Gratitude

Gratitude is often misplaced in our society as we tend to take life as it passes for granted.  As Loreen and I move into the next phase of our life and reflect on our life's journey we have so much to be grateful for.

We are extremely grateful to our parents who had the understanding and patience to allow us, with their guidance to grow into the personalities that we both became.  They were the ones that taught us respect, morals and work ethics.  They provided us with roots and wings: we have stayed mostly rooted through our working careers and now will try out our wings.

We have great gratitude for our siblings as they helped mould us into the resilient people we are today. Siblings torment, love, support, teach and can bring out your worst and your best. They have always been there when we needed them and provided support with love and kindness.

Our parents and siblings taught us tolerance, acceptance, and curiosity to explore the world and the people that inhabit it.  They gave us the foundation to build our lives on and what a rock that foundation has been.

We are extremely thankful for our daughter Keenan.  While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.  Our daughter, in her own way, educated us in tolerance and acceptance of life in an ever changing modern world.  She taught us a love that is strong and binding for life.

We are grateful to the schools and teachers that had the patience and, in my case the perseverance, to provide the education and guidance that helped accomplish our goals and get us to where we are today. 

I have many people to thank for the opportunities provided to me throughout my working career.  People that not only put their trust in me to be able to perform the tasks assigned, but mentored and taught me confidence and ability go outside my comfort zone and continue to learn and grow.  I was fortunate up to my last day of work to work with people that continued to provide me opportunity and learning’s.  I certainly am grateful to the amazing people I have had the opportunity to work with.

Friends play a big role in one’s life and growth.  Through a lifetime one makes and has many friends – some are fleeting, some you lose and never gain back, some you lose and find again, some are for life no matter where life takes them or you.  We have been blessed to find special friends from school, relatives, in-laws, and work.  They have all provided laughter, support and growth.  Thank you all.

This journey of ours to travel the world and experience different cultures started years ago when we were blessed to meet some very special people through a college student exchange program.  Over a period of 11 years we had the good fortune to be host family to exchange students from Japan, Korea, Greece, France, the USA, and the Maritimes. In all, some 20 young people brought their cultures to our home. These were wonderful experiences for us and taught us that people are mostly the same all over the world; they just have different cultures that need to be explored.

So with gratitude, we thank all the people and events that have helped bring us to this place in our lives.

Danny & Loreen