Whatever He Says

By Belinda One of Paul 's dee p callings is to come alongside the First Nations of norther n Onta rio personally and by encourag ing other s to support their efforts to build strong communities where young people grow up with a sense of t heir value and worth . The North South Partnership needs our vote s as they compete for funding for a beautif ul synthetic ice rink for Nibinamik First Nation! . Check out their creative video and f ollow this link to vote .   Click on this link https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf13476 and vote! As the grandmother of 3 hockey play ers I support this great pro ject for children!

By Belinda We waited  in the emergency department  at  Langley Memorial Hospital  until  it was Mum's turn to be treated. The nurse attending her exclaimed at the dressing on her arm. "Who did this?" she wanted to know, "This isn't just any dressing." "It was a vet!" we took delight in telling her. "Well," she said, laughing, "You should be careful, they shoot horses you know." As usual wherever I went with Mum, a party was happening, even in the middle of a stressful situation.  I hurt with her as I saw the nasty gash in her arm, thinking that the fragile skin would be hard to stitch together. I wished that it was my arm into which the doctor put the long needle loaded with anesthetic. Thirteen stitches later it was over, and we were on our way to enjoy the wonderful wedding with dear friends that was the real reason for our trip to British Columbia. We had certainly not been quiet, unobtrusive guests so far, to C...

By Belinda Note: I almost forgot to add that this post was submitted as Whatever He Says's entry in Dave Hingsburger's  6th Annual Disability Blog Carnival! My continuing story about Mum is not forgotten, but the 32nd annual Holocaust Education starts next week (it runs from November 1-8,) and this year I intend to participate in it by attending as many local events as I can manage. I reviewed the brochure, Culture of Memory,  published by the  Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre  in Toronto and chose carefully from an overwhelming number of options. Yesterday I had the honour of attending the grand opening ceremony of  The Maxwell and Ruth Leroy Holocaust Remembrance Garden , at the Reena Community Residence in the City of Vaughan. Paul had the greater honour of having participated for two years on the committee designing the garden and of being the keynote speaker. Sometime in the next week I will share a story, or maybe more than one,...

By Belinda Dave  beat me to this gentle reminder not to miss voting in the  Canadian Blog Awards ! The site is a great place to visit to discover new and interesting blogs that you might otherwise not know of. Dave's blog  Rolling Around in My Head  is nominated in two categories: Best Personal Blog and Best Health Blog. Whatever He Says is nominated in Best Religion or Philosophy Blog.   You can vote by clicking  here . :) Voting in round 1 ends November 1!

By Belinda After our misadventures of the night before, Mum and I woke up on the day of the wedding that we had traveled so far to attend, in the well appointed comfort of the de Lint's guest cabin.   I peeked through the slat of a blind and saw that we were in beautiful natural surroundings, with mountains beyond the trees that encircled the cabin. We had not been up long when Cors de Lint came over from the house to check on his "patient."  As he carefully unwrapped the dressing that he had applied in the early hours of the morning, we both saw that the jagged gash was serious and in need of medical attention.  This only confirmed my assessment of the night before but we were grateful to at least have been refreshed by a few hours of sleep before going to Langley Memorial Hospital.  With Cors' directions we dressed for the wedding but set off for the hospital instead of the luncheon at Ingrid and Arthur's home We had no choice but to go with a differ...

My cousin Deborah, sent me a link to this song by   Olivia Newton-John  .  Maybe someone else will be as blessed as I was by the simple message of surrender. Belinda

By Belinda At dinner on the eve of the wedding, my friend Ingrid leaned over and pointed out an animated, slim, woman with short blond hair who was laughing as she talked to someone. "That's Ank, whose guest house you'll be staying in," she said.  As the celebratory meal wound down, she introduced us to Ank, and Cors her husband; tall, trim and grey haired, a retired veterinary surgeon. After brief "hello's!" we prepared to follow them to their home, a little out of town. It was already late evening and dark when we got there, and Ank showed us to the guest house on their property, a short distance from their bungalow.  On the door of the guest house, or "cabin," as they called it, hung a sign that said, "Mi Casa Es Tu Ca sa," "my home is your home," in Spanish. That turned out to be an indication of the warm hospitality that awaited us. Ank quickly showed us around the two bedroomed guest house that co...