Speech for Charles Charles embraced all areas of his life with gratitude and optimism and the fact that his rich life ended far too early should not prevent us from approaching today's celebration of his life, not with sadness, but with his same spirit of gratitude and optimism – hopefully Charles can help us with that today. I had the privilege of asking my brother some questions a couple of weeks ago and record his answers so others could benefit from his wisdom and thoughtful perspectives on life even after he was gone. He talked about his life, what and who influenced him, what he has learned, his hopes and joys. I learned how when he was young he really looked up to the men who worked on the farm. Guys like Gerhardt, Helmut, Bjarne and Arne he would closely observed how they worked and how they would build things and fix equipment. They were his first teachers and role models for logical problem solving, hard work and perseverence. He said he wasn't a big talker and throughout his life would learn so much just by listening and observing. That and using logic and basic scientific principles along with taking the time and effort to think things through. That's how he became so knowledgeable about so many things. This is why when Charles did talk, people listened and were so admiring of his outside the box thinking on so many issues. He so enjoyed being an entrepreneur and it was deeply gratifying for him to be creative and be able to solve customer problems. I asked him what he would choose to do if he could do any job he wanted and of course he said constuction. He loved watching with boyish wonder the creative, productive, logical process of building something from the ground up. He even watched with interest the construction of this very building, admiring how something so beautiful can be created from nothing with the combination of hard work and logical thinking. He was confident in what he achieved and that he had helped people more than he had harmed people. Judging from all the positive feelings expressed about Charles recently and throughout his life I think we can safely conclude that the world was made much richer with Charles in it. But enough of about how great Charles was. It's kind of fun as his younger sister to point out some of his faults as well. (I can hear his hearty laugh). For instance he was a Montreal Canadiens fan – and didn't have many nice things to say about the Toronto Maple Leafs. – This would kind of divide the family on those winter Saturday nights on the farm watching Hockey Night in Canada. He also found great joy in teasing Krista and me with unflattering nicknames and experimented many torturous wrestling moves on our bodies as we begged for mercy (granted we kind of enjoyed the attention from our older brother). And he never had much tolerance for stupid behavior or people who continued to make poor choices in their lives. He did not believe in charity but believed in being generous, especially with helping young people become self-reliant, productive adults. Many of these young people are here today to express gratitude for the difference Charles made in their lives through employment, guidance and opportunities for learning. The joy that permeated the way he lived his life always had a timeless quality to it. He had an inner knowing that life, when measure in time, is "just a speck" he said but that the joys of life are eternal. He spoke about the joys of simple things like beautiful weather days, contemplating the majesty of nature, the glassy water of Grand Bend at 8 in the morning, seeing things grow and thrive, stroking Sabrina's hair at night at she falls asleep. For fun I asked him what he wanted to come back as if he could return to earth as something or someone else and these are his words: "Wow, I would probably like to be a Rocky Mountain. Something big and majestic and permanent, with a clear view of changes and what's going on with man's trials and tribulations and attempts to conquer, the successes and failures. I think that would be pretty neat." And then he added with his hearty laugh, "You know, if I couldn't be a John Deere tractor." Charles loved music and the songs he loved the best also reflected that death was a part of life and to seek out and savour joy in everything. Our family was together for the last time in October to celebrate my sister Yvonne's birthday and instead of singing Happy Birthday we sang a song my mother heard them sing at birthdays when she was in Scotland. As we were singing I heard someone singing louder than the rest of us and that someone was Charles wishing his sister blessings, comfort and hope for the coming year. He would not celebrate another birthday but was joyous in celebrating the present moment. Charles your creative, nurturing touch is so evident here and all over. Thank you. You are free.