Spring as it should be...spring in Victoria

This has been, all but for my health, a typical spring - tens of thousands of miles in the air...hotels...conferences and schools! I remain focused on my good fortune and what I can do to make a difference. My dad died in December and with that, my immune system took a time out.

I spent months struggling with one thing or another. Between that and Ontario's harsh winter, I had to remind myself what spring can be like...what good health feels like and how fortunate we Canadians are in every way. This picture was taken in our garden in the month of March. No kidding!

...touring is not all work

Steve Rensink (Makwa) and I celebrated with his son Nolan on Nollie's 14th birthday. The Jays beat Houston on this night. We did it all - hot dogs, popcorn, drinks and candyfloss. Travel has perks...  

It's spring. Paris has come and gone. I've been to Edmonton, Burlington, Brampton... Today, I am packing for Barrie where I'll spend the next week (after a day in Delaware). 

Home from Paris

Spring and all that goes with this busy time of the year...

We've been to Paris for the Salon du Livre. Paris in the spring...tells the story. It was amazing and we are blessed to have spent the past nine springs in Paris.

We stopped over in London for a few days. In the past, we've trekked up to Yorkshire but time was a little short. Thus, a few days in London. We will spend a couple weeks in Yorkshire this summer to celebrate Victoria's 16th. We will also be going to Beijing and back to Paris in September.

For now, it's home and there is no place like home! We love Canada - Victoria...the land, the people and everything that goes along with being Canadians. Here we are having dinner with cousin Garry who came all the way down from Leeds to spend the afternoon with us!

Where have I been all this time?

I have never really lived this experience prior to now.  My doctor (and my wife Vicki) believe that the stress of my mom and dad dying has made me less than well? I believe there is something other than stress that has made me unwell. I have been tested and these tests show nothing wrong. I have been put on various drugs. Nothing. I finally decided to change my diet. After 14 years on the road, I've developed some less than ideal eating and exercising habits. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to eat as I should especially when I find myself in isolated communities. For three weeks, I have been on a Paleo diet. I am feeling better. I will eat better and exercise regularly. We all have the power to live healthy lives. We simply have to get it done. I have so many reasons to live a healthy life. Pictured here is one of them:

My dad died this morning

My dad died this morning. He was 96, unable to eat or drink. He was eager and ready to go. Our family has been blessed by the man he was, by the way he lived and by the way he died. His two children (and my wife Vicki) were there at his side as he crossed over to be with the person who meant most to him. Our mom came for him almost two years to the day that she died. Dad was one of our many blessings. For this and for all my blessings, I am thankful.

Home for the holidays

Winnipeg, Niagara on the Lake, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and now, for the first time in three weeks, home.

I was on the road when winter hit. I wondered whether or not I should take my parka and gloves. I did, thank God.

I brought winter to Winnipeg...then to Niagara on the Lake and...winter was waiting for me in northern Alberta. Yet, I'm from the Prairie so I had no problem with the cold or the snow.

And today, I'm home. I have come home to see my dad off. He is 96 and has lived a blessed life. Our mom died two years ago December 10th and that is very possibly the date she will come for dad. My only sister Diane and I have learned so much from these two beautiful people. Their final teaching is possibly their most lasting and most important. They have taught us how to die. Dad can't talk, eat or drink. Yet when, for a short period of time, he opens his eyes...he reaches out to us and pulls us toward him for a kiss. My wish for every one of you this Christmas is that you have this kind of love in your lives.

Family trumps everything...

Happy Birthday Dad

My Dad's 96th birthday falls in the middle of my busiest season. At this time of the year, I am always on the road sharing the gift of reading and culture. Conferences, schools, PAC meeting - I'm almost everywhere but home. This week however, my friend/agent Chris booked me at home to be near my dad.

In 1917, my dad, Wilbrod Bouchard, was born in Beauchamp, Sask. Beauchamp was a small Metis community in Northeastern Saskatchewan. The Catholic Church did as it so often did...they built a church in St. Front allowing our French speaking Metis families to move into a new situation that would allow them to think of themselves as French and not Metis. For a time, it worked but as with all things...life moves in circles. I found out. Others found out. The Metis of Willow Bunch figured it out. Communities across our Prairie are coming to see themselves for what they are; Metis.

Dad grew up in St. Front. He farmed and joined the army at 24. He was a military policeman for the Royal 22 Regiment. He met mom after the war. They were married...then gave birth to Diane in 1949 and me in 1952.

Dad and mom sold the farm in 1954 because of flooding. They took what they had, moved to Swift Current to learn how to cut hair. They were hair dressers in Gravelbourg, Sask. from 1955 to 1967, allowing me to study at College Mathieu. They moved to Regina in 1967 where dad bought Western Patrol Security.

When I moved to West Vancouver in 1969, Diane and Ken followed with mom and dad in tow. My family settled in Sidney while I worked as a school administrator in West Van. Vicki and I moved to Victoria in 2000 when I began writing and touring full time.

Mom passed in 2011. Dad moved into the beautiful facility at Broadmead Lodge and on Wednesda, we celebrated his 96th birthday.

My sister and I have been blessed with two wonderful human beings for all these long, wonderful years.

Pictured here: Diane, her husband Ken...our Dad...me and my wife Vicki