As many of you know, or will know now, my father was a huge figure in my life.  Even saying he was a huge figure in my life doesn’t quite illustrate what he meant to me.  He was my mentor, my strength, my best friend, and my laugh master.  When he passed away, I took on the challenge of cleaning out his office.  I spent a whole day going through files and packing up pictures.  I was able to pick a few items that really meant something to me and now have them displayed proudly in my home.

Dad’s Stephen Leacock poster proudly mounted in my living room, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” Isn’t that the truth.

Dad’s crazy wooden statue that nobody can explain, sits quietly in my dining room.

My very favorite of Dad’s office items is a faded, tea-stained piece of paper within a simple black frame. The words within the document literally describe how my father lived his life.  It sits next to my bed so that it is the first thing I see every morning. The document reads as follows:

Magic Way of Going

1. Be generous in your praise and support of others.

2. Forgiveness is freedom.  Put your hate, anger and revenge in the garbage can where they belong.

3. Learn to think creatively.  Solutions live in your imagination.

4. See life positively.  Every problem is an opportunity for those with eyes to see.

5.  There is no growth without pain.  Birds always sing after the rain.

6. Be grateful for your gifts, your country, and for those you love.

7. Value the magic in each other.

8. Learn to laugh at life and at yourself.  Most of what you worry about will still be here long after you are gone.

9. Find time to do the things you love. Develop a wish list and start checking it off.  This moment is all you have.

10. Be considerate, caring and honest in everything you say and do.  Your epitaph is being written today.

You are not dust, you are magic.

This my friends, is my mantra.