I have not made much use of this blog site. That is because my thinking and writing process is more reminiscent of the tortoise than the hare. It takes a while for my thoughts to fall into place so that I can try to make myself understood by others. However, being a tortoise is okay. For many years I have been assured of this by my good friend, Stuart McLean. No, I never met him, but like many Canadians I looked forward to each Sunday at noon-time when there would be another broadcast of The Vinyl Cafe. Along with many others in the nation I would learn about the gifts and contributions of ordinary people. And like many Canadians I knew Stuart was my good friend because I am an ordinary person and Stuart was a friend of ordinary people. Like many Canadians, this past Wednesday, I felt the numbness and the sorrow when I heard that my good friend, whom I would now never meet, had died.

Stuart reminded us that some of the most important people are the ordinary people. These are the people who don’t always get it right and don’t always look their best. They are the people who make us smile, they make a world of difference to us by simply being there. In some cases they do something they think is unimportant and it can turn a life around.

Stuart had the ability, in sharing his observations and stories about ordinary people to help his listeners focus on the goodness in this world. He reminded us of simple kindnesses ordinary people do for one another and he knew that our offers to comfort and to allow ourselves to be comforted were okay–they were ordinary. It is the ordinary people who get us through life and it is often the ordinary people who remind us of our worth and give us our personal excitement. These are the people we must carry in our hearts and memories. These people cannot afford naming rights and we will rarely see one of their names on a building.

Just under 24 hours after hearing of Stuart’s death there was a hastily convened press conference of the President of the United States. The current President has carefully crafted a bombastic brand that rarely offers kind words or compliments and seems so counter to all the goodness that I had been recalling as I remembered Stuart’s warmth, goodness and compliments. In fact, the only person I recall the current President complimenting is his daughter, and that was about her looks and not her personhood.

I heard him complain about the mess he had to clean up, and of course, about his favourite topic–fake news. I heard him insult and criticize. He lambasted and lampooned and his fans adored him. This manoeuvre brought the congress back into line–and the emerging GOP concerns were silenced.

The President’s name is on many buildings, golf courses, a university, and anything else for which he could pay. What an honour! Yet I wonder how people will carry him in their hearts and memories. What I wonder even more is who really contributes more to make this world a good place–the brand or the ordinary person?