LIFE LESSONS

A kind e-mail this morning from good friend Rob Sedran made my day. It read in part…

Hi Mike

How are you these days? Hope everything is ok on your end. The amount on your plate this year has gone from a 9" styrofoam size to a 12" Chinette.

Rob

Rob is the funniest guy I know and one of the kindest. His thoughtful message made me realize that working with 12" Chinette can be demanding but it is far more enduring and meaningful than the flimsy world of Styrofoam.

Indeed, the last few months have been hectic. No sooner had my visits with Jacques ended than my mother’s health began to fail. At ninety two, it’s hard to bounce back when you’re down.

My experience with Jacques was remarkable and has taught me many life lessons. Let me share three with you.

1) Life is finite…use it well.

   As I sat with Jacques and worked with him on his eulogy just two weeks before his
   death, I was struck by the realization that his time was almost up…that he was
   measuring his life in days, not in years.

   No, it hasn’t made me want to draw up a bucket list but it has made me appreciate that
   every day is a gift to be used wisely. If you don’t have your own agenda, someone else
   will give you theirs.

2) Laugh more.

   I’ll never forget how Jacques continued to joke around right up to his last day. In fact,
   as he got closer to the end, he got funnier than I had ever seen him.

   If you’ve got a good joke or story…share it. Here’s mine.

   Immediately preceding Jacques’ funeral mass, it was announced that his eulogy would
   be read in English…by me.

   I was more surprised than anyone when I heard my name announced. I thought I was
   supposed to do the first reading, that the eulogy was being handled by Jacques’ family.

   As I approached the lectern, the facilitator whispered,

   “Where’s your copy of the eulogy? I only have a French version.”

   My heart skipped a beat. True, I’ve been working on my French but this was not the
   proper venue to reveal the limited extent of my progress. After a few moments, the facilitator
   found an English copy of the first page of what I knew was a two page message.

   I forged ahead with the eulogy but as I my reading neared the bottom of the page, I
   slowed, realizing that I might have to wing page two in a few moments.

   Much to my relief, as I finished the page, the facilitator inexplicably came forward and
   thanked me before calling on Jacques’ sister Bernadette to do the reading in French.

   I’d been rescued.

   Thankfully, the facilitator’s listening skills that day were on a par with my French
   translation skills as she later explained she thought I had finished.

    I certainly hope Jacques didn’t mind the mix up.


3) Trust in the plan even when it seems to be going off the rails.

   When Jacques was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he continued to hope for a
   reprieve, for a miracle. When it became apparent that wasn’t going to happen,
   he bravely surrendered his body to his disease but at the same time resolved
   to embrace God’s new plan for him. What an inspiration.

   With a CT scan in a few weeks to check up on the status of my lymphoma, I too must
   continue to trust in the unfolding plan for Mike 2.0

And speaking of plans, the memorial service for Jacques in Toronto is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, September 8 at the Jerrett Funeral Home near Yonge and Steeles.