Valuable Lessons

Happy Monday everybody.

With the Winnipeg Scottish Festival fast approaching we've been very very busy this past couple days.

Incidentally I've also been flooring our bedroom, and gigging....

I wanted to draw light on a few things that I haven't quite had the heart to talk about.

A few weeks back Chris Milne lost his father. I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Milne once and he was a kind a gracious man. I'm not very good at making quick impressions of people, but knowing the son he raised, Mr. Milne must've been a gem.

There's always some connection between parents and Pipers and Drummers. Sometimes a parent played, or just encouraged, but it's there. So the first practice back is never easy. I'm glad to have Chris back at practice, it balances the band having him around and we wouldn't be the same without him.

Shortly after that we received the sudden and sad news that Alan Ford's father had passed away. This came as some shock to many of us as Mr. Ford had just returned home from a trip to Scotland to visit family. Mr. Ford was a great band supporter and I know following the passing of his beloved wife he spent a great deal of time in the company of family.

It is a blessing that he met his grandson Graeme Ford before he passed. He will be greatly missed.

I once wrote about Mr. Ford. At that point I hardly knew him. But he had taken ill and his sudden turn of health served as a wake-up call to myself in a time when I was quite blind by working and band etc. Since then I have spent a good deal more time enjoying my life, family, friends, and the fun side of pipe bands.

The night before I heard about Mr. Ford's passing my own father rushed himself into hospital. Another wake-up call. My dad (John, Johnny, JJ, etc.) suffered a mild stroke and managed to get to a hospital safely. It turns out the life he lead at my age caught up with him in his mid-60's.

My dad is diabetic and has really turned his life around the past few years as far as diet control and enjoying life. I'm extremely proud of the changes he made. But the scales were still unbalanced and he must now undergo surgery to deal with some blockages.

And I have attention issues.

See?

I don't skip my attention around like the the previous two lines might suggest. My problem is I put up blinders. Anything that isn't right in front of me I forget about. This goes for family. My old man lives in the absolute boonies. A long drive to any civilization. Thus I tend to forget to call him. Not a day goes by he doesn't cross my mind but it's usually while at the desk etc.

The other side to this health scare... I AM my father. Not by choice. Dad has warned me plenty of times about his mistakes as a young man. But try as I may I can't stay out of the drive-thru... I look in the mirror and he's staring right back at me.

The lesson I didn't learn from Mr. Ford's sudden illness I learned the moment I read of his passing. The lessons I pretended to learn from my Dad I learned immediately when my sister called me. I have a few young guys in the corp and I thought maybe I should share these lessons in the hope they take them without learning them the hard way.

Lesson #1 - Make best of the time you have, make sure loved ones are treated as such, because you just never know

Lesson #2 - No matter what has happened, no matter how busy you are, take a moment, sit down, and call your parents.

Lesson #3 (The one my dad tried to warn me of) - For everything there is a cost, what you do as a young man will catch you later.

Rest in Peace Mr. Milne, Mr. Ford, and thanks to the good Lord for giving me a second chance to appreciate my parents, both of them, crazy as they may be :).

Look for the silver lining. In every loss there is always a balance. This weekend we welcome Andrew Chorney to the family. Jen and the baby are both healthy, and Dave... well he's still Dave and we can't ask for miracles.

Finally a baby that isn't pre-destined to play bagpipes!


Cheers

Sean