CJOB interview link

Good evening, everyone.

As you know from the Sept 17 post, I had the opportunity to share some of Harry's story on Larry Updike's Morning Show on Winnipeg's CJOB radio station. Of particular interest to the folks at CJOB was the story about the Bus Stop sign. Simon was able to capture the interview and emailed the link to us.

Have a listen, if you wish.

(We're having difficulty establishing a direct link. Please copy and paste the following URL, and you should be able to hear it in Quicktime.)

http://www.homeontheland.ca/cjob_interview.mp3

Chattynanny - short address

A number of you have had difficulty finding the long address of S. Kelly's post regarding Harry.

Here's a easier way to get there: http://chattynanny.typepad.com

Harry's post is the second one under "recent posts".

Hope that works.

Thanks again to "Chatty Nanny" for her kind and perceptive words.

Discovering Harry's story

We’d like to draw your attention to another blog called Tales from the Tot Tamer. Siobhan reflects on the impact of discovering Harry’s story. Her reflections, filled with grace and gratitude, begin like this . . .

“I have a few posts in draft waiting to be completed, but this post is probably the most special and most important one I will ever post.

This is the story of Harry, and it's a true story, not from my imagination, and I don't believe I would ever have the wits to create a story as beautiful as Harry's.

Last month, I was searching the Free Press archives for an obituary of a friend from Winnipeg. In that search, I came across Harry. I never found the obituary of my friend, but I am incredibly thankful that Harry showed up to tell me about love and hope and the strength of a baby.”

Please read the whole post at

http://chattynanny.typepad.com/tales_from_the_tot_tamer/2008/09/hendrik.html

Interview on CJOB 68

Larry Updike, the host of the Morning Show on CJOB 68, heard about the "Bus Stop Sign" story through a colleague of mine. He has contacted me, and scheduled an interview about how the folks at Transit's Customer Services rose to the occasion, and marked Harry's love of the 10 Wolseley bus by producing his own personalized bus stop sign - and did so on very short notice.

You can hear it this morning (Wednesday, Sept 17) at about 8:30 on CJOB 680 on the AM band.

Gareth

Harry Venema Memorial Fun Fund

The following update from Henry provides further details regarding the Harry Venema Memorial Fun Fund:

The intention of the fund is to honour the major teaching of Harry's life for us, which is to live in joy, thankfullness and community and do so by helping present and future generations of children in the Wolseley community experience the joy of youth.

We envision two components of the HVMFF:

1. a program fund, which would improve the accessibility of underprivileged children to sports programs at RASCC, and
2. a capital fund to help replace the current skating rinks with a modern, safe facility including potentially interior basketball, volleyball, badminton courts etc.

In the event that someone wishes to contribute from abroad, the following information (from the Assiniboine Credit Union) explains how to wire funds to the HVMFF.

Institution:
Assiniboine Credit Union
1033 St. Marry's Road
Winnipeg, MB
CANADA
R2M 3S8

Account Number: 200120212189
Transit Number: 10587
Institution Number: 879
Routing Code (CAD, USD or Foreign): CUCXCATTVAN

Message from Cynthia and Henry

Dearest Family and Friends near and far --

Henry, Lydia and I want to extend our deepest thanks and gratitude to all of you who have held us in your love and care through out these past seven months as we walked our journey with Harry.

Of the many gifts and blessings we received through this journey with Harry, one of the most profound and the one for which I (Cynthia) am deeply grateful was the gift of community. I have so truly learned that we are never alone, we are surrounded by love, and we are all so deeply connected. Thank you all for giving us that gift. We thank Harry too, for without this experience with him, we might never have received such a profound teaching in this life.

Over the past month, we have been slowly decompressing and trying to start to make some sense of Harry's all-too-brief, beautiful, joyful, painful, and intense life. Henry and I know that we need to find the narrative of Harry's life that allows us to treasure the good, honour the beautiful and joyful, understand the pain, and find a place to hold the loss without slipping into the negative or letting it overcome us.

If I may be so indulgent, I hope to continue to use the blog as a place to sort out my understanding of our experience with Harry on his journey of healing. We also hope to post more information about the "Harry Venema Memorial Fun Fund". As well, we have learned a great deal, especially in the last month of Harry's life, about complimentary natural healing approaches to treating cancer, which we would like to share with as many people as possible.

Love, light and blessings,
Cynthia

Cynthia read the following two poems at Harry's cremation service in Aubrey Park:

Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

-- Robert Frost

Do Not Stand By My Grave and Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there -- I did not die.

-- Mary Elizabeth Frye