Today I remember the peacemakers and healers. I don't celebrate war and I don't remember the warbringers or their pawns.
My grandfather was a medic for Canada in WWII. After saving many lives, he was sent home with TB to die. He pulled through, had my mother and her siblings, and peacefully lived out his life in service of his fellow man, working and volunteering until his death.
He was a great man. Not 'great' as in large, or famous, or decorated, or rich. 'Great' as in consistent, generous, principled, hardworking, honest, loyal. He had integrity, he was softspoken, he was skilled and intelligent, he was humble and genuine. If I end up half the man he was, I'll consider that an accomplishment. They don't make them like that anymore.
He wasn't a man of possessions, and I didn't get much of what little he had, but I did get this shovel and some of his other old wood-handled garden tools. They're banged up and weathered, but if I take care of them they'll last another 2 generations. I consider this a symbol of how he lived his life and his dedication to peaceful endeavors like growing plants. I intend to utilize these tools of peace here in the garden at my new home, early next spring!
Today, I celebrate and remember him - and those like him - who work toward peace, who heal, who avoid aggression, who protect the weak. The underdogs, the freedom-fighters, the oppressed. Activists, peacekeepers, caregivers, and everyone else who detests violence and suffering, everyone who loves peace, everyone who longs for an end to war.
"I'm talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on Earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow, to hope, and build a better life for their children. Not merely peace for Americans, but peace for ALL men and women. Not merely peace in our time, but peace for ALL time." - President of the United States of America, John Kennedy
New indoor garden!
Today is the perfect day to set up (and announce) a brand new indoor garden patch, for growing cannabis to use as medicine!
There's my trusty light fixture, in a dedicated corner of my new place, ready for the first crop in this new location - stay tuned for my announcement of the strain, and see it germinate!
That light fixture is another item of my grandfather's I ended up getting. My father built it for him years ago, to help him overcome the winter blues. I already beat my depression (thanks to cannabis!) so I'm putting the lamp to better use - growing cannabis! The medicine from this indoor patch will treat my wife @MediKatie's chronic pain and neurological conditions, which she obtained as a child being treated with radiation and surgery for cancer in her spine.
I like to think Grampa would be proud of me if he could see me today. I wonder what he'd think, to know he is a great-grandfather... again!? He was definitely a man who valued his family. I miss him today, and every day.
Peace.
DRutter