You are a shining example of good and charity!
Your story provides an outstanding example of what it means to care, and how each of us has the power to make the world a better place!
You traveled two thousand miles away from home, and opened your house and your heart to my father, a child in need of a mother. You lived with him for only two years, but when you went back to your country, you remained present in his life for the following 49 years…until you passed away. And most importantly after those two years, you remained present in his heart for the following 59 years...until he passed away.
For almost 6 decades, being near him or far away from him, you cared for my father as your own flesh and blood. You offered comfort, provided support, gave advice, showed him all the beauty he possessed inside, and loved him, unconditionally, endlessly. It takes a special color-blind person with love, compassion and understanding in your heart to love another woman's child the way you loved my father.
And what you did for him touched so many people's lives in a positive and giving way, that the resonance of your acts will carry on through generations to come.
The good son and brother, the loving husband and father, the respected traditional leader, the influential political and religious figure, the talented pianist, guitarist, singer and composer, the caregiver of more than 200 people, the humanitarian who donated food, money and clothes to three villages every summer for 34 years, my father became all these great things, thanks to you!
Dad grew up so deeply grateful that he spent his life practicing and promoting kindness as a way of honoring you and giving back what he had so graciously been given. And he inspired…I mean he «ordered» his children to do the same!
You are a shining example for me, grandma. Your love and compassion for others teach me that kindness is a way of life. I don't know how much time I still have here. And I can't foresee the trials and tribulations that will test me along the way. But you inspire me to become a better human being. You inspire me to live out the rest of my life with purpose, and love; using each day to love and respect my fellow human being, striving to be the best I can be, and to be the change I wish to see.
Founding The ARK Jammers Connection, and serving as its President gives me the great opportunity to honor you, to honor mom and dad. It gives me the chance to salute Mother Theresa, Sœur Emmanuelle, Michael Jackson, Chuck Wall, and every compassionate person who makes a difference by serving as a parent, a mentor, an advocate, a social worker, a volunteer . My hat goes off to all of you, the acclaimed and unsung heroes who teach us that kindness is fundamental to life, and essential in creating healthy, happy human relationships.
In this current time of «what's in it for me», finding financial backing for our idealistic project will not be easy. But, with the investment and involvement of the many committed, thoughtful and outstanding men and woman who are coming together to live out our mission, I feel privileged to lead The ARK Jammers Connection's efforts to promote kindness and intercultural dialogue in our local and global communities.
Thank you grandma, for spending your life well, and for leaving such a powerful, positive, lasting impact on hundreds of lives. Thank you for loving, for giving, for spreading kindness, and for passing it on.
We miss you deeply, but your vision of love and compassion will live on in many of us, lucky enough to have benefited from your acts of kindness.
To the visitors : Thank you for taking the time to visit our new website. I hope your visit will give you a taste of what the ARK Jammers are trying to accomplish : performing acts of random kindness through the unifying power of music, to change ourselves, to change others and to change the world! I hope your visit will inspire you to adopt the concept of kindness as part of your way of life. If and when it does, I hope you will pass it on to others. Count your blessings always, and be the best you can be!
Ps : Grandma you did a fantastic job at choosing the first names of my father's 11 children : Loïskay, Lemans, Williams etc…But the one you gave me, Pauline, was not very…creative. Being from a different culture, you probably didn't expect him to have sooo many kids huh? So when you got to me, number ten on the list, you had no more «inspiration»? That's ok, grandma, I fixed the problem. «Avline» sounds muuuuch better!
