Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2019-04

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IN THIS ISSUE

• In this Heroic Story, Lynn Hartz recalls two donations
• We have lost another long-time subscriber, Gerrit Deleeuw
• Jean Sterling writes about their new home in a retirement community
• Kate Brookfield finds that downloaded e-books are good for holidays
• Barbara Wear shares this information about older brains
• Sites are suggested by Jay and Tom Telfer

Lynn Hartz of West Virginia writes about

NOT JUST ONE

My mother gave me her car a year before she died, and May 9, 2005, the day we settled her estate, the car quit running. My 23-year-old daughter used my other, more reliable vehicle to get to and from college.

Then in August my daughter was driving on a familiar road, when a car came flying down the hill and hit her as she turned left. The accident totalled the other car. Fortunately, it only bruised her. It was beautiful weather, school was just about to begin again, yet now we had *no* car. I didn´t know what I was going to do.

Some friends of mine in an online chat group gathered some money so I could buy a new car. It wasn´t much, but the care and concern of people I had never met face to face was wonderful.

Then my aunt called from North Carolina and I told her about the accident. She didn´t know the car my mom had given me had finally worn itself out. I said, "First I had two cars, then one, and now none!"

"We have three," she told me, "so I will bring you one." Before the week was over, she and my uncle drove to West Virginia with a 1984 Toyota van for us. "I couldn´t let this go to anyone else," she said.

So we went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register the car into my name. I saw Dan, a friend of mine from church. Though he´s retirement age with beautiful white hair, he still works full time. And although he has three master´s degrees, his love is working on cars. He helps many people.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked.

"My aunt and uncle brought me a van from North Carolina and I´m registering it."

"I have a car for you," he replied.

I was shocked. "You do? They just brought me one!"

"You need two," he answered. "Your daughter has to get to and from school and work," he said matter-of-factly. He went on to tell me that it needed a little work, but he´d let me know when it was finished.

A few weeks later Dan picked me up at home after work and we went to his house to get the car. It´s a 1987 Toyota Celica and the mileage is fantastic, over 30 miles per gallon! The van does almost as well.

All of these people know that "What goes around, comes around." I have done much for many, and in my time of need, I was sent not one, but two car donors.

E-mail subscriptions to HeroicStories are free. Sign up here: HeroicStories.org.

Bill DeLeeuw forwards his father´s obituary:

GERRIT DELEEUW

Gerrit Deleeuw, age 82, of Calgary, Alberta, died peacefully in Calgary on Sunday evening, January 13, 2019.

A celebration of Gerrit´s remarkable and fulfilled life will be held at the Crossroads Community Association Hall in Calgary on Saturday, February 9, from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. (1803 14th Ave. N.E.).

Gerrit was born in the city of Arnhem, Holland, in 1936. He grew up in his father´s footsteps, working in his butcher shop, learning his trade and other exceptional hands-on skills that would become Gerrit´s trademark when he emigrated to Canada by plane in 1957. In Canada, he created a new life for himself, travelled, and realized many of his dreams. He met and married his loving wife Elma and began a family.

Gerrit worked as a meat cutter for Safeway for many years before working for S.A.I.T. as a Meat Cutter Instructor, where he spent the last fifteen years of his career engaging and helping students in his chosen occupation. He was the ultimate hands-on builder, self-taught in fine woodwork and other shop skills. He left a legacy of fine tables, shelves, and other furniture, as well as a plethora of renovations for his, and others´ homes.

Gerrit spent much of his free time camping, travelling, and exploring beautiful natural places with his wife and sons over the years. He occupied much of his retirement giving of himself freely. His service to others included helping neighbours and friends, delivering meals for the elderly, aiding them with taxes, and greeting travellers as a White Hat volunteer at the Calgary Airport. Everyone who knew Gerrit was familiar with his smile, enthusiasm, and generous giving of his time and helping others in need.

Gerrit´s sense of humour endured right to the end. Two weeks before passing, his granddaughter said, "See you tomorrow." His reply: "If you´re lucky!"

Gerrit is survived by his loving wife, Elma Hendry Deleeuw of 58 years, his two sons, Gary and Bill, and his granddaughter Maria, whom he loved deeply and felt was a special gift in the latter part of his life. Gerrit is also survived by his sisters, Adrie and Nel in Holland, as well as many loving and caring nieces and nephews in Holland, Wales, and the United States.

So many of us feel lucky today to have benefitted from such a special man who helped us in so many ways.

ED. NOTE: Gerrit was a long-time subscriber to the Tale Spinner, and wrote articles about his life in Holland during the Second World War. We extend our sympathy to his family and friends in their sad loss.

Jean Sterling writes from Florida about their new home in

BISHOP´S GLEN

We recently moved to a retirement community. Said community (Bishop´s Glen - named for Mr. Bishop, who used to graze his cows here) has three levels: independent living, assisted living, and nursing home. We are currently residing in what is called independent living.

The hardest part of making the move is selling your house and downsizing. We lucked out so far as selling our house. A fellow in John´s investment club bought it. He is a builder and is bringing it up to 2018 standards. People want larger kitchens (why I couldn´t tell you). He is also putting in a door between the house and garage. Nice, but I never had a burning desire for that.

I had a large table that was probably the first piece of furniture my parent had. I remember when my mother passed I had it refinished, and it cost me a bundle. Alas, it was much too big for our current digs. The builder fellow donated it to some historic old home that is being turned into a museum.

Our new digs are very nice. We are served one meal in a very nice dining room, though you can opt for two served meals. I really enjoy picking from a menu without the hassle of deciding what to cook and cooking it. Sometimes I will have leftovers boxed up and have them for lunch the next day. Once a week or so there will be an opportunity to eat out if one so wishes.

There are activities during the week. I think the ones I like best are Friday Night Live and Trivia. I do quite well at Trivia - get a lot of that stuff from the internet.

Friday Night Live features an entertainer. One week there was a piano player, who was excellent. Another week there was a string quartette. There is opportunity to sing along too.

There is a pool, and some people really enjoy the water aerobics class. John and I prefer to swim at a nearby Y, which has a larger pool.

Bishop´s Glen does allow pets, and I often see a lady walking the prettiest dog. Abby, our little Canadian dog, passed a couple of years ago. She was the wimpiest Canadian imaginable - she did not like cold weather. I got her from a snowbird (winter visitor to Florida) who fell and hurt her back. The Canadian insurance company sent her a plane ticket. She was like, thanks a lot, but my car is here. Son, who is a pilot, flew down and drove her and her car back to Canada. So I had a lovely dog.

My middle son says we never paid for a pet in our lives. Come to think of it - he is right! I remember how everybody would talk to me when I walked Abby. Abby thought that walks were for collecting tummy rubs - she never missed a good tummy rub. History repeats itself - I talk to this lady.

ED. NOTE: Have you, or anyone close to you, recently moved to a retirement home? Just for interest´s sake, or information for people contemplating such a move, why not tell us about your experience, and your reaction to living in a new home?

Kate Brookfield writes about

DOWNLOADING E-BOOKS

For those who are not aware of it, Cloud Library is an excellent app for getting books to read on digital devices. You must first download Cloud Library app from the app store. Once it is installed, you are asked your country, province, and city, and it takes you to your local library. You will need a library card to enter your number to get access to the books.

After you are registered, you can borrow any book on the shelves that is free. All you do is select it and it is put on your device. Just as with physical borrowing, you have it for three weeks and then it is returned to the shelves. There is an option to renew if not on hold.

So when I travel, I do not have to carry heavy books. You can even renew or borrow more books through wifi wherever you are.

So I took a hefty book, Joseph Boyden´s "The Orenda." I was able to read the whole thing while away. Waiting for and on the plane gave me a lot of time that would have been wasted otherwise. In any case, the book is a page turner and hard to put down once you get into it.

I recommend this novel for ALL Canadians and for anyone interested in life in North America in the 1600s. The novel covers the early life of the indigenous peoples, their constant rivalry with other tribal nations, and finally the effect of the arrival of Europeans. It is mainly focused on the Huron nation and their repeated blood feuds with the Iroquois. But the novel also covers the arrival of the Jesuits with the hopes of converting the "heathen" indigenous peoples, the effects of the early traders, mainly from France, and their establishment of forts for trade and protection. Of course, the introduction of guns replacing bows and arrows plays an important part in the events and final outcome.

The novel is told from the first-person narrative of three central characters: the Huron chief, Bird, his adopted daughter Snow Falls, taken from the Iroquois after one of their battles and in exchange for his daughter and wife killed in an Iroquois raid, and a Jesuit priest, Father Cristophe, who lives with the Hurons.

There are many beautiful descriptive scenes of life for the Hurons, many fascinating characters with their loves and hates, but there are also passages detailing the brutal and prolonged human torture inflicted on humans. The author seems to be showing that there is no good and bad side to the situation. The Hurons, the Iroquois, the Catholic priests and the traders all have positive and negative human traits.

It is a long read, almost 500 pages, but in my view, well worth the time invested in it. It is the kind of book that stays with you, long after you have finished it. For example, in the museum at St. George in Granada there was a display describing the plantation life for the imported African slaves and showing the artifacts they made reminding them of their former lives in Africa and retaining their cultural identity. The clash between the slaves and the plantation owners reflected the same problems as that between the indigenous Americans and the European colonizers.

Barbara Wear shares this information:

BRAINS OF OLDER PEOPLE

Brains of older people are slow because they know so much. People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe. Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full, so too do humans take longer to access information when their brains are full. Researchers say this slowing down process is not the same as cognitive decline . The human brain works slower in old age, said Dr.Michael Ramscar, but only because we have stored more information over time. The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.

Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for. It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature´s way of making older people do more exercise.

SO THERE!

Now when I reach for a word or a name, I won´t excuse myself by saying "I´m having a senior moment." Now I´ll say, "My disk is full!."

I have more friends I should send this to, but right now I can´t remember their names.

SUGGESTED SITES

Jay forwards the URL for a video that features 10 products that are designed to fail:

Tom Telfer shared this video on Facebook, a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace:

In this Penn and Teller video, Eric Mead performs a seemingly impossible coin trick:

Scientists at McMaster University conducted research on interval training. They concluded that one minute of concentrated exercise can equal 45 minutes of jogging:

An award-winning short film about an urban homestead shows how one family converted a city lot into a major food-growing area:

In this TED talk, Katharine Wilkinson declares that empowering women and girls can help stop global warming: