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Be The Best.

And so it begins – The Commencement – Part 3

Two years ago, on Easter Sunday, I began this blog.

I thought it might go for a month, then two months, then six, then for sure end at 12, then it kept going.

Although these past few months the posts have been more in my head then typed onto the screen, it’s not for lack of topics.   Along this pathway/journey/road/highway/trail you have ups and you have downs.  You have valleys and you have views.  You learn to laugh with a broken heart.  You learn to live with a hole in your heart.  You even learn to win and conquer with an altered existence.

That’s the REAL secret of Sunday.

It’s not about the razzle dazzle.

It’s about the amazing reality that there is life with tragedy.  There is hope with sorrow.  There is bitter and there is sweet, mixed and stirred.

Sunday is about hope.

Sunday is about future.

Sunday is about change.

After 21 years at an amazing post secondary school that has become a home not just a job…I am taking a leave.

I’m heading to the private sector working to assist entrepreneurs build their businesses.

A big change.

I’m not sure I would have done it without the Be The Best thinking part of my every waking minute.

Now, I’m not encouraging anyone to quit their jobs or do anything crazy, but I will challenge all of you to Be The Best!

What does that mean to you?

What are your dreams?

What are your goals?

How are you putting those into measurable pieces, sliced up by months and days?

Chris’ passion fuels me.  Chris’ passion to Be The Best fuels all of us, even those who never met him.

It’s Sunday…but it’s early Sunday morning.

Hope is on the horizon, but the road ahead is still very unknown.

But one thing I know is that Sunday’s here, and by making one decision at a time we’ll be more ‘Be The Best’ then if we just sit back and let things happen.

Sunday’s here, hope is here and HOPE is an action word.

Be The Best.

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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.

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Be The Best.

Maxing out a Sprint Triathlon

My personal lexicon was increased by a new phrase just a few weeks ago.

Sprint Triathlon.

I think that’s basically an oxymoron to start with.

Ok young readers.  This is probably the highest number of big words used in the opening of this blog ever…but in celebration of back to school just 4 weeks away, we’ll continue.

A sprint triathlon is a swim, bike and running race…except the distances are shorter than a full length event.

These are perfect events for those wanting a triathlon experience and are trying something new or simply want a shorter distance.

Don’t be fooled.  This is still an extreme sport!  750m in the pool.  That is a lot of lengths.  18k on the bike.  I get tired driving that far and usually would require 2 Starbucks stops.  5k running after all that? Yah right.

So…my son Max had a goal.  He was going to do this thing.  The Walnut Grove Triathlon.

Cool.  Except he didn’t really have a bike, didn’t have any specific training and didn’t know a soul who was going in this event.

I’m super proud of the kid.  He approached this like he was trying something new and what he didn’t know wasn’t going to stop him from trying. For example, he knew he didn’t have all the specialized gear but that didn’t get in his way.  He finished in 90 minutes exactly and was right in the middle of the pack.  That is an incredible result for trying an event for the first time without coaching or training with a team or the superior clothing and equipment of most racers.

It’s really Be The Best principle personified.

What I mean by that is Be The Best is about so much more than winning.  It’s about competing.  It’s about trying something new.  It’s about not letting the fear of the unknown get in your way.

IT’S ABOUT NOT KNOWING EXACTLY HOW YOU’RE GOING TO REACH A GOAL, BUT SETTING THE GOAL AND THEN STARTING FORWARD ANYWAYS!

Nice job Max.  We are very proud of ya!!

Here’s a little video proof.  Note: (Time clock on picture is not official for each racer because of a graduated start in the pool for the swim portion of the race. Max’s official time was 1:30:00 on the nose)

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Be The Best.

Skiing in June?

A closeup of the Grouse Mountain skyride
Image via Wikipedia

Max heard Grouse Mountain was still open for skiing and boarding.

Really?

In June?

Max came up with the crazy plan of hitting the slopes on his birthday (or 1 day before)…something never before attempted.

Sure enough, with an enormous base, Grouse is aiming to remain open on weekends till July 1.  Judging by the snow conditions today, they’ll be pushing it, but skiing on local mountains in June?  Are you kidding me?  What an experience.

So with my Canadian Hockey jersey given to me by Chris on the Christmas just before the Olympics, I joined Max and Kiera as we avoided a few rocks and a bunch of grass and had a great day.

Of course we had to shoot a little vid for proof!

We ended the day with dinner at the beach.

Only in Vancouver!

Happy 20th Max.  Hopefully the Nux will bring home the Cup for your birthday tomorrow.

I know your brother gives you the biggest virtual hug possible…and maybe a punch or two on the arm…you are brothers after all.

 

 

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Be The Best.

The ABC’s of Family

Went for breakfast this morning at ABC.

Reasonable food, reasonable service…but I’ll save the eatery critique for my other blog…’Eating Your Way Through the Fraser Valley’, coming in 2014.  Wait for it.

The purpose for the breakfast was to see if my vision of Mom and Dad on Friday night was simply a dream sequence or actually real.

I took a camera along to be sure.

I remember just a couple of months back when Dad was so sick, thinking of our mountain biking experience last summer and simply making the schedule work to make that connection work.

Breakfast today was simply another opportunity to make the schedule work so we could connect, share some stories, have a few laughs and maybe a few sad stories too.

All part of being a family.

I guess the moral of the story is that any time and any experience can be a good one and continue to renew and deepen the bond.  Even a simple breakfast.

Here’s the pictorial evidence.

A respectful pose with Randy, Dad, Mom and sister Val.
The funny thing about this pic is that it looks like Mom is giving Dad the 'rabbit ears'...or maybe she actually is!
Max, Dad and Mom.
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Christian Friesen

June 2011

June 2011 was one of those points in time that I knew was coming.

I didn’t really want it to get here.

But like a train whistle on a quiet night heard from miles away, I knew the train called time was on the track and couldn’t be stopped.

What’s the big deal with June?

It’s another major milestone.

Chris would have graduated from High School this month.  That’s a big deal because it meant the next steps of the bigger plan which included lacrosse, university and of course the doorway to the rest of his life.

We drove by a grad ceremony last week quite by accident.  It wasn’t from his high school…in fact it was in another city.  It did not take long for emotions to be on high alert.

This is just part of the journey and journey we will.

Bri (centre) with friends.

Now, there is a very great side of June that we welcome with huge and open hearts.

Chris’ friends will graduate soon and there will be more on that topic in another post, but Chris had a very close cousin named Brianna who graduated last night.  We were able to meet up with her and get some pictures and talk with her before the big ceremony.  To say we are proud is a complete understatement.

This is a young woman who is beautiful both inside and out.  She is as smart as a whip taking home multiple awards and trophies last night.  As Bri enters her next chapter of life, we would say these profound words….YOU GO GIRL!!

Dream your dreams.  Write down your visions.  Turn them into measurable goals and get to work in making it all come true.

Now as an addendum to this, as we were waiting to connect with Bri, a young couple came walking across the parking lot.  It was sort of like a dream sequence.  This young couple was my Mom and Dad.  The last time I saw them together, I was wheeling Dad in a hospital chair from one floor to another (yes, via elevator!) to see Mom who was also in the hospital.  To see them walking towards us looking as svelte as ever was nothing short of a miracle I would say.  I’ve taken a few pictures so you can judge for yourself.

Have a great and SAFE weekend!

(you can click on images for a larger picture)

Even more pics on Picasa.

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Be The Best.

Easter Sunday, and so it begins…v2

I wrote a post with that same title, ‘Easter Sunday, and so it begins’ on Easter Sunday 2010.

Although over a year has passed and we’ve marked a year from Chris passing date and service date, today marks a very important milestone as well.

Since beginning this blog last Easter Sunday, individual blog posts have been read over 127,000 times.

I get that most people still to this day don’t really know what to say or how to say it.  But as therapeutic as writing these posts day after day and week after week has been, it’s been amazing to know that a silent army stands alongside.

I love that.

I read with interest an essay in the Vancouver Sun over morning coffee yesterday.

It was titled, ‘The Biology of hope bolsters Easter’s central message’.  I’ve linked here if you have time to peruse.

I love this little excerpt:

These definitions make clear hope should not be confused with blind optimism.

When we are suffering or fearful, our hopes may often be dim, but they must include reasonable expectation.

Hope is distinguished from mere wishing. We can wish for financial wealth, or a cure for our loved one’s cancer, a dictator to be vanquished or a sudden end to global warming. But sometimes wishes are not realistic.

“Wishing are words and left brain,” Vaillant writes.

“In contrast, hope is made up of images and is rooted in the right brain. Wishing on a star takes no effort. Hope often requires enormous effort and shapes real lives.”

The transcendent quality of hope points to why researchers are coming to realize it is not only an emotion. It is a virtue.

As such, it must be cultivated, especially when times are toughest.

When I wrote the post, ‘Hope is an action word’, Chris’ amazing friend (who’s name is Hope) wrote a fantastic comment.  It simply said, ‘I am Hope’.

Yes you are.  Hope…you are Hope!

If you don’t mind, we are trying to be a little Hope-like ourselves!

The thing that really struck me about this article in the Sun was that in order for Hope to be Hope and not just a wish or dream, is that it required ACTION.

HOPE, DECISIONS, ACTION.

As I said on Friday, it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

Of course Sunday is here for Easter 2011, but we wait and live with HOPE for our next ‘Sunday’ with Chris whenever that will be.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Biology+hope+bolsters+Easter+central+message/4663871/story.html#ixzz1KRrA9apN

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Be The Best.

It’s Friday

Tony Campolo: Author and speaker on political ...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s Friday.

But Sunday’s coming.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard Dr. Tony Campolo speak.  An amazing orator, social activist and sometimes preacher.

If you’ve got 6 minutes, watch this video and listen to him go.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

Even before we lost Chris I always wondered about Good Friday.

What’s good about the cross and the suffering surrounding that event?

Not much.

The ‘good’ in Friday is the knowledge that Sunday is coming.

For Christians this is the core of the faith.  There is resurrection.  There is hope.  Sunday is coming.

For us as we long to see Chris again, we also recognize that it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

You can call Friday good, but nothing really good happened on that day, but in context, Sunday was coming and things got really good.

So today we’ll say, “It’s Friday….but SUNDAY’S COMING!!”

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Be The Best.

Kick that.

The Karate Kid
Image via Wikipedia

Have you seen that Karate Kid movie?

I haven’t…but I watched a preview, read a review and someone talked to me about it so I pretty much have…

I did see the first generation of films in the 80’s, and I know the 2010 film garnered a lot of solid positive reviews.

It was watching the preview bits on a Blue-Ray disc though that really caught my eye and ear.

The Mr. Han character (the amazing Jackie Chan) states ‘Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up.’

You can see it here at about 49 seconds in.

Life will knock us down…but we can CHOOSE to get back up.

There’s that word again!!

During a week like this where for whatever reasons the feelings of loss are amplified, we continue to choose.

Rock your weekend.

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Be The Best.

When the wind kicks up, you’re bound to get a few Whitecaps

250
Image via Wikipedia

Sports has been a big part of our family.

Whether coaching the boys soccer teams, Max playing basketball and Chris lacrosse.

Then there was the fan part of sports.

Tonight Ingrid and I ventured out to our first Whitecaps soccer game.

It was a fantastic experience…aside from the referee who felt he should be the center of attention, but alas before this becomes a sports rant, I’ll stop.  (cause if I don’t I’ll probably get a red card seeing as they were being handed out like candy tonight) ((ok, I’ll really stop now))

The crowd was great.  The game was great.  The atmosphere was great.  The company was great.

One of the first things Ingrid said to me as we sat down was what do you think Chris would think of the soccer team, MLS in Vancouver etc.  I said I knew he would love it and given the open air atmosphere of Empire Field, he probably had the best seats in the house tonight.

I will never forget the Canucks playoff run and disappointment last year and the anticipation of a BIG run this year.

It was riveting and was a great distraction in very tough times.  I think though, it was more than just a distraction.  It reminded me of the passion that only comes from sports.  The kind of passion that Chris lived with.  I think that’s the true attraction.

When the winds kick up and the storm is blowin, there are bound to be a few whitecaps on the water.  We’ve seen a few of those in our family this past year!

However, it was the Whitecaps tonight, that offered that wonderful first-hand look into the purity and passion of sport and remind us both of another amazing athlete and son we know, love and remember with every heartbeat.

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/gyuyzlrj Shared by randy_friesen.