By Chance Alone, The World Around Us, Give'r all ya got!

Good Morning from Prince Edward Island,

Thank you for inviting me in for a cup of tea, put the kettle on and let's chat.

Don't wish to start off with sad news, but we lost someone dear to us late last week. 

Windsor MacDougall, my wife's brother was an incredible force of nature; we lost him to a heart attack last week. He was a wonderful family man leaving his best friend and wife Linda to shepherd their four adult children through the phases of their lives. He was a strong man of faith. He had a great sense of humour with the ability to make a pile of rocks laugh. I loved Windsor for his willingness to help anyone who needed it without considering his sacrifice financial or otherwise. He will be missed. He was so loved by all who knew him.

Heart disease is the number one killer of life in the world, and I found watching this video is a fantastic testament to our human desire to improve itself continually.

Many of us wish that extraordinary things will happen to us, but we have all the potential to make extraordinary things happen for good as well.

The flip side of doing things for good is the story of what happened to Max Eisan.

Tibor “Max” Eisen was born in Moldava, Czechoslovakia into an Orthodox Jewish family. He had an extended family of sixty members, and he lived in a family compound with his parents, his two younger brothers, his baby sister, his paternal grandparents and his uncle and aunt. In the spring of1944--five and a half years after his region had been annexed to Hungary and the morning after the family’s yearly Passover Seder--gendarmes forcibly removed Eisen and his family from their home. They were brought to a brickyard and eventually loaded onto crowded cattle cars bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. At fifteen years of age, Eisen survived the selection process, and he was inducted into the camp as a slave labourer.

Just days after his 90th birthday, Max Eisen has been named the winner of CBC’s annual Canada Reads competition for his Holocaust memoir his 2016 book, By Chance Alone tells his story of being taken to Auschwitz at the age of 15 to work as a slave labourer. He came to Canada in 1949.

"I am inspired by the need to document my story so others may learn from the past. On a personal level, I have a highly developed sense of observation of the world around me, which constantly inspires and motivates me to take action." Max Eisen

Here he speaks to why he wrote it.

I have ordered two books, one for me and one for you. Anyone who comments on today's blog will have their name put into a hat, and a draw will be done, and one winner will be announced in next weeks blog. As soon as the name is chosen, the book will be wrapped up with some treats and sent to its new home.

Today's blog is not about dying; it is about living. Our legacy of being a friend to someone still has time to be learned and nurtured. If already a good friend to others, encourage others to be good friends as well.

"The hunger to belong is at the heart of our nature. Cut off from others; we atrophy and turn in on ourselves. The sense of belonging is the natural balance of our lives." John O'Donohue, Eternal Echoes

Just to put a million and a billion in perspective, did you know that a million seconds represents 11 days, and a billion seconds represents 33 years?

On that note, I have to run, good friend coming for tea to discuss David Benner's The Gift of Being Yourself. It is a compassionate and accessible, witty and fun book. A gift to the dedicated seeker of knowledge.

While writing this morning, I have been listening to a new Shubert recording by Khatia Buniatishvili while writing this morning. It is so kind to the psyche. Listen here. The passion with which she interprets and plays is another example of humanity's heart displaying the beauty of our design. Each of us is unique and special, symbolically shared through her expression of each musical note.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, you have 86,400 seconds today. Don't be anxious, have fun and use them wisely. 

With love from Prince Edward Island, 

Bruce

ps.

Three seniors are out for a stroll. 

One of them remarks, “It’s windy.” 

Other replies, “No way. It’s Thursday.” 

The last one says, “Me too. Let’s have a soda.”