Savour the moment and make it count

When Scott Manzer died recently at 80 years, it reminded me of some good advice he had given us when he was our homeroom teacher at the Yarmouth Vocational School (today the Burridge Campus) close to half a century ago.

Manzer told us that true happiness all of the time was likely impossible to achieve, but there would be many happy moments and events that should be remembered and cherished throughout a lifetime.

I thought of this the other day when, as a church volunteer, I was a bit late in leaving the building after the service and our organist was giving our new church organ its trial run. Our organist is the well-known Paul Saulnier, a multi-talented pianist and composer who has his own CDs and has appeared on radio, in concert and on television programs many times over the years. As an award-winner, he has also appeared in concert with Symphony Nova Scotia.

Lingering a bit around the new organ, I jokingly asked Saulnier if he could play "Moon River" and, as the church was empty, he did just that, with a complimentary "Clarinet Polka". These were moments to savor.

With a totally different type of music, years earlier in November 1984, I had met country music legend Wilf Carter during intermission at the Metro Centre in Halifax. Carter had been close to my heart since my boyhood days; I had exchanged letters with him for 30 years.

We chatted, reminisced and shook hands three times before we parted company. Those were great memories, especially the fact that Wilf was just a regular guy and so easy to talk with. I told him about the French-speaking Acadians being fans of his way back.

Was told, keep the humour

There are happy memories of when I first started writing and of visiting award-winning author Evelyn Richardson, best known for her book, We Keep a Light.

Mrs. Richardson told me to write about the things that surrounded me and to keep the humour as part of my style. It was a very pleasant afternoon that I spent with the Shelburne County writer who was as humble as her book described, of a life well lived on Bon Portage Island where her family kept the light going in wartime and peace-time as well.

Fishing for lobsters 45 years ago with my grand uncle, "Charlie Muir", as he was known, aboard the "Laurent et Remi" left me with great memories.

At noon we cooked a few lobster on the "cud" stove and ate this while sitting on the engine box. The aging 40-foot boat just bobbed on the water with the flow of the current as we ate our meal; no king or queen could have asked for more.

Some good memories are of crossing the Rocky Mountain with my brother and a friend many years ago. We visited Banff and other beauty spots in Alberta. We even met Al Oeming, the founder, at The Alberta Game Farm.

Other travel memories are of entering the Anne Frank room in Amsterdam and of visiting about a dozen countries in Europe.

Rides in my Model A

In more recent years, I always savour the moments when my two grand-nephews, Jacob and Nathaniel, visit from Cape Sable Island, Shelburne County. In summertime they always ask for rides in my 1931 Model A woody wagon.

Some years ago I took them inside the grounds of the Historical Acadian Village nearby, where we gave rides to some of the tourists. These summer visitors were simply astonished that two little boys could speak English so well.

"Not even a hint of a French accent to be detected," they told me. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that English was their one and only language.

Of course there are as many memories, not so good, that should be forgotten forever, and it’s the happy ones we should re-live and dwell upon.

There will always be sunny days and not so sunny days; such is life. We cannot control what life will dish out for us; however, we should always take the time and listen to the sweet gentle flow of "Moon River" or do some toe-tapping to the upbeat sound of the "Clarinet Polka".

laudent@hotmail.com