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We heard the sad news on Saturday that Paul Newman died. One of our members created a beautiful online tribute to his life.

Paul Newman the actor acted with all of the great actors of his generation, playing memorable roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and he won an Academy Award for his role in The Colour of Money. He finally retired from acting in May of 2007. He had an incredible life in film and on stage.

Paul Newman was a philanthropist, and feeling that he had so much, he gave back $220 million with his Newman’s Own line, launched in 1982. He donated the money to causes as varied as Little People’s Theatre (handicapped actors) in Toronto, and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp (ill children). He gave to Universities and relief organizations. He was generous.

Paul Newman the family man, was married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years, and had 6 children and 8 grandchildren.  He lived queitly in Connecticut, far from the trappings of Hollywood.

As Leonardo Dicaprio said, “Paul Newman was a role model”. I have to agree. It seems that so many people are famous for being bad, but so few are famous for being good. Paul was a good man. Join us remembering him.

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A young man killed 10 innocent students. He killed them in a place that society considers a safe haven for children. He killed them at school.

How angry must someone be to plan a mass murder? How does the anger become so great that acting on it becomes reality? How can it be that no one, nobody, sees the anger and stops the person? I think that mass murderers are often labelled by society as ’sick’ or ‘phycho’, and let’s face it they must be not quite right. But calling them names after they are dead is a cop out.

The friends and families of these students must be in unmeasurable pain. Their lives scarred forever. Join me in leaving condolences for them. Perhaps in our small way, we can help them.

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We have to take chances in life if we want to be happy. Regrets, the ‘what ifs’ of life, can kill you, they will drive you into the ground if you let them.

Danny listened to his dying wife’s wishes. He took a chance. He is a winner whether he wins X Factor or not. He listened to his heart, honoured his wife, and made his family proud. He touches the lives of everyone who hears his voice with the emotion that rings in it.

Thanks Danny. You did well.

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We have been listening to you, and to your requests for international versions of Respectance. We’ve had thousands and thousands of memorials created in at least a dozen languages in the last year. Many of you have wondered if we’d consider launching sites wholly in other languages.

Well I have great news for you.

As part of the changes Todd alluded to in our last post, we are pleased to announce that we are rolling out Respectance in Polish, German, Dutch, French, and Chinese. We have them up now, but they won’t go live for another couple of weeks when we’ve made sure that everything is working just fine. Marcin, head of IT here assures me it won’t take long now - but I’ve learned to take the word of those IT guys with a grain of salt!

Thanks to all of you for your ongoing support. Make sure you keep checking in regularly for updates and more great news.

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I am travelling down an unfamiliar road these days, it’s not on any GPS that I know of. It’s the trip to the end of life. I am travelling this road beside my friend Heather. I am in awe of her strength, her resolve and her grace. I won’t even try to describe how brave she is, and how easy it is to travel the road with her because of it.

I admire how she is trying to make every living day a memory for her family and friends. I love that she went to Italy for her 25th anniversary with her husband and closest life friends even as she is dependent on a feeding tube and can no longer speak. I love that she spends as much time with her children doing things and creating memories as she can. I especially love that everyone wants to do all of this with her.

We all travel this road at some point in our lives, it’s just that most of us aren’t consciously aware of how few miles we have left on the road. At the end of the road all that anyone has left of us is the memories and material things that we leave behind. The material goods soon wear out. It’s the memories that stay with us, and keep our loved ones alive.

Thank you to my friend Heather for reminding me of all this every time I see you.

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