By Miles Patrick Yohnke
© 2018 All Rights Reserved.
He felt distraught.
His twin brother, Judge Grant Sheard was arriving at his house at 2 p.m. He was coming in from Cranbrook, BC. I arrived at the Bridge City Bicycle Co-op (a volunteer-run, non-profit cooperative here in Saskatoon) shortly before 1 p.m. We were going to cycle back to his place.
He felt distraught, not that his brother was arriving (he was excited for that), but rather, that he could not completely get this stranger's bicycle to the level to where he would want to ride it.
The bicycle owner, a young woman, was a new arrival to our City of Bridges. She was from a foreign land, here to study science at our world-renowned university.
Her English wasn't very good and her bicycle was even worse. No rubber, no brakes. "No problem" replied volunteer, Garth Sheard. "We'll get you to where you need to go and will do it by not hurting our environment or our ecosystem."
He laboured over her bicycle, going through boxes, finding parts, building the bicycle up to where it was roadworthy. Yet, he still wasn't satisfied.
She now could finally ride her bicycle, but volunteer and board member, Garth Sheard, didn't like the bottom bracket and the feel of the crank. But that would take another two hours of his time. He didn't have the time that day. It was now 1:30 p.m.
The young lady was happy. "Go, go," she replied in her broken English. "I can come back another time and get that fixed."
As I cycled with my dear friend, Garth Sheard (it is a lovely thirty minute traverse) I could feel his weight. He was so distraught. "You did the best you could with the time given," I replied.
It was a beautiful experience to witness. That kind of humanity towards another human life. I thought, how lucky this world is to have a man like this in it. How lucky Bridge City Bicycle Co-op is to have a person like that with them. How lucky I was to have a friend of this level of being.
Often we will overhear a person complain about their job (which renders a salary). Here was a person giving of his time. No financial reward. Just the satisfaction of helping another and yet, he felt he could have done more.
We should bottle his mindframe. Pour it into the consciousness of all humankind.
June 28, 2018, Mr. Gary Braithwaite and I attended a sold out Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz festival concert.
After the mind-expanding, heart-filling performance provided by the lives of Kellylee Evans and her bandmates, he dropped me off. It was 11:30 p.m. by then. We talked engagingly while out front of my place until 2 a.m. (he still had a two hour drive home ahead of him). We shared our souls, the events currently in our lives. Real dialogue. Real heart. Real special.
Like Mr. Garth Sheard, Mr. Gary Braithwaite sees the vast storehouse of unlimited human potential in others. These men see the good that others provide. They see. They truly think. Their compassion and love is immeasurable.
Near the end of our visit he gave me a paper, "DON'T LOOK AT IT," he replied. "I just wrote you a little something, I'll write more in August. Please place it in your pocket."
In my apartment, when I emptied my pockets, was Mr. Gary Braithwaite's paper. He hadn't written me a note as I thought; he had given me a 100 DOLLAR BILL!
An important thing that we should all realize (and both Mr. Gary Braithwaite and Mr. Garth Sheard understand this concept), is that we are all just passing around money.
These coming days, maybe one should look at where their money comes from? Did the money received warrant the services rendered?
Do we have the principles of these two great men? Did our lives have real meaning and purpose? How will we be remembered? Will we even be?
Will we be remembered by more than just close friends and family?
I'm deeply grateful to have these two great men in my life.
I care about this planet. I care about the people found in it. I care about you.
From my lips to God's ears, I love you each dearly.
Miles Patrick Yohnke
The bicycle on the left is Mr. Garth Sheard's original '90 Trek 800. In the fall of '17 he gave it to me. The bicycle on the right is another '90 Trek 800. He found the frame in early '18 and over a course of time found other matching parts and built it up from nothing. On his first test drive he took it to my mother's, where I was visiting. He presented the bike to the two of
us, stating: "this is your designated winter bike now, the original one will now only be used as your summer commuter bike." Mr. Sheard builds the most functional and comfortable bicycles. Full fenders, rear rack, and set-up in the "sit-up-and-beg" riding position. Precise engineering - they are always an astonishing experience to ride. Thank you Mr. Sheard!
Hello Everyone,
A little girl was failing math. Her mother enrolled her in Catholic school in the hopes to improve her math grades. During the first marking period, her mother noticed a dramatic improvement in her math studies. The girl would refuse playing with friends and eating dessert after dinner in order to study more.
On report card day, her mother was astonished to see that her daughter got an A+ in math. She asked her daughter, why the sudden change of attitude about math -- do the nuns punish you? The girl replied, no, but when I saw the little man on the wall nailed to the plus sign, I knew that this school is very serious about math!
For…