Month: July 2010

Categories
Be The Best.

Wakeboards, Waterskiis, and Be The Best.

On a recent Okanagan jaunt, Ingrid and I spent a few days with our good friends Mark and Vickie.

From joining us at the hospital on that life changing evening of March 25, Mark and Vickie have been beside us on every step of this journey.  Words will never be enough to express our ongoing gratitude for our friendship.

And as a broader message, we continue to feel our larger family of support even now.  Of course summer brings a different ‘vibe’ as people (including us!) go on vacations and take in the beauty of BC and beyond and recharge the batteries.  But we still feel the support as we connect at lacrosse games, summer bbq’s, on-line, and even little things like seeing the Blog stats let’s me know that people are still connecting with us and it is appreciated!

But back to wakeboards and waterskiis…

What would summer in BC be like without some sort of water activity?  In the video below I want you to see a few things.  Of course, there is just the summer fun of getting out there, but there’s a lot more going on.  Eric is learning the sport of wakeboarding.  He was attempting 360’s which are doing a full rotation in the air.  He wipes out.  Then tries again.  Then wipes out.  Then tries again.  What was cool about this (besides the wipeout footage!!) was his discussions with his Dad after getting back into the boat.  ‘I could try this.’  ‘I could try that.’  ‘I’m going to get some lessons.’  One thing he didn’t say was ‘I quit’.  ‘I’m not doing that again’, or whatever.

You’ll also see Emily rockin along on her waterskiis.  She’s zooming over the wake like it’s soft butter.  She’s got a lot of drive and determination and it was cool to see her handle a long ski session with the poise of a pro.

The last thing I want you to notice is at the end of the video.  Eric takes a big jump and lands it after some great air time.  I’ve slowed the vid so you can see the grin on his face as he lands the jump and feels the accomplishment of learning something new.  As for the 360?  He’ll get there.  Eric and Emily have the Be The Best attitude, so it’s just a matter of hard work and practice!

PS: To see any video larger, click on the button in lower right corner of vid (the one with 4 arrows) and you can watch in full screen.  This video is also shot in HD (high def).  Click on button that says 360p with an ^.  You can then adjust to 720p for HD action.  (Hey listen…I taught my 70 something year old mom to program her PVR this week.  If she can learn that, you can do this…!  🙂  Later)

Categories
Be The Best.

Bikin’ and Bloggin’

If you ever have the chance to get up to Siverstar Mountain in Vernon (British Columbia’s Interior about 4 hours from Vancouver)….JUST DO IT.

Whether it’s winter or summer, we’ve had some great times up there and most importantly, fantastic memories.

Yesterday I went biking on Silverstar with my Dad.  You can go pretty hard core biking up there in summer.  Shin guards, full face helmets, etc etc, but you can also choose gentler rides down the mountain after being whisked to the top via the chair lift.  We went for the more mellow routes, but with some mountain construction work going on some of the paths were re-routed to more challenging pathways.  Anyhoo….my Dad was rockin it at 79.  No problem.  Pretty cool to watch him go and pretty cool to be with him.

Here’s a few video highlights of the adventure.  The point of this whole thing?  Take every opportunity to have an adventure and make a memory.

Categories
Be The Best.

Poem Night

I introduced you to my sister Grace Wulff and the work of New Hope previously in this blog space.

Their summer newsletter has just been released and Grace gave me a copy tonight which included a poem she wrote about Chris a short time ago.  Here it is.  Thanks Grace.

Christian

I saw a leaf fall.

I could not do anything but

watch it descend.

And it was gone from my sight.

It is spring.

How can this be?

The leaf was bright yellow

full of life, I thought.

But it dropped to the ground.

Christian, you are too young to die.

I am so sad by your passing

from our life to the next.

And yet the leaf gives life still.

It will nourish the soil, yes, the soul.

And bring gifts for us all.

Your death is not in vain.

– Grace Wulff

Categories
Be The Best.

Be The Best…Osprey Style

I’d like to spend more time out in nature than I do, but when I can see wildlife in action I love it.

I recently had a chance to see an Osprey (and no not at a Zoo…this was the real thing!) in action.

What amazing birds.  With a wingspan over 1 metre, they are sometimes called fish hawks as they circle the water looking for their dinner.

Ospreys are built to fish, but even with that they sometimes miss.

This picture shows the spilt second after an arial strike and in this case the bird did not leave with dinner as it did the day before.  But I’m sure it will learn a few things and be back again.  That’s Be The Best…Osprey style.

Categories
Be The Best.

Mandela Day

Last week (July 18 to be exact) marked Nelson Mandela day.

You’ve seen a number of references to him in recent months as I am amazed at this man’s ability to move beyond any reasons he had to be angry or bitter or hard-done-by and moved forward in a continued spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness.

If you want a fuller understanding of who Mandela was and is, I found this ‘hero file’ site very informative.

It contains a quote from Mandela’s book that I have yet to read, but will add it to my list.

I love this quote. (as per http://www.moreorless.au.com/heroes/mandela.html)

Mandela’s autobiography, ‘Long Walk To Freedom’, ends with these words:

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.”

Isn’t that the truth!

For all of us we have many hills to climb.  Some reasonably inclined, some tougher.  The reality is that there will be more hills.

What I’m coming to realize more and more is that these hills simply form the landscape and it’s how we see them and climb them and who we climb them with that really defines the journey.

To know there are more hills ahead can perhaps be a comfort, not a sentence, because with hills ahead, we know the journey continues.

To see some great pics of Nelson Mandela click this link.

Categories
Be The Best.

Reflections

2010-07-25

2010-03-25

Just numbers? No. You know what they mean.  Four months.  We don’t mean to think about it or overthink it, but still it exists.

I’m not sure of all that we’ll do at 5 months or 6 or at 1 year.

But on these days and EVERY day I know of one thing we will always do.

Remember Chris for the amazing kid he was and find ways to honour his memory.

As you look at reflections in a lake, sometimes they are a perfect mirror image of the surrounding reality.  Sometimes, the wind comes up and the reflections are obscured and distorted…even though the real objects creating the reflections still exist.  But when the water is smooth and the winds have calmed, you can see a true reflection.

Categories
Be The Best.

Don’t eat ice…and other advice.

We were with good friends recently and I was chomping on some ice after a refreshing adult beverage.

“Don’t eat ice”, Ingrid stated, as that had been one of my mantras with Chris.  She was right.

Chris used to eat ice by the bucket.  He had a habit of eating ice during dinner and it drove me nuts!

“Don’t eat ice”, I would say, “it’s a bad habit”.

He would then turn to just letting the ice sit inside his mouth until he thought we’re not listening and then CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.

If Chris was still with us, I would still have the ‘no ice chewing’ policy in place.

However, as I was QUIETLY (or not) chewing my own ice tonight, I thought about how much I missed that annoying sound!

Let’s lift a glass to memories….on the rocks.

Categories
Be The Best.

But back to the quilt…

Ok, more stories from the quilt.

After the funeral, we had friends and family pack up all the display tables of Chris’ lacrosse stuff, pictures etc.

It was days later when we realized that many people had brought items with them and left them on the tables in memory and honour of Chris.

It was amazing.  Necklaces, pendants, quilting squares!, lacrosse balls, jerseys and more.

The Burnaby Mountain Selects program meant so much to Chris and many of the guys brought their jerseys to the funeral and left them there.  When we found jersey after jersey at first we were confused.  Then we realized what happened and were simply overwhelmed with the thought behind that action.

One entire side of the quilt is dedicated to the the BMS family which really symbolizes the entire lacrosse family as these players came from different towns and different teams.  Some of them had been big opponents, but were now brothers-in-arms.

This quilt and that gesture of support and recognition will never be forgotten.  Thanks to everyone who brought something with them, wrote a note for Chris or to Chris or said a prayer or had a thought of support for us that day and for all the days since.

Categories
Be The Best.

Rest…and Be The Best.

Maybe it was inevitable, but I missed posting a blog last night.

My original goal was a few times per week, which changed to daily after Easter Sunday and hadn’t stopped since.

My secondary goal, was daily through to the end of June (end of the school year) and three months into the ‘new normal’.

When I made it to the end of June I thought I might as well keep going and the daily blogs continued…until last night.

As Ingrid and I head into some summer vacation time, I also need to realize that REST is a part of Be The Best.  You remember that blog post about Power of Focus? That story about a very successful businessman and philanthropist spending a day a week sitting in a room and just thinking, has always blown me away and caused me to think.

Throughout the summer, I may not post quite as frequently as we look to re-charge our batteries.  That being said, I’ve just learned of some innovative ways of posting via the phone which I may just try!!  Stay tuned.

The summer so far has been very bitter sweet.  Seeing all those lacrosse players on the weekend wearing Chris’ patch and the decal on their helmets was awe inspiring, humbling and just plain awesome.  Thinking about the incredible summers we’ve had as a family and realizing we’re not going to have another one quite the same is simply gut wrenching…there is no easy way around that fact.

That being said, the summer provides hope and opportunity for us to continue to find our new normal.  The understanding that REST is a part of Be The Best is a lesson that’s not really easy for me, but I’m going to try to learn it.

Have a great week.

Categories
Be The Best.

Love Shines Live

Some blog posts write themselves.

This is one of them.

You’ve got to see this little vid AC shot on the weekend.

It’s a live rendition of Love Shines on the back porch of her home.

LOVE IT.  Enjoy.

The last line of her intro on YouTube states, ‘this is a song about love shining no matter what’.  See what I mean about a blog post writing itself?