A great surprise, rocks in my head and a good friend, the heartfelt smile enriched Carr blog for week 43 online!
Rocks
This week two stories, each about a rock. One is just a little bit shinier then the other, but both are important. I start with the rock in my pocket. I have had it in there for a couple of years, and although I am not sure of the true origin, what I have grown to accept as its story has its roots in the virtue rocks at the girl’s school. You see, their school aligns a particular virtue with a month in the school term, and uses it to encourage the students to learn and practice a particular virtue and if they are caught showing it, they award them with a certificate and in some cases, a small rock or pebble, with the particular virtue written on it. Now, the rock in my pocket has no inscription, or notation, so I shift its virtue to whatever the situation or time suits. It can be kindness, or empathy, or acceptance, or hope or anything that I need to mentally reward someone or even myself for showing.
Jump to the second rock, and my need to offer my thanks to a friend for showing me a great virtue, generosity. For the last 5 or 6 years, my wedding band has been missing one of its’ small diamonds. I have always wanted to take it in and have it fixed, but just never got around to it. About a month ago, we got talking with good fiends of ours, and the topic of jewelery came up. One thing led to another and she mentioned that she has a bunch of small diamonds left over from some old jewelery and she was sure they had one that would fit and if I wanted it I could have it. If that wasn’t good enough, she says “If you want, I have a great jeweler, so if you give me your ring, I will take it in, and have it done in a couple of days”. Now it has been 3 weeks since I got my ring back and it is great, but until I found my pocket rock this week, and was reminded of the kindness shown, I realized I did not mention it in my blog. I wanted to share the story of the two rocks this week, to offer encouragement to you to show a virtue and if you do, you may have a rock coming to you too.
Friend
I started writing this last week, mostly in my head. I wanted to have it last week, because it was 5 years ago last week that I lost my friend Michael, so the timing was right, but I just could not get the words on the paper to mean as much as I wanted them to, so I had to keep working.
Michael Monty was not only a great teacher and an inspirational speaker, a great writer and a tremendously giving person but he was also a good friend. 5 years ago last week I attended the professional development committee meeting of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters, at the Rogers Radio Campus in Toronto as an invited guest of Michael’s, who chaired the committee. This was my first meeting with the OAB, and I mostly sat and watched and listened, and agreed to things that were being talked about and when it was finished, I can still remember thanking Michael for the invite. I watched him put on his over coat, and I waited with him has he caught the elevator and we talked about how he was loving his recent retirement, and how great he felt. When I got home later that day, I called him at home and left a message to thank him again for the opportunity he was giving me by inviting me to the OAB board, and how much I looked forward to working with him. What I did not know then, was that the return voice mail message that he left for me was the last I would hear from him. The next morning, after seeing his wife off to work, feeling a little under the weather, he went back to bed.
Sometime during his peaceful rest, he suffered a heart attack and passed away; The writer and voice silenced.
I kept that message on my phone for more then a year, and would listen to it sometimes when I was having a bad day, or when I just needed to hear his voice. It was nothing more then your “Hello Jim, it’s Michael returning your call, and my home number is…” and in retrospect, there was not the strength and tone in his voice, there normally was, but it meant a lot that I had it, and could retrieve it with a couple of key strokes on a phone.
I have had the good fortune to have several “father figures” in my life, and although when I joked with Michael that he was like a father to me, he would always give me a hard time, I truly feel that I, am better off because I had Michael in our life. Over the 14 years I knew him, I was lucky enough to see him on different levels. First a student, then a colleague and finally a friend and I learned so much from him, so to boil it down to one point, hardly seems fair. But if there is one thing that I can always hear him telling me in the back of my mind, it is “to always give a shit”. It can be something you are doing that is small, or a major project that you are working on, if you always remember to just give a shit, you will always make a difference.
Surprise!
There is something to be said about a great surprise and this week not only did I get one, but so did a whole bunch of people in my family. A surprise, in the form of an unannounced visit from my sister and her boys, so needlessly to say, we were a little shocked but in a very good way. The timing was great too, because of a planned 70th birthday party for my uncle today, my sister got to see almost all the extended family. The party was also a surprise for the birthday boy, so I guess the theme for this whole weekend was a true surprise. Thanks to Lori and Glen for hosting the shin-dig, and thanks to Janey for making this weekend a great surprise! Only wish it was for just a little longer of a stay. More on the visit, next blog!
In closing
I said last week, I would make sure to end with 2 Carr girl quotes so here you go! When we are all out, we often need to split up, so the kids are always given the option to “pick a parent” and quite often it is Jordyn with Nathalie, and me with Julia. When we had two stops to make Monday night, the split went the normal way, and when we made our stop, I asked Julia to hand me something and when she did, she gave me a shock. I told her she has an electrifying personality, and she told me it happens all the time and that she is like “electric girl”. I laughed and then she said “sometimes I am burp girl, and Jordyn is fart girl, but then sometimes I am electric girl”. For the record, I am much better with the latter!
Today, while leaving skating, Julia was complaining about being a little hot, and asked for us to stop off at home, before we went to the party, so she could change. Always wanting to give people a hard time about things, I tell her it is going to cost her, and I wanted to know how much money she had in her pocket. She told me “I have nothing now, but if we stop, I have a toonie at home”. Not wanting to take her money, I tell her “I will take a kiss instead of her money” and with out pausing, she says “I would rather just pay the money”. With Nathalie laughing loud enough for the car next to us to hear, Julia then adds “Well, I can give you both if you want”. For the record, I did get both, but have put the toonie back in her piggy bank when she was not looking.
Let’s hope, there is either a toonie or a kiss in your future!
Thanks for reading and have a great and safe week!
Jim