This space is dedicated to

December 15, 2002

This space is dedicated to Bob Brennan. Father of my dear chum Paul (Odds). Bob died last week after a lengthy illness and the service was held this Friday. Its the worst situation in which to get together with friends but it happens and friends can help. The service was a Catholic mass and I will do my best not to mention again and again what a weird and indecipherable pageant that is. As far as I can see it involves feigned cannibalism, medieval garb, child labour, and severely distorted metaphors. There was a lot of memorization involved in the interactive element of the performance so not being raised Catholic meant you couldn’t really participate in the same way. The Jewish faith has so many great jokes and places such value in humour as a complex and intelligent force. Not so with the orthodox christian ceremonies. Paul’s brother Danny attempted to balance this lack of humour. He spoke about his dad after all the hailing and “praise be to’s” were done. There was a simple truth conveyed in his hilarious and moving tribute. Generosity works. If you embrace and support the passions of your children, whatever they may be, you will win in the end. Bob and Dorothy’s kids are drummers, hockey players, hairdressers, parents, mountain climbers, and teachers. Each one of them went a different way and they all did well at what they chose to do. I only know Paul well but I bet every one of them is as stubbornly dedicated to their singular purpose. This can really save you when having to take heat. Bob & Dott put the responsibility for motivation on the child and then provided whatever they needed when they asked. Some parents resist this because they feel that things might come too easily to the kid. If its just toys then that’s a different story. If you can muster the resources shouldn’t the tools to accomplish a goal be handed over right away? If things change in the child’s direction and they later drop what they were doing then you only lost on a very worthy investment. You’ll win on the next one or the next one. Thanks for the tip Bob. Not only did you do a fine job of the most important things...as a bonus you were the life of the party.