"To say that our whole life is programmed by the combination of inheritance through genes is less than a half truth. We mostly are what we are because of the way we reacted to life experiences in the past and the way we continue to react in the present. The great breakthrough is possible at any given time. Our whole life can be changed by understanding that inherited factors get weaker as our positive reactions to life get stronger and stronger. The choice is yours, make the breakthrough and the past cannot bind you! - Ralph Rhea



I've decided to begin my missive on Grey Cup Day, 1974. Grey Cup is to Canada as Super Bowl is to the States....except we celebrate it up here!. Kidding. So, I was living in Montreal at the time. I had an aunt and uncle in Ottawa (a couple hours drive away) who I would go and visit periodically. They had no kids of their own, and so they sort of "adopted" us and became second parents. In fact, we're celebrating my aunt's 90th birthday in a couple months.

So here we are, watching this finals game (....no doubt, Edmonton against someone, it always worked out that way < smile! > ) and the phone rang. It was my Mom calling. Now, you have to appreciate that Grey Cup usually runs towards the end of November. You also have to appreciate that no one, and I mean NO one, ever calls anyone DURING the Grey Cup game. That is one step short of blasphemous, and makes even us non-Catholics eligible for ex-communication. I had been up visiting my folks (and "showing off" my girlfriend) at Thanksgiving, which is a few weeks earlier. Everything appeared fine then.

Mom's message was that she had to take away the car keys from Dad, because he got confused too easily, got lost, forgot how the pedals worked....forgot how to drive. We lived in the country, and my Mom never learnd how to drive. Apparently, he spent a day or two looking for wherever he had left the keys, then just gave up looking.

I figured he had some nerve disorder, and I sure hope they were able to get to the bottom of it quickly, because Mom would be stuck till then (although I still had one brother in the Soo who did magnificent things in keeping her satisfied (and occupied). We all owe him for what he and his wife did.

I don't think I watched the rest of the football game though. I might have....I just don't remember the score.

I've bragged about my Dad a lot before, and I'll do it again briefly, because it will become part of the release-story. Dad was a world-recognized scientist in the field of Entomology. He was the Director of a research institute which atracted some of the top scientists from around the world (roughly 100, plus their support staff if I remember correctly). He fairly often was invited to deliver papers to international congresses in various countries. And when he was home, he was very active in social and community organizations (Chairman of School Board, Chair of Board of Directors of Algoma College, President of Sault Ste Marie Water Conservation Society, member of various church boards...you get the picture. A guy who couldn't say "No". In addition, of course, there was their social life. There was a group of about 10-15 that would get together regularly (i.e. every 2 weeks or so) for bridge or whatever, and we ALWAYS spent New Year's Eve with the "old folks".
For a pasttime, he would work on completing our house, which we moved into when it was in a "rather incomplete" state.

There's lots more to tell, but that'll set the stage, I think.



I respected him very much, but I don't ever remember loving him.

That's some of the pain I can't let go of.

How do you love someone retroactively who's been dead for 30 years?

Or, how do you not love him?

PEACE.

Posted by Evydense on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 11:49 a.m. | Permalink