Here we are with January behind us already. ‘Where does the time go?!’, my maternal Grandmother would exclaim more than ask. Well, this weekend it went into various activities.
At a quarter to nine (am) I was in the far south - McKenzie Town - to listen to Annie play the guitar and sing a song. Wow! She was there with about a dozen other kids her age, all showing off their newly acquired skills for the parents and grandparents, all aglow! It was a very enjoyable sight to see all this budding talent perform with such intent! John, Tammy and her Mom Shirley too were there of course as well, hence Annie had plenty of fan support.
In the aft, I visited Sharen for the occasion of her 101st birthday. I’d bought a card and composed my own message. It said that she showed me how to age with grace, wishing her peace and comfort in ‘these late days’. Sharen was alert and we had a good conversation.
The card showed a table with a tall stack of books with a burning lantern on top and a bird circling in the distance over far reaching sea. I tried to explain that the light was her accumulated wisdom and the bird was ready to carry her soul to its place in the beyond. All this was accompanied with a large pack of Lindt chocolate balls, assorted! I don’t think they will last long.
On Sunday I joined my friends at the Palliser to hear Herman proclaim his take on the ‘Olympic spirit’. This was a combination of Dale Carnegie’s motivational teaching and Herman’s cousin champion speed skaitress Christine performance, as Olympic champion for the Netherlands. Herman said it takes focus, passion, practice and a constructive attitude to make such a champion.
Certainly necessary points, but are they sufficient I ask. For myself, I would add that a feeling of fulfillment that you are working towards you that chosen goal is needed to sustain you. This is something your intuition tells you, confirming you are doing the right thing and for this you have to carefully listen!
In the afternoon I joined half a dozen former and retired colleagues in a memorial service for Jack McGregor who passed last month’s 21st. The hall, which he design and is named after him, was well filled and the testimonies were many in this informal gathering.
Jack introduced me to curling back in the Fall of 1973, the year we came to Calgary as a family. His easy going and inclusive style made me feel quite welcome as a colleague in the first years in my new job, albeit that he was head of Architecture and I was setting up the Photogrammetry programme option.
Jack will be missed by his family and friends in that Parkdale community, judging by the many and appreciative testimonials that were shared.
So, I’m glad I went, even though I had not spoken or met Jack after he retired from Sait, back around 1985 I presume. Apparently he kept teaching for a while and it was Stan King from Vancouver who took over as head of that section.
So, I had a busy weekend! After supper I went out yet to buy a few groceries and a weekend Globe and Mail, which I read from cover to cover in my comfy chair. I closed the day off with a bath and a glass of wine, feeling at peace with my life, my friends and family, amazed really at all the blessings that have come my way in such an unlooked for manner. And for this, I give thanks.
<8:52am~