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Page 19

by Stuart McLean


  THE LIVES OF OTHERS

  It was the summer of 1967, a summer of excitement and pride across Canada, and there were few more exciting places to work than at Expo 67 in Montreal.

  I had the privilege of being part of the Canadian Pavilion for the duration of the World Fair. I was to be a mounted rider with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

  Opening day began with exploding mortars and low-level fly-pasts by the Golden Centennaires aerobatic team. Since the plan called for us to be isolated from the public, our horse stand was in a large, elevated sandbox. The horses, however, quickly let it be known that the perch was not to their liking, so authorities hurriedly decided to bring us down into the plaza. This created a new problem. Because there was no separation from the public, we had to ensure that no toes were stepped on and that our horses didn’t spook. To do that, we had to decide when it was safe to let people close to us, and when it wasn’t.

  One afternoon I noticed a boy, maybe ten or twelve years old, sitting quietly in a wheelchair outside the throng that was surrounding my horse. I carefully moved toward the boy, watching for clues from his parents in case I was getting too close.

  I asked if their son would like to touch the animal. They nodded. My horse lowered his head and began gently nibbling the boy’s fingers. The broad smile on his face turned to uncontrolled, hearty laughter. I allowed it to continue for longer than normal before I turned to greet others. As I did I felt a pang of concern, because I saw both parents weeping as they moved away.

  A couple of hours later I rode behind the pavilion to give my horse a chance to get a drink and stretch its back. I had dismounted and was beginning my chores when I saw the boy and his family coming toward me. Both parents were still noticeably emotional.

  To my astonishment they told me that that moment in the plaza was the first time they had ever seen their son laugh.

  They told me they were incredibly thankful to have discovered what could bring him joy.

  Treats for horses were reserved for special occasions, and I figured no occasion could be more special than this. I dug out some horse treats and we all shared the boy’s delight as my horse gingerly picked them off the palm of his outstretched hand. I confess that I required a couple of minutes to regain my own composure before going back out front.

  I had learned an important lesson that day. I learned what impact seemingly insignificant gestures can have on the lives of others.

  Coldstream, British Columbia

  LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

  Aisen, Jeff, 57

  Armstrong, Allison West, 41

  Armstrong, Kurt, 98, 223

  Arnal, Colette, 193

  Avern, Ben, 257

  Baltensperger, Brenda, 149

  Bottos, Sister Trina, 52

  Buchanan, Don, 293

  Calderwood, Michael, 146

  Campbell, Angus, 66

  Cayley, Clare, 229

  Chambers, Carl, 157

  Chandler Allingham, Janet, 176

  Cook, Mary, 261

  Cowan, Jim,180

  Craigie, Barbara, 277

  Cross, Mark, 118

  DeCourcey, Dawn, 195

  de Pencier, North, 114

  Drybrough, Vicki, 235

  Dryden, Judy, 71

  Everitt, Wendy, 127

  Fairweather, Robert, 210

  Fraser, Charlotte, 248

  Friedland, Bob, 8, 43

  Fry, Margreth, 168

  Fuller, Rod, 3

  Gallagher, Michael, 201

  Glass, Cheryl, 130

  Goddard, Peter, 238

  Grout, Susan, 226

  Gunn, Nancy, 104

  Halstead, Peggy, 132

  Hamilton, Margaret, 95, 135

  Harper, Doug, 106

  Haselden, Rollie, 89

  Hay, Harley, 141

  Haynes, Ian D., 47

  Hembling, Dawn, 155

  Henderson, Heather, 123

  Hickox, Stuart, 287

  Hughes, Anne, 263

  Hutton, Sheila, 254

  Ibarra, Diego, 63

  Ickes, Tony, 120

  Jackson, Matthew, 10

  Jensen, Paul, 183

  Johnson, Nigel, 93

  Jones, Bryn, 60

  Kelsall, Jill, 251

  Koch, Maureen, 190

  Leeper, Marlene, 217

  Levine, Tyler, 165

  McIntosh, Betty, 59

  McNaught Marion, 245

  Mehew, Willy, 20

  Millar, Phil, 38

  Miller, Betsy, 50

  Mills, Terry, 178

  Mittendorf, A.J., 116, 188

  Mohamed, Islam, 25

  Morrison, Jennifer, 79

  Mosher, Al, 212

  Nanders, Alan, 242

  Nolan, Glenn, 91

  Ogden, Mindy, 274

  Olson, Barbara, 13

  O’Neil, Bethanne, 36

  Palmer, William LaMar, 284

  Parker, Neil, 207

  Perkins, Norm, 279

  Perodeau, Ann, 185

  Rakchaev, Cathy, 269

  Raymond, Ruth, 76

  Robinson, Susanne, 111

  Sachno, Robert, 160

  Sacks, Deena, 16

  Schwartz, Sandra, 73

  Smith, Maureen and Tony, 34

  Smith, Steve, 282

  Sutherland, Ann, 45

  Sweetland, Leah, 173

  Thomson, Margaret, 19

  Tice, Jane, 290

  Urquhart, Emily, 83

  Vallis, Enid, 5

  Vilches, Kala, 87

  Walmark, Karyn, 205

  Walsh, Leslie, 23

  Walton-Roberts, Margaret, 220

  Watson, Netty, 162

  Watson, Sheila, 101

  Weinhold, Martin, 151

  Winterhoff, Thomas, 68

  Wood, Irene, 31

  Wotherspoon, Rod, 272

  VIKING

  an imprint of Penguin Canada Books Inc.

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Canada Books Inc.

  90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

  Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  First published 2013

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (RRD)

  Copyright © Stuart McLean, 2013

  The Vinyl Cafe is a registered trademark.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  Manufactured in the U.S.A.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication data available upon request to the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-0-670-06475-5

  Visit the Penguin Canada website at www.penguin.ca

  Special and corporate bulk purchase rates available; please see www.penguin.ca/corporatesales or call 1-800-810-3104, ext. 2477.

 

 

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