men from the community for a “get acquainted” session. The owner of a local book store arrived late, and because the men were wearing street clothes, he didn’t realize they were inmates. Albert impressed him with his understanding of life and later the businessman said, “It sure was good of the Warden to come.” He was speaking of Albert.

Albert seemed so knowledgeable and self assured, it was only when he was released on parole that I realized he had a major deficiency. Although Matsqui had offered him several university level courses, extensive shop instruction, and counselling, he had chosen not to enrol in any of these. He had grown comfortable, safe, and complacent in prison and experienced no urging to prepare for the challenges that awaited him when he was paroled.

After completing his sentence and being paroled, Albert returned to the streets of Vancouver and resumed his drug selling. Like many inmates, he had developed few strategies for staying on the outside of prison chain link fences. Prison was the only life he knew.

When he was accosted by a plain clothes police officer, his formerly sensitive antennae failed him. Wearing the apparel of an unkempt street person, the man said, “you got?” Albert replied, “I got.” Upon producing the drugs, he was quickly arrested, handcuffed and placed in cells.

Albert’s attorney called me and I met him in his expensive Vancouver high rise office. It was immediately obvious to me this was a pricey lawyer. Instead of preparing for a crime free life, Albert had placed a lot of money with him, believing this was the best insurance against doing more time. Because Albert had not participated in prison educational programs, when the case went to court I was hard pressed to answer the judge’s questions. At age 71, Albert was sentenced to 8 years. Assigned to a work camp, he served faithfully in the kitchen until his passing at age 74. He never achieved a life of adventure or fulfillment, but from him I learned the importance of choosing a path that will prepare us for life’s next challenge. It will come.

 

Lessons From The Pandemic

Larry’s house after a year of creative work.

Now that Doc Bonnie and her political overseers have loosened their grip on societal reins, we can look back and ask ourselves how we dealt with the pandemic. Did we respond with resolve, understanding and grace, or with a weak-kneed whimper? More important, are we prepared mentally and emotionally for the next crisis, whether local or global? Do we even acknowledge there will be another challenge to our sense of well being?

I continue to be puzzled by those who openly flaunted health regulations designed to protect us from covid 19 and its companion variants. For the better part of a year, some devoted their lives to protesting the restrictions. Were their efforts useful to themselves and society, or did they squander an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to contribute? Were they deluded and blinded by negative mental quicksand?

As we approach the end of the pandemic (in Canada), this could be viewed as a time to evaluate the thinking, assumptions and strategies we rely on in times of extraordinary challenge. There have been other societal emergencies, like the Black Plague in 1347 and the Spanish Influenza in 1918-1920. The world has also endured two global wars and the Great Depression. In 2011 parts of Japan were devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. Nearly 20,000 people lost their lives. According to Gilbert Gaul in The Geography Risk, “in the U.S. alone there has been well over half a trillion dollars in damages from hurricanes in the last two decades.” It has been said that “the reason history repeats itself is that no one was listening the first time.”

Hedley has seen no rallies protesting the restrictions. Protests have been on an individual private basis, like one neighbour who maintains the pandemic is a hoax. He refused to wear a mask unless it was absolutely mandatory, like entering a store to buy cigarettes or beer. Another is convinced the vaccines contain toxins and are a nefarious plan by Bill and Melinda Gates to depopulate the globe. A few have largely withdrawn into their private world and we don’t see them.

Do protesters believe that if they deny reality, it will cease to exist? Are they harking back to an earlier time when life was simpler, water and food tasted better, and there was a sense of purity in the land?

At the outset of my personal “look back” at the turmoil caused by the pandemic, I was reminded of the words of renowned Viennese psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl. He wrote, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” He came to this understanding while lying naked on a cold metal table in a Nazi facility for medical experimentation. Frankl decided he would not relinquish control of his mind to Hitler’s medical goons. He focused instead on positive memories, such as lectures he’d delivered as a university professor.

Unlike the resisters, some individuals have used the approximately 15 months to create something of value. My neighbor Larry bought a house most people would have torn down. Larry had other ideas. He rebuilt the structure and added to it. “I have a compromised immune system,” he told me. “I avoid being close to people I don’t know. This building project keeps me from being bored.” From the outset of the pandemic, he has worked, pretty much alone every day, not taking a full day off even to celebrate Christmas. He has little patience for those who complain about restrictions.

Bill Carmichael and Trisha Mills also built a home. Their restaurant, the Hitching Post and their second floor residence, burned during the night a couple of years ago. With the help of a contractor, Bill and Trisha erected the shell of a quonset type structure, which will be their home when complete. They are now continuing to work on the project as they have means. In spite of considerable pain and the need for several medical procedures, they have carried on with great resolve. I haven’t heard a complaint from either of them.

For more than a year we’ve heard people say, “I can’t wait for things to return to normal.” Now we’re accepting it will be a “new normal.” Is the burning of Lytton an indication of what we should expect? Almost certainly, radical climate change will impact our future. Will we prepare, or will we deny and whimper?

Adventuring On A Trike

Rob & Catherine at Manning Park

I’ve long been fascinated by the sleek motor bikes that invariably streak by us on Highway #3 at this time of year. Sometimes they come alone. Sometimes in pairs. Occasionally there are half a dozen or more. Their riders remind me of intrepid Cree or Blackfoot warriors in the past, determinedly racing after a herd of buffalo. To me they seem a special breed. A breed that has thrown off many of the constraints that hold most mortals close to earth, where we feel relatively safe. I envy their sense of abandon. If they understand the hazards of their great adventure, they do not reveal it. Their powerful engines roaring, they seem engulfed in a shroud of mystique and charisma.

I recently met one of these fearless ones in the men’s room at Manning Park. His robust appearance and apparel suggested he owned one of the expensive bikes I’d noticed on the lodge’s vast parking area. A big man, I guessed him to be approaching age 50. “It’s a perfect day to be on a bike,” I ventured, wondering if he would deign to speak to a mere car traveller. “Yes,” he responded, “my wife and I are on our way back to New Westminster. It’s always a great day to be on a bike.”

We walked out to his bike together and I met Catherine. They were riding a Harley Davidson trike. “We bought it from the dealership in Chilliwack in December of 2019,” Catherine said. “It was the first one of this model sold in B.C.” It was truly an impressive machine and when Rob suggested I hop aboard, I didn’t hesitate. The comfort was superior to our 2004 Toyota Camry.

When Rob suggested I hop on, I didn’t hesitate.

“We traded in our two wheel bike for a trike because Catherine is losing her vision,” Rob explained. “She has only six percent left. She can’t see when a corner is coming so she doesn’t know when to lean. The three wheels make it much more stable and leaning isn’t an issue.”

“The passenger seat is raised,” Catherine said. “This gives me a better view. It also means I swallow more bugs.” She didn’t seem to consider this a high price for a comfortable ride and a great view. “We’ve travelled with it a lot,” Catherine continued. “We rode it to Vegas to get married. We actually ran away to escape the hoopla.” They both appeared to be in their forties, somewhat beyond the usual age for eloping, but certainly fitting for two individuals looking for a life of adventure.

I’ve talked with trike riders at Manning Lodge in the past. A couple of years ago two men well past age 60 stopped there for a coffee break. Their gleaming bikes were nearly new, a Harley and a Bombardier. According to a sales person in the Chilliwack dealership, trikes are ideal for seniors who want to continue riding. Because of their much greater stability, they’re a good option for someone with compromised hips or knees. Being larger, they are more visible in traffic. Also, the third wheel and additional weight makes them more difficult to tip. These and other features provide an increased sense of safety.

For anyone wanting all the bells and whistles, and there are many, the price tag on a trike can be intimidating. Rob and Catherine wanted it all and apparently were able to pay the $60,000. Their bike tells them if a tire is low or if they need to add petrol. It warms the seats and hand grips. It also permits Catherine to adjust the foot rests up or down, plus much more.

My friend Terry mentioned to me recently he plans to ride as much as possible this summer. “I’m in my late sixties and I still feel strong,” he said. “My bike is 600 pounds though and that’s a lot of weight to pick up if it goes down.” He acquired the bike in New Brunswick some years ago and rode it to Hedley, BC. I’m sure he’d be grateful for a trike if he needed to do that again.

For seniors who still retain a dream of cruising the highways on a motorcycle, have a strong body and a robust bank account, a trike seems a good fit. Just because we’re past our “best before date,” doesn’t mean we can no longer enjoy adventures. We just need to search for other options.

The Eulogy

“Candace had received permission to use the small church she attended.”
(Pinterest photo, landmarkhunter.com)

I’ve come to understand that an audience appreciates a eulogy that at least alludes to the foibles of the departed loved one. If only the individual’s positive attributes and accomplishments are mentioned, people tend to feel cheated. For this reason I experienced an uneasy queasiness when Candace asked me to write and deliver the eulogy for her boyfriend’s memorial service. He had lost a difficult battle with an aggressive prostate cancer.

I had known Randy for about eight years and talking about his successes would be the easy part. An entrepreneur, he had developed several lucrative enterprises in the Okanagan Valley. He drove a new Lexus and owned a four seater airplane. He had enjoyed exotic holidays, sometimes in places I didn’t know existed. In marriage relationships though, he had stumbled several times.

It was these failings that stirred up my inner unease. Although he’d never divulged the intimate details to me, I knew he’d left behind an abundance of marital clutter. Most in the audience would be at least somewhat aware of this. He had hidden his inner thoughts fairly successfully, but his lifestyle he could not keep a secret. If I glossed over his marital history, people might think I was a coward. I called each of his two ex-wives, his current estranged wife, his brother, two sisters and Candace. Even for those closest to him, Randy had been an enigma. They all planned to attend the service.

Candace had obtained permission to use the small church she attended in Vernon. On a cool afternoon in late October, Linda and I arrived early to talk with her. “It was Randy’s wish that you do the eulogy,” she reminded me. “He never talked much about the things that were important to him, but he said you’d figure it out.” There were a few tears.

The door of the church opened and Beatrice, Randy’s estranged wife entered, wearing a purple party dress. Astonished, Candace stared at her for a moment, then whispered, “Randy’s will leaves a lot to me. There’s going to be a whopper of a legal battle.”

People were arriving and I noticed a short elderly man with a grey moustache, walking with a cane. He was accompanied by two middle aged women. “That’s Randy’s father and sisters,” Candace said. “I’m surprised they brought him. There isn’t much communication between any of them. They’re not a happy family. Randy had little contact with them.” Observing the two women and their father, I sensed a deep disconsolation.

The small church filled rapidly and the pastor spoke briefly about Randy’s time as a congregant, then introduced me. l began by speaking about my relationship with Randy. I touched on the exotic holidays, his involvement in the local community, the speeches at the Toastmasters club we both attended, his considerable success in business and the numerous young people he had given their first job. I talked about his generosity to a local organization striving to steer youths away from drugs and alcohol.

I then addressed the matter of his failed marriages. “We all know Randy enjoyed a full, successful life,” I said, “Most of us are also aware not everything went as he hoped. Preparing for today, I spoke by phone with each of his former wives. Even though the relationships didn’t survive, none expressed animosity toward him. For the last two years he had a girlfriend, Candace, and he told me he hoped he’d learned enough so this relationship would last.” Wanting the women to feel acknowledged, I named them. I noticed smiles when I inadvertently attached the children to the wrong mother.

Then I detached the mike from its stand and walked to the front pew where Randy’s family was seated. Looking directly at the old, grieving father, I said, “Mr Carson, the last time I talked with your son, he said, ‘I should have spent more time with my father. I knew he was lonely after our mother died. I could have taken him for lunch now and then. I didn’t give him the time I’m sure he wanted. Tell him I’m proud to be his son and I love him dearly.’” The lines on the old man’s forehead softened and a single tear trickled down one cheek.

I had wanted to give this old father a message that would penetrate into his heart. An almost imperceptible nod suggested he embraced it.

The Inheritance

New Sedan deVille 1964 dealer ad.
(pinterest. prova275.tumblr.com)

Bestowing an inheritance can be tricky, especially in turbulent family dynamics. As my friend, Max Raftner discovered, this is particularly true if there are significant riches. Sound values and discernment can help, but they aren’t always present.

Max, previously successful in Cadillac sales, had fallen out of favour with his wealthy father after taking down a power pole with his car. Now 5l, he walked with two canes and relied on medications, which only partially relieved spasms of back pain. No longer effective in sales due to the pain, he began volunteering at a shelter for street people. Sporting an unruly, prematurely greying beard, faded jeans and a plaid shirt he never tucked in, he had, since the accident, been regarded by his father as the family’s black sheep.

Recently the father had died and Max had been summoned by his financially successful brothers, Bill and Irvin, to Ricky’s restaurant to discuss the will. On a cloudy Friday morning, Max eased his battered green Volkswagen Beetle into a handicapped space. The brothers had already ordered coffee and muffins. Max noted the self satisfied expressions of his portly brothers.

He was scarcely seated when Bill said, “Max, it pains me deeply to tell you our father left everything to Irvin and me.” He’d never tried to hide his disdain for Max, and his expression gave no indication of discomfort. He patted his protruding stomach affectionately, then took a $100 bill from a jacket pocket and tossed it on the table in front of Max. “From Irvin and me,” he said magnanimously.

Ignoring the gesture, Max said, “I know the old man had no respect for my work at the homeless shelter. Still, I would have liked something to buy them a van.”

His attention was drawn to the lottery booth near the restaurant entrance where Herbie Smith, the town gossip, was watching to see who would buy a ticket. On a sudden impulse, Max reached for the $100 bill and his canes, then, without explanation he skittered across the floor to the booth.

“I’m feeling lucky today,” he said grinning at Herbie. After investing the entire amount in 649 tickets, he waved at his perplexed brothers and departed.

Several weeks later, when the winning numbers were announced, he invited Bill and Irvin for breakfast at Ricky’s. To the utter astonishment of his brothers, he was wearing new shoes, a sporty jacket and slacks, plus a striped shirt and silk tie.

“Hey Max,” Herbie called out from his usual perch, “where ya get the fancy outfit. You win that lottery?”

“Herbie,” Max said as he bumped determinedly toward his brothers, “don’t tell anyone that, ok?”

Max bought his brothers a hearty breakfast, but when they started asking about his new clothes, he pushed aside his plate. “Just thought of something I have to do, fellas. You carry on. I’ll catch the tab.” The two obese brothers watched in astonishment as Max hobbled hurriedly across the street to the Cadillac dealership. In a few minutes he sped away in a sleek new white Caddy. Overcome by curiosity, Herbie approached the brothers. “Is it true Max won millions in the lottery?” he asked.

The brothers stopped eating as though an electric shock of understanding had passed through them. Pushing aside his plate, Irvin said brusquely, “You’d best skedaddle. We’re busy.” Herbie lingered nearby.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Bill asked, wiping the sudden sweat from his smooth forehead. “Yep, we better do something quick.” Irvin said, already rising.

At that moment Max returned and wheeled the new Cadillac deftly into the dealership. He was crossing the street when the brothers hurried to meet him, breathing heavily.

“Let’s go to the bank, brother,” Irvin said excitedly. They rushed Max to the bank and could hardly wait to transfer a third of their inheritance to his account.

Once outside, Bill grasped Max’s arm. “Now, about the millions you won, Max.”

“What millions?” Max asked. “Is Herbie Smith passing that around?”

“Where did you get the new clothes then?” the brothers asked almost in unison.

“I’m a character witness for a kid in court today. His mom paid for them so I’d look respectable. The Caddy was a test drive for old man Winters.”

“Don’t feel bad about the inheritance fellas,” Max said with his usual grin. “Together we’ll be buying a new van for the shelter.”

Wise Words From A Dying Professor

(Pinterest image, amazon.com)

I occasionally wonder about the experience of slipping into life’s End Zone. How will I respond when I get “the call?” In Tuesdays with Morrie, journalist and best selling author Mitch Albom provides a riveting account of watching his former, highly respected professor Morrie Schwartz deal with his own impending demise. “Each Tuesday I flew 700 miles to sit beside this dying man. It felt like a rinse of human kindness,” he says. “I liked myself better when I sat beside Morrie.”

Mitch picks up the story 16 years after taking several courses from Morrie at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. When he graduated he promised to stay in contact with Morrie, but ambition and lucrative opportunities intervened. While flipping through the channels one day, he was surprised to come across Morrie being interviewed by famed American television broadcaster Ted Koppel. The much loved professor had been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and was confined to a wheelchair.

Mitch called Morrie’s home and visited him the next Tuesday. The former professor’s mind was still keen to learn and teach. His body though, had endured numerous indignities. He required frequent adjustments of his weak legs and arms. Even his head needed shifting to keep him comfortable. He could no longer dress himself. “In ALS patients,” Mitch observes, “the soul, perfectly awake, is imprisoned in a limp husk.”

The two men quickly resume their former relationship of professor and student. “We’ll write our last thesis,” Morrie says. “The subject will be the meaning of life.” They agree to meet each Tuesday.

When he was diagnosed, Morrie had asked himself if he intended to withdraw from the world, or was he going to live. He decided he was going to live, with dignity, humour, courage and composure. As Morrie discourses, Mitch begins to understand the dying professor is looking at life from a very different place, a healthier place.

Morrie had always gestured with his hands when he talked. Now he can’t lift them higher than his chest. “In the morning I mourn what I’ve lost,” he says. “A little cry, then I focus on the good things, especially the people in my life. It’s wonderful to have so much time to say goodbye to my friends.”

Morrie returns repeatedly to the matter of living a life that has significance. “Most of us walk around like we’re sleep walking,” he says. “We really don’t experience the world fully because we’re doing things we think we have to do. When we’re facing death, we strip away all that stuff and focus on the essentials.”

After several Tuesday visits, Mitch begins to think of Morrie as a man standing on the tracks, listening to death’s locomotive whistle. He knows he will die soon, and is very clear about the important things in life.

Listening to Morrie, Mitch recognizes his own priorities and decisions are making him feel unsettled. He becomes increasingly perplexed by the course his life has taken. Having traded in lots of dreams for a bigger home, more money and a nicer car, his days are full but he is unsatisfied. He yearns for the clarity he sees in Morrie.

Mitch realizes that his professor, now in the last weeks of his life, has attained an understanding of what has true value. Morrie talks about relationships, about loving people, listening carefully to their words, being devoted to community, and especially to creating memories. “All the love we have created,” he says, “and all the memories will still be there after we’re gone. We will still live on in the hearts of those whose lives we have touched and nurtured.”

Tuesdays with Morrie has prompted me to think about my Dad. He had been a skilled heavy equipment operator and an active member of his community. At age 89 his hip broke and he never walked again. During his six years in a long-term care facility, he couldn’t dress himself, turn over in bed, bathe himself and much more. I visited him almost daily and observed how considerate he was toward nurses and care aides. He asked about their family and their interests away from work. He expressed appreciation for their helpfulness to him, and he didn’t complain. Like Morrie, Dad was quick to forgive and refused to dwell on slights.

Tuesdays with Morrie, a great template for life this side of the End Zone.

He Is Risen!

The Empty Tomb (pinterest photo)
The Empty Tomb
(pinterest photo)

In his 30th year, Jesus of Nazareth began propounding religious and social ideas that confounded and antagonized the Jewish religious elites of his time. He arrived on the scene during the reign of Caesar Augustus, and lived into the rule of Tiberius. Without an army or political party, his message brought more significant, lasting change than all the powerful Roman emperors combined. In the 33rd year of his life, the Jewish religious authorities succeeded in persuading Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, to crucify him. According to accounts by Biblical writers like the former tax collector Matthew, he was resurrected on the third day and spoke with his disciples. It is this death on a cross and miraculous resurrection that will be celebrated by Christians around the globe this Easter.

The Roman empire had been cobbled together by 2 ambitious but uneasy partners, Caesar Augustus and Mark Anthony. Throughout its existence, the empire was held together by a web of intrigue, assassinations, political marriages, betrayals, poisonings, and war. Women were valued primarily for forging alliances. In Rome there were numerous temples to various gods, and men of nobility, including emperors, wished to be identified as near gods. Conquered nations usually suffered under a huge burden of taxation. Disobedience was often dealt with by crucifixion, beheading, poisoning or drowning.

In this septic atmosphere of mistrust and scheming, the Jewish religious leaders had managed to acquire a measure of political power. Their authority was lodged in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. The council consisted primarily of 2 parties, the Sadducees, which at this time held the majority of seats, and the Pharisees. The Pharisees believed there would be a resurrection of the dead but the Sadducees did not. On other points of lesser importance they did agree and had developed an all encompassing system of religious rules which the people found virtually impossible to follow. The religious rulers could bar people from the temple if they didn’t comply. Since Jewish culture centered on religious traditions and especially on the temple, there was fear of being shut out.

It was not an auspicious time for the appearance of a man who claimed to be the Son of God. The Sadducees and Pharisees quickly became suspicious because he contradicted much of their teaching. They held to the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” philosophy. “Love your neighbour,” they said, “and hate your enemy.” Jesus urged the people to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” The chief priests and teachers of the law deemed his teaching to be heretical and sent spies to question him and report to them.

Jesus warned against the corruptness and false piety of the religious leaders. “They like to walk around in flowing robes,” he said, “and be greeted in the market places and have the most important seats in the synagogues. For a show they make lengthy prayers.”

Equally galling were the miracles. When he healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, they accused him of breaking the law and began plotting to kill him.

Evidently the people were desperate for greater substance than the rules and platitudes offered by the pious, corrupt religious leaders. Crowds gathered around him, sensing his authenticity

and liking his positive message of forgiveness and hope. This fervent adulation aroused fear and jealousy in the Sadducees and Pharisees. When he brought Lazarus back from the dead, a member of the Sanhedrin said, “if we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation.”

Late one night, Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 disciples betrayed Jesus with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. At dawn the religious leaders brought him before Pontius Pilate, demanding he be crucified. Jesus had warned his disciples this would happen.

Reluctantly, Pilate sentenced him and he was crucified between 2 criminals. One joined the scoffing. The other said, “Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “today you will be with me in paradise.”

Several writers in the Biblical New Testament report that Jesus died on the cross, was placed in a tomb, and was resurrected 3 days later. This Easter, Christians around the globe will again greet each other with “He is risen!”