Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker
Five daily blogs about life's 5 big choices on five interconnected sites.
Retired Disney Institute Keynote Speaker and Prolific Blogger. Five daily, differently-themed personal blogs (about life's 5 big choices) on five interconnected sites.
This Bed & Breakfast is behind the Victorian Inn…
No gifts for jeff noel, please. Your gift of reading is all. If these Mid Life Celebration blogs have opened a door for you to think, smile or be grateful, share them with others you feel would be encouraged to think, smile or be grateful.
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There are rare moments when an email from a long lost friend is enormously inspiring. This is one of those moments. Neal McCord, my manager at Disney World 26 years ago, has a huge role in making sure Give Kids The World runs smoothly. His insights will fill your heart with hope.
I’m compelled to share this insider glimpse with you, because it is what makes Neal’s character, and the work Give Kids The World does, so remarkable. So needed.
“I just happened be nearby when they came for Princess Alyssa (as we call her) and they asked me to accompany her so she would have someone to direct her answers and responses toward. I sat in the room as they taped her and, the next thing I knew, they said, “OK, now you”.
They then asked me to answer a few questions. I had no idea that these unrehearsed, ad-libbed responses would end up on YouTube!
Nonetheless, I think this brief video captures the essence of the Village and you may feel free to share it with anyone you choose.”
Yep, June 8th…this place looks good for a party, eh?
Sometimes Marriott or Westin. Sometimes a B & B. Here’s the Victorian Inn in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, two blocks from Acadia University. So what, right?
On the way to helping make the world a better place, jeff noel aims to provide you with 5 daily gifts. Gifts to help you think, smile, or be grateful.
And I don’t allow a busy schedule or writer’s block to get in the way.
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I woke up this morning with my windows open and my air conditioning turned off. After a weeklong heat wave, today is cooler and the humidity is low. I was able to walk out to my deck, newspaper in one hand and coffee in the other, and not have my glasses fog up when I slid open the door. The birds sounded especially happy about the break in the heat and humidity. The squirrels were chasing one another through the tops of the giant silver maples, happily playing in my son’s long abandoned tree fort.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is the same, but the tone of the day will be quite different. There are some things in life for which we can find no deeper meaning, no upside, and no lesson. Some things defy explanation. There are no words that comfort, no gesture that takes away the pain. There are things that happen in life that we never really get over, things that we don’t recover from so much as just learn to move forward from. One of those things is the death of a child. No matter that this was inevitable, something that was determined at the very moment of conception. Tomorrow is the day we lay to rest one of our family; on what would have been her third birthday. It seems that all of the other stresses in life, the traffic jams, the long line at the grocery store, high prices at the gas pump… none of them seem to matter.
Today I will enjoy the sunshine, the cooler temperatures, and the birds singing. I will think back to vacations as a kid, elementary school, those awkward teenaged years. I will remember the long nights sitting up with my own baby daughter, her first day of school. I will think of sewing ribbons on her ballet shoes and the hours spent driving to the dance studio, the frantic search for prom dresses and leaving her for her first year away at college. I will think of being with her when my grandson was born. All of those things seemed like such ordinary rites of passage, and yet some mothers never have those experiences with their little girls.
As I enjoy the cool breeze blowing back the curtains, I understand that not everything in life can be explained. Sometimes we just have to accept that life can be terribly cruel and unfair. We need to look at those mundane, everyday things like shopping for school clothes and music lessons and making snacks and realize that they aren’t chores, but gifts. Being able to nag our kids about cleaning their rooms or doing their homework is a blessing. Having memories of those things after our children are grown adults is something we need to cherish. Not all parents are so fortunate.
Boston Pizza in Nova Scotia. Interesting…
Was not able to take Jack The Bear this trip because of the extra equipment needed. But look what is staring at jeff noel in the adjacent booth.
As the multi-generational Family left, I asked Dad the Bear’s name. Rufus. His daughter is four. Same age our son was when he got Jack the (world-traveling) Bear.
Our son (10) may travel for a living some day. He may have a child he physically leaves behind, but never emotionally.
How do you other travelers out there stay emotionally connected?
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