Category: Sackville’s Memorial park

Life is always beautiful: in happiness, sorrow, and in or despite adversity too. For Bambi, this is an evidence.

However, what makes life beautiful, despite its apparent or real cruelty at times? Is it love? Is it friendship? Is it hope (from faith or from other sources)? Is it our shared humanity and support of one another in adversity or in times of grief?

Or is it nature’s beauty or a happy moment like bumping into adorable babies [for those of us who like them] or cute dogs?

An what about the healing power of music? And arts in general? What about the books we read and how they can change something in us or inspire us?

And the influence of our own mindset and outlook on life (or death)? Here, Bambi is specifically thinking of her late mom’s wise words shared earlier on this post: “replace your dark thoughts with beautiful thoughts and life becomes more beautiful“.

The above is well said, but to what extent do factors like our will or capacity to appreciate simple gestures of humanity or kindness, have a sense of humour, or to indulge in creativity influence life’s beauty, at least in our eyes?

Finally, what about gratitude, health , or money? Do they make our life easier or more beautiful? What about dreams, goals, projects, diligence, or simply mindfulness of the present moment and respect of our own needs and rhythms?

In conclusion, this post raised too many questions. Yet there is uncertainty about any final answer. Who knows? Maybe all of the above, to different degrees, at different times of our life stages. Bambi will stop here, she promises. If you wish, you can comment your own thoughts about life’s beauty. She would be delighted to hear from you, whether publicly or more privately. As for her, she will conclude this post by first sharing a picture, featuring the fall season post-sunset, which she received today from out of the province of Québec. Thank you Louis :). Following this beauty, if you wish, you may listen to a deep song by Mr. Nicola Ciccone entitled “Le survivant” [“The Survivor“]. Its translated English lyrics follow the YouTube video. Thank you Mr. Google Translate for assisting Bambi in sharing the beauty of the French-Canadian lyrics/music with her dear readers.

I spent my entire life

Counting the injuries

Facing troubles

Overcoming the walls

I received contempt

I received insults

I have seen dark days

I’ve had some tough times

Today I spend my life

Pretending to smile

To everyone who told me

That it was better to die

I have a heart that has learned

That stopped suffering

That brought out the evil in it

To make way for the future

I am still alive

Even if life hurt me

I am still alive

Even though the world is unequal

I am still alive

Even if the time is deadly

I still live

I’m holding on, God I’ve come a long way

I spent my entire life

To fight against mountains

To repress my desires

To repress all my anger

I grew up in oblivion

I grew up on drama

I screamed

I shed tears

Today I spend my life

To give me pleasure

Even if all my enemies

Would rather see me moan

I have a heart that has grown

That stopped suffering

That faces life

And that doesn’t want to run away anymore

There are days when I fall

There are days when I do not see the world anymore

There are days when I’m wrong

But I’m moving forward”.

This coming Sunday, October 1st, it will be the 40-day-anniversary of death of Bambi’s mom, her/our dear Robine Fiani Azar. It is a spiritual tradition to pray for late loved ones at this postmortem milestone, so to speak. The religious service will be held in Beirut as you can see below:

Just like maternal love, legendary music and voices, transcend death. Imagine when a great singing voice rocked both your youth/life and the youth/life of your mother, inspiring both (and MANY of us around the world) in so many ways. How could talent die? How could it be forgotten?

Thanks to all the singers, young and older, who are keeping Aznavour’s songs alive through their own beautiful voices. They make people around the world, including Lebanon, happier. They allow them to recall shared memories and to heal too when grieving.

As for you, Mr. Charles Aznavour, thank you for having existed (https://shorturl.at/dzD57) and for having been an integral part of our lives. Your songs, in all their versions (original French, English, German, Spanish, etc.), are uplifting.

To conclude this post on a more personal note, Bambi will join her prayers to those prayers in Beirut for her mom. On Sunday at 6:30 AM Atlantic time, she will light a candle for her mom. She will be emotionally and spiritually connected with her in heaven, with her dear dad and sisters on earth, along with all the beloved caring family and friends. Thanks and blessings to everyone. Mom, may your memory be eternal… Mr. Aznavour, you too 💜 💜.

How can Bambi go to bed before expressing her best wishes to you, Bernadette?

Yes, it is already September 28 in Atlantic Canada [not yet at your end in Montreal :)]. Happy Birthday Bernadette! “Oui, c’est à ton tour de te laisser parler d’amour“, as we beautifully sing in Québec. May today’s joy extend to your entire forthcoming year and the following ones!

Thank you for everything, including your care for Bambi’s family in Beirut and concerns about Lebanon. Last but not least, many thanks for bringing your son to the world and for raising him to be the amazing guy he is. Are you smiling now :)?

In conclusion, for those who missed the tribute to Bernadette as a former ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada, you can find this older post at the end of this one.

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Ms. Bernadette Béliveau, a ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada, shares some of her glorious memories

Bambi was 11 years when Mr. Tino Rossi died on September 26, 1983 (https://shorturl.at/gjnyG). She does not know if you know him or like him. Since she does, she will honour him in this brief musical post. Born in Ajaccio (Corsica), Mr. Rossi had an incredible voice. Indeed, his opera-suited voice facilitated his devotion to a career as a tenor in the French cabaret style. He also became an actor, appearing in over 25 movies. Of note, Mr. Rossi recorded over 2000 songs (https://shorturl.at/gjnyG). What a highly impressive legacy. Thank you, Mr. Tino Rossi. May your memory be eternal.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is about forgiving others and oneself. It is a time to seek forgiveness too. Is there anything more loving and potentially healing in life than forgiveness?

May forgiveness always remember its twin sibling: love. May love remember its double shadow: self-respect as well as respect for others.

With much love, Bambi would like to wish all her readers who would be highlighting Yom Kippur, from now until tomorrow evening, a blessed one. May they feel close to and blessed by G-d. May they forgive themselves while indulging in forgiving others… May they carry the spirit of this day of reparation for a wrong or injury into their entire year.

There is beauty in all four seasons, but for Bambi the fall is surely the most charming period of the year. She will always love it, regardless of her heart’s inner season of grief.

As readers, some of you may be sadly tending to your own grief, after losing a loved one to death. Who knows? Maybe you have just ended a meaningful relationship? Or, more joyfully, you may be expecting or have welcomed a cute newborn. You could also be simply celebrating continuous love. Indeed, Happy Wedding Anniversary sweetest Khello and Zeina (or Zeinzoun!)! The “Mabrouk” [Congrats] song below is for you then 💚!

In addition to the Lebanese-Arabic Congrats song, there is nothing like the voice of the late, yet eternally charming, Mr. Joe Dassin to remind us of the beauty of the fall. His song is a musical treat not just in French, but also in its English and German versions.

To conclude this brief post, if where you are, in terms of the season of your life, is not the most comfortable place, please keep in mind the following: this season shall pass. Yes, brighter days are ahead, even when they may be colder!

1. Hello Louis. Can you tell us what is your understanding of the Worldwide Rally For Freedom?

I don’t know the details behind the Rally, but I’m in favour of the concept of freedom generally, so I’m interested in going. Apparently, being in favour of freedom isn’t a given in our society these days. That’s what this is about, to me.

2. Why does it matter to you to attend this event?

We live in an era where freedom is under attack, mostly by far-left elites. Unfortunately, most people are too scared to object in public, because of economic consequences: being fired, having their professional qualifications withdrawn, losing access to government funds, etc. This unfortunately leads to a situation where only those already on the fringe dare to be seen to object to these attacks on freedom. On account of this, I think that it’s extremely important for “normal” people to show up and be heard. This will encourage more of the same, and make the large number of people who are too afraid to say what they think in public become less afraid to make their voices heard. The very reason why the far-left attacks people who speak out so badly is to isolate the masses from realizing that they’re not at all alone in their opinions. Opinions which I’ll point out were in many cases completely uncontroversial even 10 years ago.

3. Bambi has the utmost respect for your courage because it does take guts to express one’s opinion, even in a clever town like ours. If there is anyone who grasps the danger of modern identity politics in Sackville, it is Lebanon-born immigrants like her. For her, this movement insists on seeing all of us not as individuals but as an extension only of our colour, gender, ethnicity, etc. We are defined and trapped by our identity and we define and trap others by it too. Of course, dividing people in such ways is not new. However, history teaches us it can be dangerous (especially when politicians play with the fire of identity politics). In your opinion, is there a risk of this radical left movement calling for a radical right movement (a real one, not the alt-right Bambi has been accused of among other absurdities, just to try to censor her)? If so, how can we prevent it?

If anyone’s courage should be respected here, it’s Bambi’s.

As for this town, it’s not clever. What you have is a dominant ideology of blind followers. It actually increasingly resembles a cult, complete with love-bombing, chanting and shunning.

There is absolutely the possibility of a radical right movement coming into existence as a response to the insanity of our times. At present, I can’t say that I’m concerned about extremes on the right. They exist, but they’re inconsequential. In future years, they may be a real concern, however.

What we’re actually seeing now is an increasingly powerful elitist authoritarian smug far-left that has taken over much of universities, government, the court system and even made huge inroads into large corporations. It’s not necessarily economically far-left, in that it’s happy to cooperate (and co-opt) the corporate sector, but it’s definitely authoritarian, and increasingly radical. Huge sectors of our society are in constant fear of them and of being their target, if that doesn’t say enough.

4. Had you had children, would you have been worried about their education and future? Why/Why not?

Absolutely. There’s no way I’d want my kids going to today’s schools, as a start.

As for the future in general, if we continue in this way, in another 5 years or so, we’re in the position that Argentina is in now. Another 10-15, we could be Venezuela. Hopefully we come to our senses before then. I’m far from sure that we will, however. The people who push (or go along) with today’s trendy ideologies have no idea what world they’ll be leaving their children. Or possibly, their desire to “fit in” is so strong that it keeps them from thinking about it. It’s quite sickening, really.

5. Will it get better after the above scenario, in your opinion? Just to end on an optimistic note…

Collective insanity and revolutionary zeal eventually burn themselves out, in the same manner that other organizational structures decay: those in power start to care more about protecting their positions than about the stated goals of what they’re doing, and over time, become less and less efficient, and more and more ridiculous. The late days of the Soviet Union come to mind. But that’s the very long term, and there were many decades of true horrors under Stalin before that. It’s much better to avoid going down that road in the first place. People don’t realize what they have until they lose it, and that’s a big part of what’s wrong with today’s society. Freedom is taken for granted. It’s all a game to the far-left radicals. But it won’t be a game forever. It can get deadly serious–literally.

Thank you for your time, Louis. Best wishes.

Bambi has promising news to share before heading to sleep: she finally managed to get over Mr. Charles Aznavour’s Emmenez-moi song, which was stuck in her head all of yesterday. She felt sorry for anyone who could have heard her froggy humming, especially Louis [thanks for his patience :)].

What song is on her mind today then? Smart as you are, you may take a guess from the title of this post that respective hints would be both flowers and friends.

Indeed, in less than 24 hours, Bambi received four beautiful cards of condolences from beloved friends across miles and oceans. Their kind gesture moved her heart, which also melted at the sight of virtual flowers from a good friend and reader, Fred Klein. The latter kindly accepted her request to share his beautiful pictures. Long live friendship. Long live flowers. Long live our loved ones in heaven ( hi mama 💚!) and all those whom we are blessed to have in our lives…

In general, Bambi enjoys being tuned into the present moment. Yet, there are times where, most likely like you too, she feels like being instantly “taken to the land of wonders” . Can someone just take her, drop her, and forget her there? Are these impossible wishes what made her hum Mr. Charles Aznavour’s song upon waking up and throughout the day? Indeed, she kept singing this melody, even in awkward public places like washrooms. She is about to go to sleep and yet this beautiful French song, subtitled in English, is still on her mind. It is her hope that tomorrow morning she will wake up with another song :).

To conclude this brief musical post, Bambi would like to hear from you if you feel like sharing: do you also sometimes have specific songs stuck in your head, so to speak? And, if so, what are some examples? Do you hear yourself humming these melodies in public?

Maya’s mom (and aunt) are the childhood friends of Robine, Bambi’s late mom. Of note, the now middle-aged adult children of these friends, and their own children, are friends. Yes, this loyal companionship continues from one generation to the other. It survived civil wars, migration, Beirut explosions and injuries, etc. It has celebrated joys and lives of loved ones in times of sorrow. It has shared laughter and tears as well as dreams and, at times, bitter realities. It will always be filled with both much love and continuous hope.

Bearing the above in mind, in less than two hours in Beirut, it will be Maya’s birthday. Like a little child, Bambi cannot wait until midnight to dedicate the September 20th (2023)’s post to her friend. May her new year be as beautiful as her, inside and out. Yes, this means HIGHLY beautiful :)!

To highlight Maya’s big day, with much love, Bambi will offer her a few songs. The first French one is entitled “Un ami” [“A friend“]. Its English translated lyrics will follow the music. Thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his assistance and very silent yet sweet birthday best wishes [OK that was a silly joke, just for you Maya : )]. The other two songs, in both English and Lebanese-Arabic respectively, do not need any further description. They speak for themselves. Happy Birthday Maya ❤️!!!

A FRIEND

“A friend, it’s a morning that is about to start

A gift when you wake up from your dreams

It’s a bird that comes to sing in our ear

It lights up like a ray of sunshine

A friend is a rainbow of a thousand colours

A four-leaf clover, bringing good luck

It’s a scarf around our neck that keeps us warm

A tattoo forever on the skin

Chorus:

You and me, me and you

Me for you, you for me

You and me, me and you

United like ten fingers

A friend is so much more precious than a diamond

On our sorrows, our sorrows, a bandage

It is a large tree, the most beautiful oak in the forest

To whom we entrust our little secrets

A friend is sometimes fragile like crystal

It’s also very strong like metal

In the storms of life, an umbrella

It’s a star that shines in the night

Chorus:

You and me, me and you

Me for you, you for me

You and me, me and you

United like ten fingers

A friend is a heart that beats in unison

When he sings a song with us

Together we are as much double as half

A friend is the whole universe

A friend is the whole universe

A friend is the whole universe.”