The poem read:
       "The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour.  Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time.  For the clock may soon be still."
       STORY NUMBER   TWO 
       World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.
       He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.
       One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission.  After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.
       He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his  ship.
       His flight leader told him to return to the carrier.  Reluctantly he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.
       As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.
       The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless.  He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet.  Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger.  There was only one thing to do.  He must somehow divert them from the  fleet.
       Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 calibers blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another.  Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.
       Undaunted, he continued the assault.  He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.
       Finally the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.
       Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.
        Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet.  He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.  This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of WW II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor.
        A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29.  His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.
       So the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor.  It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.
       SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER? 

       Butch O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son. 

My friend Bill Stewart recently shared the 911 recording of this with the gang at the poker game…

Distraught husband to 911…”My wife needs an ambulance!!”

911…”What is your address sir?”

Husband…”24 Eucalyptus Drive!”

911…”Can you please spell that?”

Husband…paaaaaaaaaaause….”I’ll drag her to Oak Street!”

…and a little reminiscing from old Airdrietown

My brother Floyd celebrated a birthday this week.  I’d like to relate a little story he shared with me. In the early 60’s Airdrie’s population was a staggering 200 and change.  The hiway ran through Airdrie on today’s Edmonton Trail, which required four service stations to handle the volume.  Gordon Morris’s Royalite station was situated where the Horseman Inn is now, Wally & Ed Anderson’s Esso would have been where the new car/truck wash is between the old Flames restaurant and Hugh Hamilton’s Registry office.  Arne Neilson’s Shell was where the Dairy Queen is and Wilson Cool’s Texaco stood tall between centre and First Avenue where the A&W stands today.

Our closet RCMP detachment was in Crossfield then. (This does pertain to the story…kind of.)

Upon Floyd’s hiatus from school (he would eventually return for his GED), he sought employment at both the Esso and the Texaco stations.  On the particular night in question, Floyd was working with Billy Lovell at the Texaco.  The Texaco occupied most of the frontage between first and centre and was situated smack dab in the middle which set up perfectly for the two boys to observe a car coming off the hiway rather slowly,  rolling up to the building and eventually coming to a stop.  Shortly thereafter a man opened the car door and sort of rolled out.  I think the lads thought he was drunk, not an uncommon occurrence in those days.   They helped him into the station but couldn’t get much out of him as he was very incoherent.  He did manage to convey to them that his buddy was still in the car though.  When Floyd investigated,   the buddy looked like he was sleeping and Floyd gave him a couple of nudges to wake him up to no avail.  They phoned the RCMP and the constabulary had Floyd try a few things including shaking him some more,   making Floyd a tad uncomfortable as he was convinced the guy was dead now.  NOT a common site in Airdrie, I might add!  Finally the cops advised Floyd that someone should drive the car into one to the stations bays until they could get there…not a pleasing thought to a couple of 16 year olds!  Floyd must have chose the short straw and with much grimacing he reluctantly got the car in.  Apparently these two gentlemen were returning to Calgary from Edmonton when sleepiness started to take its toll, so they pulled off the hiway for some shuteye.  Unfortunately, they backed up with their tailpipe in a snowbank and proceeded to gas themselves.  The driver awoke and somehow made his way in Airdrie and survived.  His friend did not though…Made for an exciting evening in sleepy town Airdrie on a winter’s night I’m sure!

I love these kinds of stories….enjoy

Two Stories Worth Reading
BOTH are true!!!! 
    STORY NUMBER  ONE 

      Many years ago Al Capone virtually owned Chicago.  Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.
      Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason.  Eddie was very good!  In fact Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
      To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well.  Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends as well.  For instance he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day.  The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.
       Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.  
       Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly.  Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld.  Price was no object.
       And despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach his son right from wrong.  Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.
       Yet with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.
       One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.
       He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity.  To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great.  So he testified.
       Within the year Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay.  Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

You are who you are for a reason.

You’re part of an intricate plan.

You’re a precious and perfect unique design,

Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.

Our God made no mistake.

He knit you together within the womb,

You’re just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,

And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,

And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, the trauma you faced was not easy.

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into his likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,

You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.

You are who you are, beloved,

Because there is a God!

 ~by Russell Kelfer~

“I am so happy & grateful because every day I wake up and get to be Salvador Dali!”

I graduated from George McDougall High School in Airdrie, the class of ’71.  Our graduation ceremonies were held in September of ’72, which was a common practice in those days.  The protocol of the day was to have our graduation supper in the town’s community Hall and then proceed to the High School gymnasium for the ceremonies and the dance.  Most of the ceremony consisted of the graduates going on stage to receive their diploma from the principal and each student was given the opportunity to relay his or her future plans to the teachers & parents.

There were a wide variety of proposed occupations voiced, including dentist, farmer, university degree of such and such, legal receptionist and so on and so on.  My claim to fame was to be…a laborer.  That was it.  There seemed to be lot of emphasis placed on ones vocation.  How many times have you heard some kindly Aunt or Relative ask a youngster,  “And what do you want to be when you grow up?” or to any pending graduate, “And what will you be taking in University or doing after graduation?” 

How about meeting someone for the first time, dollars to donuts the first question would be, “And what do you do for a living?” or if one has grown children, “And what do they do for a living?”  Years ago I met a young fellow from our high school whom  I’d not seen for many years.  I asked him the standard question and his reply was, “He worked for the Southland Corporation!”  Ah said I, you work for 7-11 then.  You see, I had worked for the Southland Corp. myself…

There seems to be a lot of people unhappy with where they work, whom they work for and what they do for work with the end result complaining about the first five days of any given week.  5/7^th of the week are sacrificed for the other 2/7^th .  The weekends serve only as a temporary reprieve from the blandness of the week.

I’m of the opinion now that any kind of reference to a vocation ‘pigeon-holes’ oneself.  I believe that restricting yourself to a set profession or job narrows ones possibilities and potential.  Russell Kelfer’s poem above states that we are precious & perfect and of a unique design and I’m thinking  that if we are of God’s design then that would make each and every one of us, ‘Without borders!’  Open to do anything we want…Opportunities Abound!

So, like Salvadore Dali’s quote above, perhaps your day would be much better served if you got to be, Trent La Marsh or Stan Jensen or Bill Stewart of whomever!  The pure essence of stating your name would mean the possibilities for you are endless! 

So, next time someone asks what do you do?...you could answer, “I’m being ‘your name’ and that’s quite a full time job, thankyou.” 

JUST DO IT!

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”  ~Yogi Berra.

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.” ~Jim Rohn.

…and with that I’ve embarked on ‘a few simple disciplines’ that I’m practicing every day as part of my ‘HEALTH PLAN’ and they are as follows:

1.  Practice the 5 Rites Exercises.  There’s much more value to these than just performing the exercises, which you can read about in Peter Kelder’s book, “Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth.”  The link to the exercises is below…http://thepdi.com/five_rites_of_rejuvenation.htm

2.  Go for a 30 minute walk every day… 

3.  Consume one ‘Shake’ a day.  I prefer USANA’S  ‘Nutrimeal’ shake…

4.  Consume at least one portion of veggies a day…

5.  Consume at least one portion of fruit a day…

6.  Consume vitamins/supplements each day.  I prefer USANA’s ‘Essentials’…

7.  Consume one food bar a day. Again, I prefer USANA’s version…

These are very basic steps to a Health Plan, wouldn’t you agree?  As the late great Jim Rohn said, “Eating an apple a day is easy, right?  But it’s also easy NOT to do…”  I certainly found this out! 

I started this routine 18 months ago when I weighed in at 270lbs.  I proceeded to lose 70lbs…and then regained almost all of it.  Sound familiar?  After going bankrupt, I allowed all sorts of negative ‘Stinkin Thinkin’ to seep in.  The ‘Poor Me’s, Not good enough, Botten Rastards, ‘ etc etc served as good excuses to NOT keep up…right?

WRONGO!  As T. Harv Eker would say, “How you do anything is how you do everything.”  And it became apparent that with my weight and health in decline so were other aspects of my life, including the finances.  So, in order to better my finances, relationships etc, I would need to better my health.

Let me say, I’ve chosen USANA’s products because they’re rated 5 star, so we decided to start our own home based business to receive them wholesale and because I think I’ve got a bit more understanding of the kind of products I’m consuming.  That being said…

The losing weight will come, of that I’m sure.  Knowing that the daily implementation of these 7 steps will better the other aspects of my life is big, plus building good habits is great for one’s esteem!

The 5 rites exercises take about 12 minutes tops to perform and combined with the 30 minute walk, the total time required is quite minimal….however, it does build a great foundation for discipline!  And when you start thinking about other endeavors, you can always use your daily health plan as a motivating key to other successes!

One other point I’d like to share is I didn’t want to focus on “Losing Weight” (There seems to be a negative connotation to that.), rather I wanted to focus on these 7 excellent steps.  I’ve picked these 7 easy steps because they’re easy to do and by implementing these on a daily basis I know I’ll have success!

Plus, I’ve now discovered my reason (s) for keepin on, keepin on!

And as old Red Green would say, “Remember, I’m pullin for ya!”