G'Day Jim- ... sadly i am not and will never be a Grandparent- yet if I may add - NEVER EVER in all my days over just on 63 years on this planet have I had more wonderful times, days & memories than when I was with my grandparents, going to visit or they visiting us as kids - they were loving without conditions- " stupid rules ' and were neutral, loving supportive and just all round great folk to be around in the main - where sadly one set of Grandparent out-shone the other - as a sad reality. I should say we all favoured one set more than the other - as the other set were cruel, no fun, and were miles apart from my dad’s side / his parents. Sadly, my Mother knew her Mother ( my other Nan ) was a hardcase - and that Pop passed away when I was very young - but I do recall he was cold and harsh ( sadly ) and so proves the point how our grandparents do form & help create THE BEST of MEMORIES - good or bad their input is critical in our lives and reflects I have no doubt. I have never been so heartbroken than the day I attended my dearest Nans funeral after a very tuff fight against stomach cancer - I have never publicly ( or privately ) cried so much - other than the loss of my companion animals as the love and bond is severed. I don’t think even the loss of my own parents hit me anywhere near as hard - perhaps it’s because of my aged and life experiences these days - as that was back some 42 years ago and lots of water has gone under the bridge since then mate. Some of the greatest and fond memories was watching my pop eat a lemon - skin and all- Im sure he was tricking us to some degree re the skin - but amazed we all were. The most startling memory was at my nan & Pops diner table when I fist tasted KFC - it would have been circa 1969 70 - I can remember those Sunday afternoon & evenings at Nan & Pop’s days vividly mate - where we all sat down to watch Disneyland. SIMPLE- HUMBLE and LOVING times they truly were. Our Grandparents are such massive pieces of our growth, upbringing & formation - .. frankly there are NO better & more simple days to be had than enjoying our Grandparents with our cousins at a family picnic with a soccer ball, cricket bat & ball and swimming all day at the beach etc. - … NOW add a beach house - with a pool and an outdoor Pizza Oven ALL at your Grandparents home and you have struck Nirvana as a kid I have little doubt. My life is full of pinch-me moments and the fondest memories due to my lovely-kind, caring and decent Grandparents - due to the times we shared - all extremely valuable and the best days of any child’s life and growth. I can only imagine how it feels to be that Grandparent - that’s GOLD right there I envy to a degree if I may be honest mate. Thanks for the video chat / vlog you share here with your mates - great stuff Jim. Cheers, Mark T.
Nice work Jordan- obviously been a difficult and long road for you mate and great pain and hardship and angst is well behind you now mate- KEY POINT - Always listen to your Mom - iron yiur shirts and NEVER give-up in Life ! :-) Love and thanks to Debbie for sticking with you and helping you to be your very best - Bless her. To Jim Mc - thanks Jim for being a decent, caring and empathetic human being - NO Ego - NO B.S. - just a solid, empathetic and great heart - where others of your ilk in Life - wouldnt dream of caring for others and giving back in society. 10/10
Thank you Jim & all of the participants in this 100th episode of Celebrations Chatter. It was a most enjoyable & eclectic conversation. Relationships are vital in every aspect of our lives and in our nation. Personally, relationships are key in my life. They keep me vital, vibrant & receptive to the unique assets of the people with whom I choose to connect or who come into my life. Relationships also ground us and give us varying perspectives of life situations. Our younger generations are sadly lacking the sources of friendships that we have enjoyed & perhaps at times taken for granted. Today's young adults and sadly even children, are missing the tools to make friends. Apparently, the electronic age has taken over to the point where a good portion of youth entering the employment field do not have the social skills to engage in an employment interview. I recently read of someone who has begun a program to assist them in methods of engagement for that purpose. Hopefully, it will help in other areas of relationships as well. Our family has a beautiful legacy of relationships from my parents who were engaged in life for 68 years together, Mom 90 & Dad 103. Blessings on the ongoing dialogs for Celebrations Chatter.
This is the definition of win-win! Thank you, Randy, for the energy it took to make it happen and continuing to champion! And thank you, Jim, for shining a light on the efforts and results!
I enjoyed this podcast very much and have shared it. However, the content is not accessible for everyone because the open captions have poor color contrast and when turned on, the closed captions show on top of the open captions making them unreadable. Please make this podcast about inclusion inclusive so everyone can enjoy it, thank you!
Eight years ago we stopped going to church and began to study the scriptures for ourselves, as well as the books men removed from the 1611 KJV. What we learned is that there are almost zero churches actually teaching what is in the Bible. What they teach is a lot o fman made ideas from Roman Catholicism i.e. the trinity, Christmas, Easter, Sunday service mixed with their own church doctrine. We were looking for the truth in the scriptures and finally found it once we left the church. We've also learned many people throughout different nations are doing the same.
If you are not in a congregation, friends and family show up and support you. If you are in a church a bunch of people show up but it doesn’t have the same meaning. If you don’t have friends and family, a church is not going to help you.
You can be kind and supportive without being involved with religion. Religion is not a prerequisite for morality. Many heinous acts have been committed in the guise of religion also. Religion seems to create division in a way similar to nationalism or partisanship. It also can condone inequality by gender and station.
Jim I met you years ago at a Cipriani charity dinner (sat next to one another) and David, have enjoyed your pieces for years. This is a how-to on being your best human!!! Loneliness can be deadly. We all know that. And the phones that once connected us now too often divide us in solitude. I talk to strangers all the time (in part because it’s my job), often with some pretty crazy results. Most of the time, people are excited to talk! Especially if you delve into one of their favorite subjects: themselves! Showing interest in another human being is really the glue. And why not learn about other people’s experiences? I also laughed out loud around 29 minutes in when David, you talked about Penn Station, which sucks out a part of my soul every single day that I commute to work. You had a religious epiphany there? That’s just so remarkable I had to laugh. But I believe you. Thank you so much for this. I use that horrible one train subway station too. Maybe this will transform my thoughts as I pass through that awful purgatory! All the best to you both, Michelle Charlesworth (CH7 local in NYC)
I’d like you to just repeat the name of the person who is writing about community. Did you say Peter Block? Thanks for clarification and happy holidays. I received your book David and am absolutely loving it. Started it yesterday and it makes so much sense and everyone needs to read it!!
