Awesome News
from the Ever Wonder collection (1996-2001)
Some things just jump out from the newspaper and beg to be read twice. It’s a wonder why there is any fiction written in this world when you can have real life stories that amuse. Several weeks ago, there was an article in the Timmins Daily Press about another Bob Thompson (name’s got a nice ring to it). I believe the article even inspired a letter or two to the editor. You may remember he was the fellow who decided to sell his road-building company so he could retire. His venture turned a tidy multi-million-dollar profit. Did he establish a home in some exotic south seas spot? Maybe. But he didn’t forget his hardworking employees. Each received a tidy sum (a few got a bonus envelope of a million dollars) as a thank you for helping make the company what it was. Did you look at this news item and go, “This can’t be true.” Did you feel happy to be part of the human race when you realized that it was a true good-news story and not some Hollywood make-believe?
There’s been a series of articles about the presidential race in the United States. Warren Beatty is one of the celebrity faces getting some print space. Apparently, he is a riveting orator but is it all an act you might ask. After all, he is gifted, but as a leader of the free world! Haven’t Americans had enough of acting presidents? Apparently not. Years ago Ronald Reagan was in the Oval Office trying to stay on script. Presently there is Bill Clinton acting out his fantasies. Jesse Ventura, celebrated actor in a ring with four corners, may be interested in heading a new party called Reform (no direct connection with Canada’s Reform Party, but wouldn’t you like to see a WWF match up between The Body and Preston Manning?) Imagine still, if Ventura became President of the USA to Manning as our Prime Minister. Reality just keeps on getting more amusing doesn’t it? Ventura will have to wait in the change room if billionaire Donald Trump, equal to all in the celebrity showcase of champions, has his way. Trump is eyeing the leadership of a newly morphed political party. One news article stated that if his people discovered that he could win the election he would like to have Oprah Winfrey as his Vice-President.
Non-fiction doesn’t get better than this. Or so I thought. Along comes this article about a young dancer, Hallie Broadribb from Alberta. She suffered a loss of one of her legs to bone cancer. She kept the leg (naming it Scooter) in the freezer until she felt well enough to have a memorial service. Her grandfather made a casket to suitable dimensions and Broadribb placed her leg and a few mementos inside for burial. One of the items was a picture of herself so that ‘Scooter’ would recognize her in heaven. So touching! News never gets tiring eh.