LEIF VAUPELL OLSEN, a Proud Danish Canadian

The news came over the internet.
Sadly Leif drew his last breath on Saturday September 27th in the morning after a long struggle with a lung transplant rejection.
In October of 2008 he was near death when a donor came along and the double lung transplant became a reality for him and all were delighted that he made great progress.
And in the past six years he was able to share much goodness with all of us. He was a big part in many great family events; family travels, weddings , birthdays, arrival of 5 grandkids and Christmases that he so loved and made very special. 
Leif came into my life after the 1978 sudden death of my brother who was married to Linda when Leif and Linda were high school teachers at the same school and had worked together on musical productions for the school. 
After some time Linda and Leif were drawn to each other by their common love for music. He was a guitarist and she was a piano player. Both enjoyed singing too. Their decision to join their lives met with some  opposition from the families since Leif had two sons and a wife. But he wanted out of his marriage and he wanted Linda. 
In October of 1983 he married Linda and they had two lovely children together. Leif and Linda were always around for the boys from his first marriage. The couple continued to teach on a shared plan, meaning they would teach a couple of years at a reduced salary and then take a year off until they finally retired altogether.
Leif encouraged Linda to follow her dreams. She studied harp and became the proud owner of one. She worked at crafts and had a stained glass studio. He enjoyed painting and created lovely water colour and acrylic pieces. Both loved nature and have lived their time together in rural settings. One of many passions Leif had was to care for a variety of birds both in shelters and by way of bird feeders.
What I admired most about him is that he never shut my family out of their family life after Linda married him. In fact we were guests at the wedding. He did many things with our family over the years. He was a very loving and genuinely caring man. 
That he's left us has not yet fully set in. It's still too soon.

Leif and his new baby girl visiting us in the "80"s

Leif with his grandchild just newly born in '13..

We shall pay our respects tomorrow at his memorial.

May he rest in peace.

A New Season Begins

It's been a busy spring and summer. We travelled a lot and I just could not convince myself to sit down with a device to compose anything sensible. And since I had little time to read your blogs I was sure it would be best to pause a bit . 
But now fall is arriving. 
Buddy has put on his clothes that have fall colours and he set out fall themed napkins. 
It's always fun to be around him , watching him get into the spirit of things. Seasons are very relevant to him. He likes to be in the moment and he keeps me pacing along.

We are back on track with blogging now and will visit with you regularly we hope.

A detailed post of our events is being worked out. 

Happy FALL to you.

A REAL GEM

   It was July 9, 1954. I was living with Ruth and Alfred Mänzer in Kassel, Germany. Alfred picked me up from Lehrte, my birth town, where an aunt who had been minding me since the beginning of February but preferred a childless life style. Alfred was a very close friend of my father's. Because of the war He and his wife were not able to have children. Ruth was sterilized by the Hitler movement as she had some Hebrew ancestry.  When my father had to replace my aunt and uncle with new care givers for me he thought that Ruth might enjoy the chance to have a little girl around. She agreed to try this.
   No one asked me. It was my fourth move in a very short time. It was hard. My parents had moved to Canada in may 1953 hoping to have us follow but getting immigration for us children proved harder than they had anticipated. At first my father's sisters and grandpa came to care for us in shifts but it became too challenging over time so by mid summer my father sent my mother back to care for us until she could bring us to Toronto with her.
   My Father fell seriously ill in January 1954. In a hurry my mom quickly sent my brother to her aunt and me to her sister so she could fly to care for him. It was thoughy this arrangement would be short but it was not. As April came to an end my mom's sister had been asked by her husband and his mother that I be sent to a different family member. My welcome was over.
   My father wasn't happy to have to find me another placement but he dealt with this. He wrote to Alfred. Soon, with my small bag of nice clothes that my aunt had managed to amass during my stay, I was picked up by Alfred. After a long train ride I found myself in his apartment. I was given the living room couch by night. I was with strangers. I missed my parents and my brother. I missed all my aunts and my grandpa but I was told not to be ungrateful. I was to be a happy delightful girl. It was tough.
   Ruth worked very hard to make each day special for me. She helped my with homework and with the making a few local friends whom she allowed over for brief visits. She was affectionate and knew how to prepare meals that children would like. She even served them in interesting varied ways. I was given lessons in culture and geography of Kassel, a gorgeous city with hills and fountains.
   On That July day the sun up early , its beams shining on the treetops that were visible from the balcony making them glisten from the morning dew. The breakfast table was set outdoors with a bit of extra fanfare and my eyes gleamed with anticipation. It was a special day, my eighth birthday and I was feeling excited. I had hoped to find mail from my family. I really missed them. Mail was my only connection to any of them. But I did not find an envelope on the table near my place as I went to sit there. I could feel my eyes tear up but I tried to hide that from Ruth. I was hoping my tears would go unnoticed. 
   Ruth was sensitive. She understood pain. Hemce she could read my disappointment. Looking back I now suspect she had known then this would happen and she was prepared. Before I could retreat from the balcony she had her arms around me. With a big hug and gentle words she had me seated in my place fairly soon. Then she served me some fresh pancakes covered with powdered sugar and dotted with strawberries and whipped cream. She poured me a cup of "kids's" coffee and sat down across from me. She was having a plain slice of bread. It made my meal really appear more delightful to me. Brilliant and so thoughtful.
   When we had finished eating she cleared the table herself asking me to remain seated, a kind gesture since I was usually expected to lend a hand.
Then she returned with a small decorated paper cone filled with sweets. I loved my gift and jumped up to hug her but she motioned me to sit down again.So I complied without hesitation. And then she put a pretty small box in front of me. I was surprised. Gifts usually only came on very special days. I usually got a new outfit or something practical. This box suggested by its size was not the usual type of gift. Carefully I opened it. What a beautiful sparkling object appeared! It was to be my very first piece of golden jewellery. 
   Ruth gave me a child sized necklace with a tiny horseshoe pendant on it. It was perfect. Ruth was a gem. She made that day so memorable that I can feel the joy even now.

PS Today I celebrate my 68th and here's a plant I bought for myself because my family is not inclined to show affection in a traditional way. Emails and texts just aren't the same for an oldie like me but I do know how to care for just me and I thank my aunts for that.

Isn't it a beauty??

LOST

   The last few weeks have past like a blur and June is nearly over. I have spent this month travelling for a week with Buddy and then recovering from some viral thing because I let go of my super stringent diet and supplements. Now I'm slowly getting back on my path and my head is clearing though my vision remains a bit blurry. It's amazing how fast my vision can become blurred and just as quickly get better. I do not understand how that works. I've been adding MSM to my supplements to help deal with microbes I've got and it has had some interesting side effects including my mood swings. I'm hoping I shall be able o get stable soon.
   Buddy and I are spending some time following the Fifa games and love the way people all around are showing their enthusiasm. I guess living in such a multicultural city lends itself well to this type of following. I wear the German T shirt. Buddy has adopted the Spanish but also favours the Mexican team.
  I've spent some time reading  many articles about many things from microbes to future robotic technology and wonder what the world might be like in 30 years from now. I was one of the women who was open to getting all the latest tech goodies like the Apple 2C when it came out in the 80's. I had the latest movie camera and the bulky huge cell phone. Now I sit at the macbook writing this to share with you.
   I love to blog but I have found that I am avoiding making the effort to stay updated. I have given much thought to why but I cannot come up with a solid answer except that perhaps my energy level is down. I am suspecting that a bit of depression has hit me. I have a sense of feeling lost but don't know why. I am not exercising properly so that could be a good place to start moving forward. I also noticed I miss having people around. I have to find more people to surround myself with. I have Buddy and hubby but neither seem to be able to stimulate me  to a level of activity that I do well with. 
   What's going to be my way back from feeling lost? Lately I've tried some new apps, challenging games on my iPad and iPhone. And now I'm searching for an app that get's me up and walking more. 
   Lost in my own world is bugging me. I struggle to get off my chair more regularly and move about daily. Mini vacations are fun and keep me temperately active but they are masking what's really going on?    Laziness ???

This was taken on our latest trip June 6th to 14th.

The smile does not reflect my latest bout of feeling lost.

Where will I find a friend that I can hang with since I seem to feel I need one?

'CHUNNEL' FUN

It was this day, May 6, 1994 that the famous tunnel between England and France was opened by the Queen and the French President Mitterrand. The Eurostar bullet train goes some 40 metres (12')under the sea bed and connects the two cities faster. 
On Thursday we head to London where my daughter now lives. Since her workplace has made her work week extra busy for her, we opted to takes a little side trip. Paris it had to be. Hubby loves train rides and I love Paris and it's spring time. For us it was an natural add on. Buddy loves everything and he's very excited especially about the bullet part of the train ride.
Next Tuesday we leave London and make our way through that famous 'chunnel' that I once travelled through with my older daughter in 1997 on our mother daughter trip to my birthplace. Back then I was younger, braver and able to take on foreign roads. From Paris we drove a little rental Peugeot through Brussels to my aunt's in Hannover, Germany. Me driving can't happen any more. My vision won't do unfamiliar areas very well nor would I cope well in the increased rush of traffic these days. Hubby likely could but I would be a lousy guide and he does need one. I prefer to sit in the back seat when he drives and let Buddy be his companion. I am less of a backseat driver from the back. LOL.
We are looking forward to our new adventure. We just had to share what's happening since it's been ages since the two of us have blogged. In case you aren't aware, I've made Buddy a part to the process. We discuss what's fun to share. He also gets to read your comments and loves some of the amazing things you post.
I shall take my Rebel and see what I can find to snap. Buddy will have his iPhone. He's quite the photographer. Let's see what can we discover. We'll share some things when we are back (or even on route).  
Au revoir.