Help Me Say Goodbye

 

Help me say goodbye
To the flowers when they die
And to remember their beauty
Not just wistfully
But gratefully recall
The happiness once shared
The loveliness we rightly feared
Could not last forever

But last a little longer
In the graveyard of the mind
In the earthy soil of kind
And loving memories
In the soil of a heart made rich
By laughter, love and tears
Turned now into reveries.

    - Terry

Quiet Tectonic Shift by Catholic Church on May Day

St. Joseph the Worker

Pope Francis today said in his homily on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker: “Today we join the many men and women, believers and non-believers, who commemorate the Day of the Worker, Labor Day, for those that fight to have justice in work, for those business people who treat those in their employ with justice.” (1)
This amounts, in my view, to a tectonic shift in official Catholic attitudes and thinking. Why do I say this?

Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto in 1848 in militant defence of the rights of workers against the exploitation of those who owned the means of production - 'Capitalists'. A full forty-three years after that, in 1891, Pope Leo XIII published 'Rerum Novarum', the Church's take on the same subject matter, the rights of workers against exploitation, and declaring the dignity of human labour.

Ten years after the Second World War, with Communism, usually atheistic, gaining traction in Europe, and May Day celebrations getting bigger each year, Pope Pius XII, in 1955, established the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker to be celebrated on May 1 as a counter-celebration to the Communists’ May Day. Now today, with Pope Francis, no longer in a counter-celebration but in a con-celebration, we join the many men and women, believers and non-believers, who commemorate the Day of the Worker, Labor Day, for those that fight to have justice in work, for those business people who treat those in their employ with justice.

(1) https://zenit.org/articles/on-feast-of-st-joseph-the-worker-pope-appreciates-good-businessmen-who-protect-workers-like-children-full-text/
See also: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2020-05/pope-francis-mass-joseph-work-dignity-just-wage.html
and: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/05/on-st-joseph-feast-day-pope-prays-for-workers-employers/

To the Women in My Life - on International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day.
There are and have been many famous and wonderful women in the world, but today I wish to acknowledge, honour and thank all the women in my life, past and present.

Chronologically, I have to start with my mothers - both of them, Patsy and Marjorie. And my grandmothers and aunts. Then, and most especially, I have to honour and thank Ingrid, the love of my life and mother of my children; and, of course, her mother. I also need to recognize Ingrid's many friends over the years - sisters in a kind of benign conspiracy of mutual support that men take years to work out even exists, but can never hope to understand, let alone emulate.

At some point my daughters in law and my own daughters took up a special place in that bond of sisterhood with Ingrid and I hope to live long enough to see my granddaughters join that special circle. In the meantime they are already enriching my life beyond anything they could today know or understand. Little, sweet Aubrey, take your place there with pride. You have enriched my life beyond my own ability to comprehend.

To all the women in my life, without you there would be no life and no life worth living. Thank you.
And to the myriad other women who strive, unrecognized, to make this world a better, kinder, more loving place, thank you.

Congratulations, Dr. Judith

Last Friday, 20 June, Ingrid and I were thrilled and proud to be present at Judith's graduation from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. Proud and happy siblings, Miriam and Sean, were also there as well as the ever supportive Mark, her boyfriend of nine years (plus) going back to high school days.

The ceremony was not at the College but at The Carlu, a venue very well suited for the occasion.

After the hooding ceremony (I'm waiting for pictures of that from Mark) we joined the throngs fighting for savouries and sweets in the reception foyer; approx. 165 candidates, each candidate averaging 5 guests. When the queue I was following down one side of one of the tables flowed into a queue coming in the opposite direction, the effect was much like the currents off Cape Point. I'm surprised that there weren't disasters to match; most people bravely tried to be patient though one gentleman shortly informed me that I was "going the wrong way."

Ingrid and I were fortunate to have Miriam as our navigator through the Toronto down-town core and its traffic while I drove. Since she works close by she is quite familiar with the area while Ingrid and I feel very much like plattelanders (country bumpkins) from Holland Landing in the Far North.

Walking from the parking garage to The Carlu I saw this dog in the window and stopped to take a picture. When I was done, Ingrid and Miriam had disappeared. I relived the moments of panic that I had as a young boy in Durban when my mother took me to "town" and would disappear when I stopped to look at something. I hastened to the corner in the direction they were walking and looked up the street; no Ingrid and Miriam. I looked down the street; there they were about 40 metres on. When I caught up with them it was obvious that they had not realized my absence, so deep were they in mother-daughter stuff or, worse, they didn't care.

When we arrived back at Miriam's we cracked open a bottle of 2006 Chilean Carménère that Judith had kept for three years for just this occasion.

Here's to you, Judith, Doctor of Chiropractic. We wish you every success and happiness in your future career.

2012 Year in Review by Luisa

Heather and Stephen (Official) Wedding Photos

You just have to love it.

This is Heather's communication to her FaceBook  friends on the availablity of their wedding photos:

Steve and I want to thank everyone for all of the lovely sentiments and posts on facebook. We also want to thank everyone for the beautiful photos taken during our wedding. We are so lucky to have so many special friends and family members. We have included a link to our amazing photographer's blog that includes a photograph snap shot of our special day. Enjoy!

Not to be outdone, this is Stephen's communiqué:

Our photographer has put up some photos from our wedding on her blog.

Anyway, here is the link to Stephen and Heather's Wedding photos at samantha erin photography. Their photographer did a wonderful job, I'm sure you will agree.

Wedding photos added

On the "Photo Galleries" page I have added links to two albums with just a few of the pictures that I took at Heather and Stephen's wedding. Go on over and have a look.

Here are a few for the blog record:

The bug is supposed to bring good luck. So much for post-grad education.

Gavin, Mary Ann, Stephen, Heather, Rob

Heather, Caitlyn, Jonty, Stephen, Claire

Heather helping Stephen get dressed properly

Off on their honeymoon...

Easter email from Peterborough

Luisa sent us this email on April 26.

Hello family!  I hope you are all well.  We are great :)  April has been a busy month as we gear up for our big two storey addition starting May 1st.  Mark and his friends took a day to demolish a small room off the kitchen and an old garage, to make way for the new build.  

And now, with our garage gone, Mark has designed and is building a shed at the end of our garden, with the help of friends and his brother Stephen.  What a handy bunch they all are!  Its quite a big shed, but I've been told by many how quickly it will fill up!

Jonty's vocabulary is growing very quickly.  We think he is up to about 15 words now.  He loves balls and sticks.  Everything is a ball--the moon, our curtain rod ends, oranges...very cute.  

On Easter weekend we had the pleasure of having Claire with us.  








She and Jonty loved playing together--




we went to the zoo, the park, the market, 


they played in the house, the backyard, went for walks...it was a blast.  

On Easter Sunday, Oma and Grampa Mac organized an Easter Egg hunt for the two of them, which they loved.


Chuss!


Luisa, Jonty and Mark

Happy 96th, Aunty Bessie

Today Aunty Bessie turned ninety-six (96) years old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNTY BESSIE !!!

Aunty Bessie in her early twenties, Durban Bay

To Ingrid - On Our Anniversay

I love travelling with you
The two of us together
Travelling with you the view
Is always perfect.


There are twists
And there are curves
And there've been bumps along the way -


But travelling with you the view
Is always perfect.

Christmas Day and After

Christmas Day McCann clan gathering was all about enjoying relaxed time together, a huge dinner with turkey and lamb roasts and ham, chatting on the phone with James and on Skype with Jonty, Luisa and Mark, and opening presents from our not-so-secret Santa's. Everybody got the requests that they had emailed Santa so that worked out really well :-)

Here's a gallery of pictures from the day.

Christmas Tree 2011

Duck Prosciutto by Sean

Claire with kitty hat from Aunty Lulu

Claire standing on head - decoration on bum

Miriam at about the same age that Claire is now

Another photo of Miriam on the same day

Winter came late.
It was not a white Christmas. Winter came 3 days later...

Back yard 3 days after Christmas

Looking across to the neighbours

Telephone cable in sheath of snow

And now for something completely different - MIDI controller for mizmar/zurna.
Andy is a family friend, a few years older than Miriam, who goes a long time back into the deep mists of time. An accomplished musician and performer, he also builds his own instruments as a hobby. Take a look and listen for yourself as Andy presents his latest creation.
You don't know what a zurna is? Don't worry, I had never heard of one before either. Click here to read up about the zurna and mizmar.

Love, Joy and Peace at Christmas

Christmas is the time when we at Kwa-McCann celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

We recognise that not all of our friends see Jesus in the same way that we do and we respect that.

No matter. At this time we wish all of our friends all the blessings that this season offers: love, joy, peace, goodness.

Love,

Terry, Ingrid and all the family.