Canada at War

From WWI to Present Day Afghanistan - this video is a tribute to all Canadian soldiers for Remembrance Day 2010 (via Jonathan Wagner)

Dancing with Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

"The Effect was Instantaneous..."

Ninety four years ago today, on a bleak battlefield known as the Somme, along a forsaken line known as the Regina Trench, a young boy of only 20 years old would spend ten precious minutes of his life displaying such courage that - unbeknown to him - it would reach years into the future to make such an impression on me that my heart would burst when I first learned of it.

I was a young Canadian Scottish Regimental cadet (2422 RCACC) learning regimental history when I first heard the name Piper James Richardson. In my tender youth, for me, his Victoria Cross was a matter of legend and pride and I wanted to be as brave as I imagined him to be. It wasn't until my basic training that I would learn the harrowing details of the amazing story that earned him that honour and it wasn't until I was much older that I came to realize just how spectacularly terrifying that whole time must have been for him.

The setting of the story of those ten minutes is the battle for the Ancre Heights. Piper Richardson (who had joined the 16th Infantry Battalion Canadian Scottish as a private and piper) was part of an advancing company that had been pinned down in a storm of enemy fire - machine guns, rifle fire and artillery. Heavy casualties, the death of the company commander and the mounting gravity of the situation had taken the momentum out of the attack. Just when it all hope seemed lost Piper Richardson asked his sergeant-major if he could pipe them over the top. Yes, he volunteered.

For what must have been the most amazing ten minutes in Somme, Piper Richardson, fully exposed, marched back and forth just outside the enemy wire playing his bagpipes for his troops. Not a single enemy bullet struck him. The citation to his VC decoration would later read "The effect was instantaneous. Inspired by his splendid example, the company rushed the wire with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the position captured.”

Instantaneous indeed - and all these years later my heart still fills with wonder, inspiration, pride, amazement, thankfulness and a tiny bit of sheer terror when I think of Piper Richardson's courage in those ten minutes.

John Wayne once said "Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway." I don't know of a finer example of "saddling up anyway."

NOTE: In honour of this anniversary the new Pipes of War website launches today.

Livestrong Together

 

Fourteen years ago, on October 2, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer - but with the news that it had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain his chances were greatly hampered. He was only 25 years old.

 

Through a combination of determination, education, physical conditioning, aggressive medical treatments and a positive attitude, Lance fought back at the disease. Before even knowing how the story would end he declared himself a cancer survivor. He created the LIVESTRONG Foundation as a support and advocacy group for other survivors. And he never backed down. Amazingly, after his treatments finished, he went on to win the Tour de France a record breaking seven times in a row.

 

Lance Armstrong has been an inspiration to me and his LIVESTRONG website has long been a source of knowledge and motivation for me as I try to incorporate healthy choices into my own lifestyle.         

 

Today is LIVESTRONG Day - a global event to raise support and awareness for the 28 million cancer survivors worldwide. I am going to wear yellow today in support of the LIVESTRONG ideology and in honour of Lance Armstrong and the way he showed us to believe in our strengths. 

 

You can also participate in LIVESTRONG Day online - help spread the word.

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

When I first visited Ottawa (about nine years ago) I had an entire day to myself. I was staying with a friend who lived along the Rideau Canal but he had to work so I set off to explore Ottawa, walking along the Canal (beautiful, btw) until I eventually got to the end by the Locks and then headed up towards the Parliament Buildings. Between that point and where I was going I came across the National War Memorial and of course, the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier, who had been buried there just the year before (repatriated home from the Vimy Ridge burial grounds in France).

When I came upon the Tomb I was ill prepared for the feelings that overcame me; feelings that ran the gamut from sorrow to thankfulness and finally to brotherhood and kinship. I sat beside his Tomb for a couple of hours, just sitting and thinking about who this person must have been and what his life meant - both at the time he gave it for our country and now, to me (to all of us really).

I could not visit Ottawa without visiting this old soldier again. He may not have a name and we may not ever really know who he is but we do know that he gave us everything in the hopes that we would continue to live free in this world as Canadians. I owe him everything.

Faith is an island in the setting sun...

But proof is the bottom line for everyone.
~Paul Simon

The Beginning of Wonder...

On January 25th 1985 I saw the Space Shuttle Discovery for the first time. On a three day mission launching the day before, the Shuttle flew over my childhood home on Vancouver Island in BC. I remember that only the second day was clear (clouds are a hazard of living near a temperate rainforest) and I patiently waited outside for the Flyby all by myself.

Since about the age of seven I have spent nights outside gazing at stars and other objects or phenomenon one might find in our skies. I often (and still do) feel somewhat insignificant while doing so, a small being on a tiny planet in the vastness of our universe. This day was no different for me and I wondered about all the things in the heavens that there was to know and discover.

When I saw the Space Shuttle Discovery come into view I was at first excited but I quickly became quite intoxicated with the idea of what I was seeing. There were people on that craft in orbit around our planet and we had put them there. Suddenly, for the first time in my life I felt truly significant. It dawned on me the great potential that we humans, myself included, actually had. It wasn't really the beginning of childhood wonder, but it certainly was the moment that I realized such wonder was justified. If I hadn't wanted to be an astronaut before that moment the dream was certainly set firmly in motion!

I felt the same way seeing the Space Shuttle Discovery again tonight, 24 years later. Obviously, now, I am more likely to find my way to space as a tourist rather than an astronaut but that reality does not dampen the dream that space conjures. This time the Discovery was trailed very closely by the International Space Station and seeing them both together was amazing. As a species we really can come together and do great and wonderful things.

The Story of an Idea

We watched this short video tonight at our Red Cross Disaster Management course. It describes the origin story of the Red Cross movement and the birth of the Geneva Conventions.

When I was in the army we studied military law, the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law - basically the rules of war - from a vastly different (but surprisingly similar) viewpoint than I study it now. Human nature has demanded this body of law evolve (sometimes in leaps and bounds, like after the second world war) because of the new and interesting ways we increasingly find to hurt each other... There is an inherent inhumanity within our humanity, one can not exist meaningfully without the other.

This is both a familiar and unfamiliar place for me. Perhaps it is only my perceived role that has changed within this scenario - to go from a soldier actor to a neutral actor, but it feels like I have come full circle.

Albert Schweitzer (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) said "When Humanity finally learns to control the elements, when the winds will be quiet and the earth can not be torn apart, when there will be no loneliness, no destitution, no war; when the last hungry man, woman or child is fed, only then will there be no need for the Red Cross."

Humanity. Inhumanity. My struggle has always been to find the appropriate balance. You can't have one without the other.

Dare to Dream

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Girl Effect

GirlEffect.org

63 Years and 1000 Cranes Later

"I will write peace on your wings
and you will fly all over the world"
-Sadako Sasaki

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted their greatest wish. Sadako Sasaki’s wish was to recover so she could run again, although destiny had a different path for her. Sadako continued to fold her cranes even as she became sicker, until she died.

Her story became one of hope and inspiration symbolic of the desire for peace felt by her friends. As part of her legacy, children from across the world still fold cranes for Sadako and send them to Hiroshima to be placed at her memorial in the Peace Park.

Thank You Dr. Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, Oct 23, 1960 – Jul 25, 2008

"Cancer didn't change me at all. I know lots of people talk about the life revelation. I didn't have that. I always thought every day was a gift, but now I am looking for where to send the thank you note."

Dr. Randy Pausch’s message gave my family a perspective from which to begin solidifying our own dreams and goals. We were inspired to record our dreams, list our short and long term goals and to even start a "bucket list" that we have begun working on fulfilling, right away (because, well, why wait?).

Today I feel that is I who overwhelmingly needs to "send a thank you note" to Dr. Pausch. In just one year, he has had an amazing impact on our lives. If I could, I would say thank you for reminding us that we can and should dream big, that we can always work for what we want, that good things will come our way if we remember to live our lives the right way and, especially, thank you for showing us that true grace, happiness and bravery is within us all.

People like Dr. Pausch appear to be rare, yet he taught us that we are all just like him. And he made us believe it. In a world full of all sorts of people wanting to cram their advice and opinions down our throats – Dr. Pausch's enduring gift to us really was, simply, faith in ourselves.

Goodspeed, Dr. Pausch. And Thank You.

An Enduring Legacy (CMU)

Girls Can Be Ruffians Too

I was born during an exciting time for horse racing, with three Triple Crown Winners within the first six years of my life - Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed – and me being born a girl did not need much prompting to fall in love with horse racing.

But it was a different horse altogether with which I actually fell in love with – Ruffian. The perfection of beauty, she was magical to me, a once in a lifetime thing. Ruffian won every race she ran, save her last, including the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing (the Filly Triple Crown equivalent) in 1975. If you’ve never seen her run – winning by 15 lengths in her debut race – you can take this opportunity to watch her here, here and here.

I can’t help but imagine, if destinies had be different that day, what greatness might have come of a Secretariat and Ruffian combination… but, I digress.

Today is Preakness Day and I will be watching with interest to see if thus far undefeated Big Brown will put himself within winning distance of the Triple Crown, something that hasn’t been done since 1978. The possibility excites me. But really, since the Derby and Eight Belles' nightmarish accident I have been thinking more of Ruffian and the short life that touched mine so long ago. Sir Winston Churchill once said that "there is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man..." I don’t know if it can be said better than that.

Dream Without Fear and Live Your Dreams

Since I first discovered Randy Pausch I have become a big fan. Two things are happening today I want to tell you about. First, you can see Randy on TV tonight with Diane Sawyer (ABC) at 10pm (check your local viewing times). Second, his book "The Last Lecture" has been released and is available in a bookstore near you.

This is for my Daughter

My daughter "discovered" this on YouTube the other day and was very excited to share it with me. I'd forgotten how much I liked it. Wish I'd taken some of the advice back in 1999 - but hindsight is always 20/20.

Just One Life...

I watched Professor Randy Pausch's last lecture on YouTube this morning. It's entitled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." It's the length of a university lecture - about 90 minutes, but its worth watching to see evidence of the power of positive thinking/action upon one's life and the subsequent impact that can have on the world around you. Seven months ago Pausch was told he had 3-6 months left to live, yet not only has he outlasted that, he is enjoying his life more than most people I know and still teaching - teaching us how to live.

Pausch's homepage illustrates how one can meet their potential in the amount of time left to them. It's inspiring to me, life affirming. I tend to get somewhat philosophical when I have time on my hands... and given my current state of "underutilization" readers will hopefully forgive me for my wanderings.

Pausch tells us "everyday matters right now." While obviously true for him, it should also ring true for all of us. We are all dying; most of us just don't have a date in mind so we sometimes "forget" about how important the living part is.

Randy Pausch didn't set out to be a hero, but he has lead his life in such a way that it has touched mine on many different levels (watch his lecture and you will see what I mean) and in achieving his dreams he is leaving this world a better place. Can there be any better measure of a lifetime?

Link: Randy's Blog.

Wesley is a Great Kid!

Great Kids Award 2005
Honourable Mention  

Congratulations Wesley on being one of only 188 Albertan children nominated for the prestigious Premier's Great Kids Award 2005! Congratulations on your award! With the amount of character and compassion you have shown your different communities this year, your earnest fundraising for those less fortunate, countless volunteer hours, your outstanding leadership successes, academic achievements and wonderful friendships you have maintained, even in the face of so many large personal loses this past year, it's no wonder your school thought you should be nominated for this recognition!

Can you tell I am a proud parent? I can't stop smiling!