Month: December 2011

Categories
Be The Best.

The picture and the painting.

I wrote about Christmas Day and my trips to the cemetery.

At 9am, a gentle fog floated on the open field.

With so many places closed on Christmas (and rightfully so), I was so thankful for the Township staff and contracted staff who faithfully open the gates and keep the grounds so immaculate for families of loved ones.

In the afternoon a giant ray of sun pushed past a blanket of cloud and lit the late day winter sky with the brush strokes of a master painter.

At just over 21 months, I still can’t say I understand the picture.  I’m not sure if I’m holding the painting upside down or if I’m looking at a portrait or a landscape.

I’m gaining some understanding however that this painting we call life is a combination of brush strokes, paint colour and the elements all combining to form an image we see here and I believe one that will only be fully understood when we see it from the Painter’s perspective.

I’ve written many times about perspective and still am learning.  Remember the TV show featuring painter extraordinaire, Bob Ross.  Love that guy.  Here’s a video of him doing a painting with time-lapse.  Whenever I would watch Bob paint, I would get squeamish at about the 75% complete mark when he would plop down a big blob of paint on the canvas.  No….!!  This will never work.  Moments letter, the ‘blob’ becomes a beautiful tree or something providing depth to the entire scene.

I had never watched Bob Ross in time-lapse before tonight, but that was very interesting.

You saw the potential ‘issues’, but they vanished in seconds as the master painter directed the creation.

Then more quickly than humanly possible, you saw the transformation of a bit of paint on canvas turn into a masterpiece.

I can’t say I understand the painting we’re a part of.

But…I do think I’m gaining some perspective that we’re actually in one and a Master Painter must be continuing the work.

Categories
Be The Best.

Maximus Prime

Ok, I’m getting a little tired of the Prime theme.

This is the last one.  And this post doesn’t have anything to do with the title Maximus Prime or any other Transformers really…hmmm, that may be a good idea for tomorrow.  No, that’s it, I’m done with Prime.

This blog has been around long enough that I’m having to reread some of the stuff I wrote a year ago and compare notes.

I had forgotten about writing the post on our stockings last year and how those silly scratch and wins were a part of our tradition, and of course again this year, if you read the blog a couple of posts back.

In the spirit of seeing where things were at during our first Christmas, here’s a link to the stocking post from Christmas 2010.

Stocking Post – Christmas 2010

Categories
Be The Best.

Emily in prime time.

If you haven’t picked up on it, I’m trying to use the word prime or prime rib in every Holiday post this year…

So….you may have seen the video of the prime rib from Christmas Eve and my little niece Emily munching away.

She taught me a few more things.  Just before we sat down you can hear her saying, ‘I want to see, I want to see’, as her Mom was filming on the iPad with the big visible screen.  You can see as the height of the camera drops, revealing a different perspective…a different viewpoint.

Emily’s Mom Selena, told me a very cool story about just that; perspective and the ‘view’ of a child.

The name Chris (not our Chris) had come up in a conversation and Emily had piped up quite matter-of-factly stating, ‘My Chris is in heaven’.

Yes he is Emily…yes he is.

And then she went on playing.

I love the eyes of a child both literally and how they ‘see’ what many of us miss.

It’s a different perspective on many levels.

Categories
Be The Best.

The other side of prime rib.

Yup.  Smoked prime rib was my Christmas 2011 highlight.

But there’s another side of course.

I was at the cemetery twice on Christmas Day.

Once at about 9 am where I checked on Chris’ wall, ensured his stocking was still there and rolled up a lottery ticket and put it in.

I can’t remember when it started, but that’s how traditions go.  For years and years, I’d put scratch and wins in all four of our stockings.  It was just a little silly fun and part of the tradition was the mocking and jousting that would occur as we all grabbed the nearest coin and tried our luck.

The cemetery had a beautiful calmness to it as a low fog drifted over the far end of the field.

Dozens of new flowers, wreaths and memorial trinkets had been placed recently and you could see how busy the cemetery was going to be on Christmas Day.

When I went back later in the afternoon with AC, it was time to take down the stocking and we scratched the ticket when we got home.  A total zero.  We laughed.  Might as well continue with the same luck on the other side in regards to the lottery!

And yes as we began this tradition years ago, we would take the opportunity to remind the boys that having a bit of fun was ok, but the Government is the big winner of the lottery game and they were much better off to work hard and save a few bucks!

The later visit to the Wall was after a windstorm that kicked in with a vengeance late Christmas morning.

We’ve seen that kind of wind before and imagine Chris and Dylan and their new gang surfing on the silver lining of those clouds.

So many people make the cemetery a place to be on Christmas Day.  I never even thought about that before.

So many people like the dear Reichelts are managing through their very first Christmas without Dylan here in human form.

We all don’t want to think about it and we’re the same.

We so wish Chris could have had some prime rib.

We’ll do that again on the other side.

Categories
Be The Best.

Prime Time for Prime Rib

Tonight we had prime rib.

It was Chris’ favourite.

Prime rib at the Keg was a right of passage.  We always loved it.

Tonight for the Medema Christmas I smoked a prime rib.

It cooked for 7 hours and every time I went outside to check on it I thought of Chris.

As the prime rib readied itself for the first slice I thought of Chris.

He would have absolutely loved this meal and I thought of him the whole night.

I know he was right here with us, but I’m guessing the Prime Rib is even just a little better at the Keg in the Clouds…although he really would have liked this tonight!

Here’s a little vid of the action.  For all you techies, shot totally on the iPad2 with iMovie.

Have a great Christmas everyone.

Categories
Be The Best.

Stockings and mantels

Last year we put out four stockings.

This is not 'the' stocking...just 'a' stocking.

We just had to have one for Chris too.

This year we put out five.

No, we are not adopting a child or adding a pet…that I’m aware of.

We (meaning my Better Half) put out the four stockings at home but this is the first Christmas we have a memorial location for Chris at The Wall or Chris’ Wall as we call it, nestled below the massive cedars that protect the group of memorial walls.

There’s a little stocking on our tree that we’ve had for years.  It’s a decoration.  Chris would have surely helped with putting this on the tree with his Mom as he and Max did each year.

That little stocking now adorns Chris’ marker at his Wall.

That might sound sad and it is sad but not ‘just sad’ as we know Chris is always with us.  It is amazing to see a place like the cemetery so colourful on these grey late fall days.  People are remembering their loved ones with flowers, Christmas ornaments and angel figurines.

And on one special marker (yes, read mantel), there’s a little red cloth stocking.

We luv ya kid, every minute of every day.

That’s what your stocking is full of on Christmas and every day of the year.

Categories
Be The Best.

The way you face.

One of the things I love about Saturday mornings is watching a little Premier League Soccer as the schedule permits.  With games as early as 5 and 7am, the timing works well with the newspaper and a good cup of coffee.

I love the skill, the speed, the set-up and I love those British announcers use of the English language.  Their phrasing and commentary adds a poetic quality to the experience.

Football (Soccer ball)
Image via Wikipedia

We’ve played a lot of noon hour soccer with my work gang over the years.

It’s not quite at Premier League level…but you wouldn’t know it from the locker room stories told just after the match.

When you play sports and you are in the heat of the moment field-of-play one thing you’ll hear is players shouting to other players.  Usually instructions come in bursts of 2 or 3 repeats.  Move the ball, move the ball, MOVE THE BALL…all increasing in urgency.

Ok, that last one is what gets yelled at me a lot, so maybe I’m just sensitive.  Joking aside, I’ve wondered about this form of communication and liken it to military instruction in the heat of the battle.  You want to be clear about your communication and there’s no time to waste with niceties.

One of the most interesting lines I’ve heard a million times on the soccer pitch is, ‘the way you face’.

When you are playing soccer the objective is pretty clear.  You need to score on the opponent’s goal.  In order to do this you should be moving the ball forward toward the enemy’s net.

However, many times you don’t receive the ball in a position where going forward makes the most sense.

In other words, if you receive the ball and you happen to be turned towards your own goal, your natural instinct may be to make an immediate turn and try to push the ball forward.

That could be the worst move.

When you hear, ‘the way you face’, ‘the way you face’, ‘the way you face’, it’s a reminder from your teammate to gain control of the ball and move the ball in the direction you are facing at the time which may appear counterproductive but ultimately allows your team to go forward.

I’ve thought about that phrase a lot in the game of life.

Sometimes turning too quickly and trying to push forward to the opponent’s goal is not the right move.

Playing the way you face, ie passing the ball ‘backwards’ before your team moves the play forward again protects possession and ultimately provides a greater opportunity to score.

Too heavy on the soccer analogies?

I think I may get another Americano and watch game 2 of the Premier League.

Categories
Be The Best.

Lamb lollipops and changing lives

Ever had one of those lamb lollipop things?  They are popular at networking events with the idea being that you can eat them standing up, maybe balance a glass of wine and still mingle with people.

I’m not that coordinated.

So, some context.

Ingrid and I were invited to the Simon Fraser University’s ‘President’s Reception’, because of our connection with Chris’ fund.  We weren’t able to attend the event last year so with a bit of apprehension of the unknown we headed to SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in Gastown.

I expected to hear a few words from the President.  I expected to perhaps eat some appetizer type foods.  I expected to hear a few speeches.  I did not expect to be so incredibly moved and inspired.

So…with my hands full, I spied a stand-up table at the edge of the room where one other couple was also doing the balancing act.  I made a simple comment asking if we might join them and a conversation ensued.

The people we met by ‘random circumstance’ (or not) were a Professor and his wife who is a retired Professor herself.

We talked about SFU and their relationship to the donor event.

They of course asked about our connection which led to a conversation about Chris.

The Professor (names protected) talked about a long time friend of his and how his friend’s memorial fund had built up over 20 years and was now helping students on a yearly basis, stating that every dollar counts.

We couldn’t agree more.  To see Chris’ fund payout for the first time last year was amazing and we’re very excited about challenging a young man once again in January when the 2nd gift will be ready for disbursement.

If the evening had ended there, that would already have been more than I expected, but it didn’t.

Our Professor couple went home, read some more about Chris and the next day connected themselves with the fund financially.

Are you kidding me?

You have to be in our situation to really understand what that means, but for a couple, on a completely random and chance meeting, to think enough about what Chris’ fund will mean to future SFU students and citizens was amazing and humbling for us.

I have left that experience again inspired about Being The Best.

Deep heartfelt kindness from total strangers.

A deep understanding of how small decisions have major impacts with time.

For me, it provided another dose of energy as we recognize how impactful our words and actions can be.

And the lamb lollipops….perfect…I went back for seconds.

Categories
Be The Best.

Woah Christmas Tree Woah Christmas Tree

Woah is right.

We got a new ornament for the tree this year.

Last year Ingrid picked out an ornament of a dove with a soft light that reminded us of Chris being with us.

We really liked it, but we thought Chris might have thought it was….well too dove-like with a soft light…

This year we wanted to get another ornament that reminds us that Chris is with us.

Yup, Adrian Peterson.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

This is the first NFL ornament we’ve ever had.

It’s the first football ornament we’ve ever had.

So why Adrian?

For long time blog readers you will know.

Chris had a picture of Adrian Peterson from the Minnesota Vikings with BE THE BEST printed on top of it.

It was a home-made personalized poster that Chris used for motivation.

Adrian Peterson is not a tall guy, but he’s strong, fast and will never go down without a fight.

When we saw it at the local Hallmark store, it was obvious which ornament needed to be on the tree this year.

I think our tree ‘cool factor’ just climbed a little and we know Chris will be grinning about this one.

Be The Best.

We continue to be amazed at the power of those three words and how they push us and so many of you.

Although the pain of loss still pounds through our bones like a West Coast grey mist that never quite clears, the power to continue to fight and carry on is embodied in guys like Adrian Peterson who inspired Chris who inspires us to Be The Best every day…and when we’re not, we pick ourselves up, go back to the huddle, get a new play and push ahead for another first down.