Blog 22

Blog 22 March 15 2012

Whirlwind!

It has been such a crazy time the first few months of 2012. A lot of big things have been happening since that stroke of midnight on December 31 2011, when I made that statement, that I will make 2012 my year!

Since then I found out that I was graduating at the end of this semester.

I sent in a new guide dog application and was called for my interview in January 2012.

In the beginning of February, I got called for my in-house interview.  On Feb 16, I did my Juno walk and all went well. Thanks S.

We thought that after the interview we were not sure when we would hear if I was accepted or not.

I studied hard for mid terms and did very well.

The hardest part is that recently we lost a good friend.

The next part was very shocking! One day after I heard about my friend passing away, I got a letter from the Canadian Guide Dog School informing me that I WAS ACCEPTED.

We both thought that it would be a few months before I heard anything about getting a new dog!

On March 15, 2012 about 2 hrs ago I got my phone call from the school that I will be heading for training on April 10 2012 and should be done by April 28.

If all goes well I will have A NEW DOG BY THE SUMMER!

I want to thank everyone for all your support.

Blessings to you All!

Blog 21 March 1 2012

Blog 21 March 1, 2012

Emotions

This week has been a very emotional week. On Tuesday evening I received a phone call from my lawyers  office! It was one of the lawyers that is a college of my good friend, Me S, Downs . I thought that he was calling me to give me a message from my friend who is usually in court or doing something!

He was calling me to give me sad news my friend had passed away on Saturday February 26 2012 of a sudden heart attack.

My wife and I were devastated he and his wife attend our wedding, in October and that was the last time we had spoke to him. I remember that I had not spoken or e-mailed him in a while and I was going to do that, but of course we get busy and you know the rest!   

He was a funny guy! He was about 6 foot 2 big strapping guy. He was one of guys that could disarm with his smile and had a hearty laugh.

We first met when I had security company and he took care of all the paper work and rest was history we became more that client lawyer became friends.

If any of you ever heard my wife say her job was to keep me alive and out of jail, well it because of him I stayed out Jail, (when you run a security company, you can get in trouble really quick)!

That is how we became good friends. When I started to lose my eyesight he called me and said if anyone bothers you, you call me and I will take that for you and he meant it.

He was like having a big brother when you are in trouble, and he would take care of it. I would call him with issues and he would just say “ Don’t worry about that I will take care of that for you, you just go and take care of your son and wife”  and I would thank him and leave the office feeling ok. A couple of days later he would call and tell me he took care of that issue, he would then tell me to take care and then he would hang up the phone, he would not wait for a thank you.

It is friends like that when they pass away is when we say I never got the chance to tell them how much their friendship meant to me.

I can honestly say that was not the case for me, I made a vow several years ago when I got sick that I would take every opportunity to tell my friends and family how much they mean to me every chance I got.

 At my wedding the first person I thank was Mr. Sylvain ,Downs because of him many bad things in my life did not happen. I remember my wife and I went to see him before I went into the hospital for my big surgery.

After we finished talking he said to my wife you call me and tell me how he is doing, and if you need anything or you have any problems you call me, and for a few months after the surgery he would call to see how I was doing and if I needed anything.

I will finish with this at our wedding we played a song for the bride and father dance or in our case our oldest son, by a group called Selah. The group is a contemporary worship group, the song was called

In my life/If we never meet again.

The lyrics go something like this; If we never meet again on this side of heaven, then we meat down by the shore!  

My best man and one of my best friends asked why did we choose that song, I simply put it that the words say it all.

So I will leave you with this, don’t leave anything on table! Life is too short tell the people who mean the most to you every day how special they are to you, tell your kids you love them every day, and your spouse,  smile more and dance like nobody watching.

Because if you never meet again on this side of heaven, then you have to wait until you meet by those beautiful shores!

This was in memory to one of my best friends Sylvain Downs, you will be sadly missed!

J&A and Family

  

Blog 21 February 17 2012

Blog 21 February 17 2012

Forward Moving! Part 2

Well it is over! The interview ended about an hour ago. The trainer left the house around 3pm, he arrived at 11am. I have to tell you we both had a lot of questions. He got to see how much we care about the dogs, Jags and how much love we had for him. He also got a good feeling that any guide dog that came to the house would have no doubt a caring and loving home. He was shocked at the amount of traveling and walking that I do and the different environments I am in. I told him how Jags and I would go out for a day to University, or to conferences, or go and talk at a school, he was surprised. At the end of all the talking we went for a walk.

I have say this that if it were not for one of my best friends taking the time with me to help me prepare for today I would probably not have been as successful as it was.

I explained every intersection in our area asked which one he would like me to cross at. He was surprised that I knew each one and how they worked. My friend and I spent  a couple of hours yesterday afternoon figuring out routes, my friend time all the lights at each intersection. We went over traffic flow at each intersection. If it was not to all that preparation the test walk would not have gone as well as it did. I could not have asked for a better test walk! The evaluator was happy with my line, he was happy with my traffic understanding and he was really happy with my handling skills.

All in all it went very well!  

Now we wait to hear from the school to see if I was accepted, and if I was, it will be just a matter of time to go for training and getting a new dog.

But for now it is time to put my feet up and have a coffee!

Blog 20 February 17 2012

Blog 20 February 17 2012

Forward Moving

As I mentioned in my last blog it was coming to the end of January and I had not broken any of my New-Year’s resolutions! Well that still stands I have just been having a good time with things. Somewhere in my logical crazy thinking, I said to myself instead of this being my year I was going to make it my year, and so far I have!

I decided to have a meeting with my academic advisor about my program ( like we are suppose to do every year) I was preparing for the meeting and as I looked at my course I realized that this was my last semester in this program. What does that mean?  I have finished my certificate in Pastoral Ministry! Yuppie, Hurray, Yahoo! As I sat down to celebrate I also came to the realization now what do I do?

So with that in mind I went to my meeting and spoke with the advisor and we both agreed that I should go into the majors program. This means a B.A. in Theology. As I reflect back ( I did not say look back) lol, it has been quite a Adventure. I also came to the realization that I need a dog!

This leads to the next part of the Forward Moving. The day after the meeting, I was having a coffee

with  my wife, and yes (I did tell her when I got home but my youngest son had a friend over so we did not real talk )meeting, as I was starting to speak  with her  little bit more about  the meeting, (I was also going to tell her that I really need to get another dog), as we started to talk the phone rings (another interruption)it was the guide dog school that I applied too. As I started to speak with them I found myself sitting in front of my computer booking the next phase of the application process. The home interview and test walk.

So today is my in home interview and test walk. As I am writing this the walk has not happened yet! So in about a half hour the next process starts it will take three hours or so!

Hang on to your hats folks because the next Blog will tell you how I did!

Blog 19 Turning Point

Blog 19 February 2 2012

Turning Point !

I cannot believe that January is over! It felt like we were just at New Years Eve! Well they say that after the first 30 day’s that the New Year’s resolutions are broken and people return to their old bad habits you know the ones, eating fast foods, not going to the gym eating chips in front of the TV, all things thing’s you said that you would not do this year but you are! Well I can honestly tell you that I did not make any of those promises so I do not feel bad for doing them! The big promise I made for myself this year was if I am not having fun doing something I am not going to do it! I have to tell you it has been a hard promise to keep. Trying not to fall in those same traps, but this last 31 days have been a lot of fun. I have been back to University since the 3^rd of Jan and I have never looked back. I have good professors, I am taking another course at a different University once a week and I have even been to lecture in the evening.   I have to tell you my wife was scared to death about me being downtown at night without a dog, I had to remind her that I was big boy. One of my other resolutions was to get back out traveling on my own and not relying on a lift. Not that I was not traveling on my own before but I was not as independent as I was when I had Jags, so that was one more of my goals.

I have been thinking a lot about Jags since on February 1^st was 8 months to the day that he passed away. It has been a lot of 8 month anniversaries, it was 8 months since Eric passed away and ironically it was 8 months since my best friend got married, the strange thing was for that time period we were at his house for the wedding he was just at our house for those very same dates.

So as we head into the month of February I can honestly tell you that I am very glad that we have not had a lot of snow! This is the time I think about Jags and how much he helped me.

When we would walk on the ice he would turn his body just on a little angle to give me some extra support, I did not have to worry about finding the trail on the side walk and I definitely never had to worry about snow banks on corners or big puddle of water and slush at the corners. Jags would always find the best route to take. Walking with a cane in the winter is really a very hard thing to do, there is no tact-tile way of finding the sidewalk when it is covered with snow it is hard to find the edge of the side walk so you kind of guess where you are. Trying to walk in a straight line, listening to traffic making sure you are not in the middle of the street. If you ever want to get the feel of walking with a cane in the winter is like and trying to find your way down the street. Take a broom handle and go outside close your eyes and try to walk to the corner of your street. I am hoping that this won’t be for long.

As I mentioned I sent my application into a school for a new dog. At the beginning of January I had my first phone interview, it went well and now it is waiting for good weather for the second interview that last for about 3 to 4 hours, this is including a walk using my cane and also walking with the trainer to mimic how I handle a guide dog, after that it is another phone interview and if all goes well I wait until a dog is suited for me.

So the long and the short of it is that it will still take a while yet to get another dog.

In the mean time things are great and I and my family are doing well and we are just having fun!           

Blog 18 December 31, 2011

The End to the Beginning

It is New Years Eve and like most people I cannot wait for this year to end! The symbolism behind the last day of the year, for most is putting the bad or the good behind them and of course starting of a new. I am usually one of those people you know (type A) personality that make a list and have a plan! for what they want to achieve for the upcoming year.    We sit down make resolutions for the upcoming year and for some there resolution is no more resolutions. I never understood that because that in its self is almost impossible. The reason I say it is impossible is that you are not the only one on the planet your life is intertwined with others and they manage to draw you into goal setting be it your boss, friends or partner so when people say that they are not making resolutions that in itself is a resolution.

As I look over the past year I can honestly say I cannot wait for midnight to come. It was very hard year the loss of Eric, Jagger The loss of my best friend’s father, and our good friend who passed away not too long ago and of course not having a guide dog made this year very tough it created a lot of issues for me. I have to tell you that this year was not all bad and I am a type of person that does not like to dwell on things but as the year comes to close I want to share the highlights of this year.

The first thing was the healing of my foot injury that lasted a year and half it finally healed. The second item was that we spent a week reconnecting with an old friend of my wife’s whom became a very close friend of mine we had a wonderful time together and she gave us an incredible gift of our wedding invitations.   We got to enjoy one of our best friend’s weddings over the summer. We came to realize how lucky we were to have great family and friends. The last and I think the most important was getting married to my childhood sweetheart and my best friend which for me was the strong close to the year. It was a time that brought our family’s closer together. We had our best friends as the best man, and matron. We had our best friend marry us. We had all our kids apart of the service and wedding party. We took time to honour the people we lost and enjoyed the people that were there. We got to see as we call them our new adopted grandchildren enjoy the wedding with. We got to watch many miracles happen before during and at the end of the evening.   

This leads me to my New Year’s resolution which is very simple to live life as it was meant to be.  We are going to have more fun in our lives. We will do more things together as a couple and as a family. I am going to train more because it makes me feel good. I am going to go on more walks with my wife in the woods and by the river. I am going to go to university to study not with the hopes of starting a new career right away but for the enjoyment of learning about Theology, not just for the spiritual part but for the rich history it has. I am going to meet more people and get to know them. I will laugh more and tell more jokes. Take more journeys. I have some new projects I am working on that are fun and everyone will enjoy.  Quite simply I am going to enjoy life more.

Cheers!

Happy New-Year 2012.       

Blog 17 December 4 2011

End of the Semester; A New  Mountain To Climb. 

It’s that time Christmas break the end of the semester. Hooray!! I don’t mind telling you it has not been easy. I have one more paper due on Friday and of course it will take everything for me to get it done.

This semester has been a big learning curve for me it has been hard to focus. I had so many things happening at the same time, the wedding, hospital appointments and a tremendous amount of reading to do, along with papers it has seemed like I have been doing papers.

I learned that I don’t enjoy walking with a cane especially in the snow, but the good news is and that’s why I am writing this blog tonight is ??? I finished my application for the Canadian Guide Dog School and sent it on Saturday, and now the waiting to hear from them begins. We sure miss having a dog in the house and we sure Miss Jags a lot, but hopefully things will work out.

A funny thing happened on the way to the post office, a lady stopped me and asked how long have I been blind, not a strange question since I get this all the time. I could tell by the shadow on her face she was wearing wrap round sun glasses ( normally worn by a person who is visually impaired) she began to tell me that she had an eye problem, asked where her cane was? She began to tell me that she was afraid to use it because she did not want people to stare at her, and she had some sight and was afraid of the repercussion of some people might say. I have to tell you that this is not the first time that I hear of this, and I have experienced this myself. I could hear the pain in her voice as she was talking to me, I have to tell you this conversation took place in French, and my French is not the greatest but we communicated ok, with each other. As I stood there listening to her, I got this overwhelming feeling that I was suppose to meet this person, as I call it a (Jabez moment ) 1^st Chronicles 4:10 we talked for a few more moments she told me that someone was coming this week to show her the cane. I gave her my card with my cell phone number and told her to call me if she wanted someone to go out with and practice with her cane. I write this not to tell you about me, but the importunes of helping people. I thankful everyday for my wife and kids, my friends, my family because they have always been there to support me, when I lost Jags they were there to ensure that I got around until I felt comfortable enough with my cane. I don’t know if she will call me but even if she does not at least she knows that someone is there to help her if she wants it.      

So with that said I will keep everyone posted about the dog, and I will tell everyone  how this semester plays out.,and if I hear from that lady, I will keep you posted.

Until then look for your Adventures Around The Corner.