Category Archives: This & That

August 23, 2013 · 7:36 am

The Challenge of Change

The weekend arrives.  After breakfast I settle into my big chair, hot coffee at hand, to address my favourite task.  The international weekend newspaper booklet is my link to the far-flung world.  It’s not noted for detailed news, but for quick and objective summaries of activities which occur around the globe.  Skimming through, my attention is caught and held by the report of a long-standing, scientific study that has been under way for years.  

This must be a joke, I think.  Such a research project is impossible.  What reliable organization would sponsor the idea, and where would they get the people to volunteer?    Continue reading →

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August 9, 2013 · 8:21 am

Plans and Bumps

The second of two installments

We near Calgary and turn off the highway onto the Stoney Trail bypass that crosses a high bridge over the river valley, and ends at the TransCanada Highway.  Valley Ridge Lodge, the seniors’ residence where Sheldon and I lived for five years, is a stone’s throw away.

Arriving at the Lodge is a homecoming indeed, just the thing to ease the yearning in my heart.

“Marjorie!  Are you moving back?”

“We miss you.  Did you miss us?”

The trip from the front door to my second-floor guest suite takes almost an hour.  I sink on the bed, exhausted.  Ralph leaves for his nearby Bed and Breakfast.

“I’ll see you after supper, Mom.  We should talk about tomorrow’s coffee party.”    Continue reading →

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July 22, 2013 · 3:48 pm

Plans and Bumps

The first of two installments

The sudden howling of the wind, and the torrential downpour of rain spiced with hail seizes our attention.  Visiting interrupted, the five of us push back our chairs and rush to the window to watch in amazement.

“Was this forecast?” I demand.  Having just arrived in Edmonton, I feel it’s a fair question.  My friends deny any previous knowledge of this wild weather.  Our host hurries into the next room and turns on the radio, TV and computer.  All sources blare forth the same message.

“Tornado Warning!”  Seek shelter immediately.  Do not leave your present location until an ‘All Clear’ is issued.”

My tablemates and I stand at the window, watching the swirling gusts of wind pick up anything loose and fling it aloft.  A child’s jacket, a large cardboard box, and a garden tool all fly by.  We watch with sympathy as a crow, battered by the wild wind, struggles to escape the storm’s grasp.  My mind protests, “This is my vacation.”   Continue reading →

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May 23, 2013 · 8:12 am

The Wisdom of the Wise

“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of the ages,
may be preserved by quotation.”

Isaac D’israeli, an Englishman who lived from 1766 to 1848, was a respected literary essayist.  His belief, given above, has weathered well.  In 2013 we turn to the online Proverbs of the World and read,

“These sagacious sayings are the distilled wisdom of the ages.  Their lessons are as relevant today, as when first heard hundreds and sometimes thousands of years ago.”

We need help today.  We struggle to accept, enjoy and handle our modern lives, sometimes against overwhelming odds.  We could benefit from the mentoring of experienced guides.  Are the problems we face now so different from those in the past?  Is it possible to tap into ancient wisdom?    Continue reading →

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January 21, 2013 · 11:20 am

Marjorie’s Manifesto

With apologies to Martin Luther

In 1517 a monk named Martin Luther nailed a document to the church door in Wittenberg.  It was a passionate statement of an alternative vision of what the Christian faith and church practices could and should be.  His action shook his contemporary world, and eventually led to a new and different way of viewing and living faith.

My claim to the right to use the term ‘manifesto’ lies in recently experiencing personal events which have shaken me to the core, and which will lead to major changes in the way I see and lead my life.

On January 10th, 2013 I visited my family doctor, accompanied by my daughter, Lorna Shapiro.  The appointment was made because my family had brought to my attention that I had suffered a major memory lapse.  This unusual event was upsetting for all of us.  How could this happen to me, and what did it mean?   Continue reading →

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December 20, 2012 · 9:02 am

Season’s Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah 

The festive season approaches.  Once again I have the happy opportunity to pay honour to whatever faith has meaning in your lives.  May this season revive memories of past years, and stir hopes for those which lie ahead.

When I was little it seemed like an eternity from one year through the next.  Now – the years fly by.  Though I savour every day that passes, I can scarcely believe the Holy Season is almost here again.

What a glorious opportunity to sing the old carols, hear the ancient stories of our faiths, and give thanks for the multitude of life’s gifts —  indeed, for life itself.  Best wishes to all: family, friends, fellow residents and staff at our Manor, health professionals who ease our way, and the strangers who lend a hand when we need it.

The rough spots in life’s road are partnered with love, goodness and joy.  I pray that we all find the strength to deal with the tough and to recognize and appreciate the good, as we head out into a new year.

Happy Holidays!

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September 28, 2012 · 8:53 am

Hanged in a Fortnight?

“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”  Samuel Johnson

1950 – it is a great year.  Lorna, our second child, joins our family.  In February all four of us—Sheldon and I, and Ralph and Lorna—are living in our new and cosy trailer.  Life is good, secure, and the future is open before us.  What is this that Johnson is chattering about?  Is he saying that having no options is a good thing?  How could that be?  For us, the world is our oyster and the path ahead presents endless options.

Fast forward to 1952.  Where did the last two years go?  I am only thirty, and already things have changed.  Things are not as simple as I used to think.  We made some big decisions in the past months.  Sheldon decided to accept a promotion.  On the crew he was the Party Chief, and in charge.  Now he is the low man on the totem pole in the exploration field office staff.  Every day seems to bring new opportunities, challenges, and options.  Confusing.  Samuel Johnson, you are at least partially right.  Is life always this way?  There are so many important decisions to be made with so little guidance.

Another jump, a huge one of sixty years.  It is now 2012 and it seems that I have been thrust into a completely new and different phase – OLD AGE.  I am ninety, and Samuel, my friend, you are right.  Suddenly my mind awakens to the fact that there are no live options here.  There are only realities.  I am not in a new phase but at a destination, the final one.  Death will be the next move.    Continue reading →

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July 13, 2012 · 5:56 pm

When It Works, It’s Magic

The ability to talk, to express oneself by the use of the spoken word, is tied firmly to being human.  As mankind evolved, so did the complexity of language itself.  Very recently, the multitude of devices available to transfer the spoken word has mushroomed.  Never before in history has it been so easy to talk to anyone, anywhere.  I am conscious of a need to communicate clearly and in a meaningful way with anyone I engage in discussion.

Our world is faced with urgent problems.  To improve my art of communication may, in a very small way, help our world to survive.  Whether it is person-to-person, or one ideology with a very different ideology, I must learn to work with others for the good of all.  From birth to death, my learning process goes on.  As I mature, life confronts me with realities that must be faced and a need for qualities which are hard won.  I must develop the capacity to listen sincerely, and with the intention of understanding the other side.  To learn to acknowledge my own weaknesses, and to accept that I can sometimes be wrong in my reasoning can be both frightening and rewarding.  I can fail, and that hurts – but when I attempt an important communication and it works – Oh, when it works, it’s Magic!   Continue reading →

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June 12, 2012 · 7:34 am

In the Moment

Today’s mantra proclaims the value of “Living in the Moment”.  Yesterday is gone: Forget it!  Tomorrow may never come: Why worry?  This state, it suggests, is particularly suited for the elderly.

Having just reached four-score years and ten, I qualify as elderly.  (Indeed, I note that the Bible suggests I have lived about as long as one can reasonably expect to!  Nonetheless, the Bible also tells stories of many individuals who far exceeded this milestone.  Perhaps longevity is not a “one size fits all” phenomenon.)

No one can speak for all elderly people, any more than for other groups.  I speak, therefore, only for myself.  My credentials?  Only these: my years of living and where my musings have taken me.  And when it comes to Living in the Moment, “That’s only part of the picture!” I plead.    Continue reading →

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February 5, 2012 · 12:47 pm

We Enter Life Kicking and Screaming

or  Encountering another major change along life’s path.

There is a phrase commonly used today that starts, “We enter life kicking and screaming…”.  To my surprise I found that this phrase has many different prefaces and closures.  My minor research effort revealed that it is a very old saying that has been used for centuries.  For example, Shakespeare quoted it in his Richard I play, linking it to mankind’s unfortunate tendency towards conflict and violence.

Be that as it may, the form I learned bears a different life lesson or truism.  To quote:  “We enter this world kicking and screaming, and tend to react to any subsequent major changes in the same way!”  As with most such sayings or proverbs, there is a modicum of truth that rings true and catches our attention.  So it was that this saying kept returning to my consciousness as I worked my way through my personal life-changing events of January 2012.    Continue reading →

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