Posted on October 13, 2016 under Faces in the Crowd with one comment

 

“Getting a Parkinson’s diagnosis at the age of 45 was a gift. It changed my attitude about being loved. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Meet Peter Davison.

Peter and his two sisters were raised in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. Like most small towns, there were upsides and downsides. “You never had to lock your home or bicycle. But everybody knew your dog’s name and what kind of milk you drank.”

His mother was a teacher and a social worker and his dad was an electrician and a man who could do anything with his hands. In addition to providing a nurturing home, his parents taught valuable lessons about being community minded and having high ethical standards.

After completing high school, Peter ventured off to King’s College in Halifax without the faintest idea of what he wanted to do. After his third year, he decided to take off to Europe to “find himself”, a popular pursuit during that era. While lying on a beach in Portugal, he came to the conclusion that teaching was in his blood. He returned to university and completed his studies, earning a B. Ed from Mt. St. Vincent University. His first teaching assignment was at his old Junior High School. It was odd being in the staff room with teachers who had taught him a scant few years before.

He spent a year teaching in Ontario before returning to Halifax. Over the years he developed and offered conflict resolution workshops for other teachers. The Montreal Massacre in 1989 was a seminal event for Peter. He became involved with the “ Men For Change” movement which promoted positive, healthy masculinity. He helped develop a teacher’s guide entitled “Healthy Relationships: A Violence Prevention Curriculum” which spread beyond Nova Scotia to places like California and Northern Ireland. He travelled often to do presentations for other teachers and professionals who worked with young children.

During this time he became a peace activist.

For a number of years, Peter worked on a Provincial Government program called, “Family Violence Prevention Initiative.” The work was emotionally draining and at the end of one particularly stressful and exhausting week, he fell asleep on the beach at White Point Beach Lodge. When he woke he spotted a derelict lobster trap that he took home to remind him that, in order to help others, he needed to look after himself.

From 2000-2014, he did training and motivational speaking. In 2005, at the age of 45, Peter noticed that he was having difficulty completing simple tasks like writing and brushing his teeth. He received the devastating news that he had Parkinson’s disease. How could this have happened to someone who had run marathons, never consumed alcohol nor smoked, and had hiked to base camp at Mt. Everest?

He kept the diagnosis from family and friends for a year. In 2006, he attended the Stan Rogers festival in Canso where he met an acquaintance from his past. Eighteen years earlier, he had criticized Andrea, a friend at the time, for wearing leather pants. “I was a self-righteous activist when I knew her before.” They rekindled an old flame and in short order, Peter told her about his health. They married the following July:  07/07/07 at 7:00 p.m.! In 2008, they adopted an infant. Hanna was joined by a brother, Vance, who was born in 2011.

Around 2012, Peter noticed that he was starting to have issues with voice control.   Two years later, he decided that his public speaking days were over. He refocused his energy and transferred his significant talents to his wife’s business as a marketer.

While he may have lost his ability to speak the way he once did, he did not lose his voice. He discovered that there were many people in situations similar, and in some cases, worse than his. He began to document these stories about how ordinary people react when they received “the hit”.  He recently published his first book called “The Gift of The Hit”, which tells the remarkable stories of people who have experienced a cancer diagnosis, ALS, car accident, blindness, sexual abuse and much more. (You can read about it here: www.giftofthehit.com )

“My kids bring me back into the present when I start to worry about the future. They keep me grounded and in the moment.”

His life is filled with love and laughter in spite of the challenges he faces on a daily basis. Somehow Parkinson’s has changed his life in a very positive way.

Keep “the hits” coming, Peter!

 

Posted on October 10, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

DJ dismantling the brick planter

 

“ There’s a reason that I love this town.”  Joel Plaskett

I have contended for a long time that Antigonish is one of the most amazing small towns in Canada. This past week, I got to witness this up close.

Regular readers ( thanks to all of you for your loyalty ) know that I am involved with local efforts to resettle Syrian refugee families. Our group ( CARE ) has  been working to bring two Syrian families to Antigonish. Early this week, we found out that a family of 6 would be arriving on October 11^th. We weren’t expecting to see them until later in the fall.

A few weeks back, we managed to secure a house for them but the house required extensive renovations which our group agreed to undertake as part of our agreement with the owner of the house. We expected ( and still do ) that the necessary repairs would take our group the better part of three weeks. The work started in earnest mid week last week… with a distinct air of urgency.

What I witnessed over the last four days reinforced my belief that small towns have the capacity to “move mountains” when the call goes out. We simply put out a request for all manner of help and people started to show up. We had trades people who donated their time and services. Carpenters, painters , gardeners , handymen ( handypersons… is there a correct name in 2016?! ) all volunteered. Several people have come every day.

Local businesses have also stepped up in a big way providing us with things that we need to get the job done.

On this Thanksgiving Day, we want to thank everyone who has helped so far. We are back at it today so if you want to drop by and lend a hand today, or any day this week, drop down to the house at 31 MacLellan Street.

One of the most touching things to happen this week was the appearance at the house by Toufiq Al Zhouri. Back in Syria, he owned his own construction company with 35 employees. The war in Syria changed all that. On Saturday, he arrived at the house on MacLellan Street and proceeded to hang gyproc, a classic case of friends helping friends. When asked if he might move to Halifax to seek construction work, he was adamant that Antigonish was his new home and that the family wasn’t going anywhere. The reason? “ It is safe and quiet here,” Toufiq said.

Another person showed up a few days ago carrying a bag. She indicated that even though she was a capable of drywalling and crackfilling, her arthritis prevented her from doing this because of the pain that she experiences on a daily basis. Arthritis has not, however, stopped her from baking. She opened the bag and produced fresh bisquits, fresh rolls and a plate of ham. Needless to say, the work crew was very appreciative.

In order to keep the project on time and on budget,  I have volunteered to not wield a hammer or a paint brush. We can’t afford any setbacks! As a result, I take my share of good natured ribbing from the work crew who check my hands regularly to see if they can find a speck of dirt.

We decided to shut things down at noon last Saturday to give everyone a breather.

 In the afternoon, I cajoled my son in law, DJ Conway, to come to MacLellan Street to help dismantle a decrepit brick planter. It looked like a pretty simple job. With youthful vigor, he went at the wall with a sledge hammer. I carried the bricks to an adjacent dumpster. ( Thanks, Jeff! ). Not long after we started, three small children from the neighborhood wandered over and just like that, there were four people carrying bricks. They were in high spirits and we were happy to have them.

In short order, my wife, two daughters and two granddaughters arrived on the scene. What started out as a work crew of two ( if you include me! ), ballooned to 10. The planter was filled with soil so shovelling a mixture of bricks and dirt was required. The grandkids had a great time rescuing worms!

“ There’s a reason that I love this town.”

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great week.

P.S.  Next week, I’ll let you know how the arrival went at the airport for our new Syrian friends.

 

Tout Finis!

 

 

 

Posted on October 6, 2016 under Faces in the Crowd with 2 comments

 

“My job enabled me to move frequently. Meeting new people was always interesting. It was a great learning experience.”

Meet Bill Draper.

He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a nomadic Imperial Oil agent. He vividly remembers the half mile walk to school on bitterly cold prairie mornings. In his youth, he played football, learned how to play the piano and drums and also had an interest in drama. He and his friends often rehearsed plays in the family basement, to the bemusement of his mother.

In the 40’s the family packed up and moved to Halifax, where Bill attended Queen Elizabeth High School. In his late teens, after completing high school, Bill began an apprenticeship in accounting with H.R. Doane. While working for Doane, he took his Chartered Accountant course by correspondence and received his C.A. designation at the age of 20. Around the same time he met Connie MacDonell at a dance and they were married before he turned 21.

I didn’t take long for the young Draper couple to establish their nomadic ways as Bill carved out new territory for the company, starting in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He took time from his busy work life to play drums in a band at the beach in Summerville. From an early age, Bill developed a philosophy that doing anything was possible if you put your mind to it. He simply assumed that any initiative would meet with success.

In the early 60’s, the family moved to Corner Brook, Newfoundland. At that time, getting to their home on the west coast of the island (other than by ferry) required a flight into Stephenville and then a perilous drive over rut-filled roads to Corner Brook.  Invariably, a rock or two would impale the gas tank. Bill’s solution was to carry a bar of Sunlight soap and use it to plug the leak in the gas tank by rubbing it repeatedly across the surface.

In the mid 60’s, Antigonish beckoned and this is where Bill and the family settled down.   He kept working until October of 2015, just shy of his 90^th birthday. It is conceivable that he is the longest serving Chartered Accountant in Canada … if not the world!

While he loved the accounting work, he equally enjoyed getting to know his clients and many of them became firm friends. And he made his presence felt in the community as well, as a member of the St. Martha’s Hospital Foundation and a board member of the Building for Youth group that successfully built the Antigonish Arena. He was an avid golfer and was also a pretty good carpenter, building both a boat and a shed.

Bill was no slouch in the kitchen either, turning his talents to baking pies and breads and making preserves in the fall of the year. By all accounts, he was a “man for all seasons.”  He still reads the Chronicle Herald and the Globe and Mail every day … cover to cover.

Bill’s family means everything to him. His entrepreneurial streak was in evidence when he came home one day and announced that he was going to open an electronics store, even though he had no expertise in this field (… that quiet, positive, confident attitude again.)  His instincts told him that a Radio Shack franchise would go. He approached his son Dennis. “I need a partner for the store,” and just like that they turned the burgeoning business into a success story.

My wife grew up across the street from the Draper family.  “Bill made us our first computer before anyone really had them in their homes.   He even built a desk for it – solid pine and still going strong.  They were wonderful neighbors and our parents were good friends.  We loved to watch the Draper boys come and go – they had great cars!”

Bill watched his four children grow up and now he revels in his grandchildren, and they in him.  Those who live nearby visit him every day.

A long time ago, one of his sons left home and asked Bill if he could leave his English setter, Sheba, with him for a bit. Forty years and three more Sheba’s later, Bill still finds comfort in having “man’s best friend” at his side. He walks Sheba every day, sometimes twice, and they are excellent company for each other.

Bill Draper has dedicated his life to his family, friends, business partners and his clients. He has been a good husband, a good father, a good grandparent, a good businessman, a good community man and good to his dogs. This is certainly a bill of goods that must make his family proud.