Moving Forward

Dan is a veteran of the RCMP, and so much more. He started out his life of service with the Volunteer Fire Department before spending almost 36 years working within a police environment. He's put his name forward for provincial government and worked as a truck driver during the Covid pandemic when he saw the need to keep goods moving through our country. His life is a stellar example of putting community ahead of self.

Gloria McCluskey. Gloria is a biological mother to four children and a proud grandmother of 8. But when it comes to maternal affection she his a mother to a whole community. She’s spent a lifetime serving the community of Dartmouth, including over two decades as a municipal politician. Prior to the amalgamation of Dartmouth into the Halifax Regional Municipality, Gloria served a term as the city’s mayor. Although she retired from her official role on Halifax Regional Council in 2016, at the age of 85, she continues to fulfill an important role in our city as a member on 2 boards and multiple committes.. It was great to connect with Gloria and talk about her experience with the people that put on a uniform and fulfill the roles of first responders in our community.

Joe is a currently serving RCMP member with over 30 years of experience. He's got some great stories to share and an important message about traumatic experiences that our police officers face.

Donna's three decades of service in a police environment resulted in some heart-warming and some tragic stories. Her experience is one of service from the perspective of "the voice on the phone" and she gives insight into the world of the 911 operator and police despatch. These heroes of communication deserve recognition and Donna sheds some light on what it's like. Also, we share one of her songs at the end of the podcast. It was wonderful to chat with her.

Brian Carter, a retired RCMP member and current President of the RCMP Veterans Association in Nova Scotia, shares a memory about why he chose to be a police officer.

Rakesh is the self-proclaimed "slumdog billionaire". He's a man with humble beginnings who came to Canada, made his fortune and then lost his joy. By listening to the wisom of his 7-year-old son he gained perspective, and the lesson on the importance of relationships. As a result, he has committed his life to serving others and living a creative, curious and crazy existence. His story is worth hearing.

We're all going through some pretty anxious times right now. Covid-19 is running rampant and isolation protocols are reverberating all over the planet. Anxiety is high; but why? Sure, at first blush, it seems like a foolish question, but have you ever really considered why we get anxious? How about what we can do about it? Well, Dr Brad Kelln has a theory based on evolution and it makes a ton of sense. He's one smart cookie!

And he's more than that ... he's also an incredible author! Meet Canada's answer to Dan Brown! Brad Kelln is an accomplished writer with stories that compel, intrigue and inspire. We were really fortunate to have some of his time.

Matt's a Nova Scotia boy with a big heart. He comes from a small community but he was raised with all the right values and they show in everything he does. He's a strong man with strong values who never misses the opportunity to open his door with a warm hello and excitement. It was great to catch up with him after his momondays piece.

Elliott is a retired RCMP police officer who now writes books about paranormal activities, in part, based on his own experiences with the eery and sometimes frightening world of the paranormal. It was great to chat with him about his book "Evil in Exeter" and to hear about his future projects.

Pat is an extraordinary woman who has had an ordinary life. Listen as she shares the experience of sacrifice, support, encouragement and love that is so common for so many woman. Leaving behind the vision of what the perfect life looked like allowed her to embrace the life she was living; and allowed it to become perfect. It's a great story of inner growth.

I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Peter Stoffer for his show "Hour of Heroes" for the local radio station, 95.7. It was a wonderful experience and I'm rebroadcasting that show with their permission.

Barb's story starts as a child when she was young. She developed a deep love for animals that she had no idea would come back to save her life. As an adult she had a devestating experience that left deep emotional scars. By returning to the lessons she learned as a child she found the strength to not only surivive, but to thrive.

Donna is the lead singer of the band "The Aviators" and she's a Canadian military veteran and police veteran. She has a great story to tell about how her music helped her through some tough times. She's also just released a song entitled "PTSD (love it out of me)". It was great chatting with her.

Lynn has an incredible story about moving forward by closing a chapter with courage and opening a new chapter with curiosity and playfulness. What she discovered was a deep sense of love that is available for her to support herself and the world around her. Her new book, "Zero likes, Zero followers" details the journey that took her through that internal discovery. We were so fortunate to have her tell her story on this podcast.

Darrel is a true Haligonian hero. He was a member of his community volunteer firefighting team when the tanker he was in rolled, killing two of his friends and team members. He then went onto serving as a member of the Princess Louises Fusilliers, where he was catastrophically injured during a training exercise. Years later, from his wheelchair, he succesfullly strove to have a PLF member killed in action recognized by having a ferry named after him. Darrel spoke to us about his story and the project to name the ferry.

Joanna's a talented singer/songwriter from Halifax whose many projects include the song "Under November Skies". She performed that song with some fantastic backup for the Knox United Church choir at the momondays Halifax show on November the 11th at RA Park Officers' Mess. Check out her project at www.HeroesNeverDie.ca and help her spread the word about this fantastic project.

It's important to have heroes in your life. They can become North Stars when you're facing a tough situation and guide you back to who you're really striving to be. Let me share three of my heroes with you and see how they can influence group dynamics, leadership styles and relationships.

We all believe that we listen. However, have you ever listened like a dog listens? Have you ever listened like Oprah suggested we all listen? Have you ever listened like a Marine? This podcast will give you some tips.

Is everything a probable possibility? What if you never heard the word "can't"? How many possible probabilities would there be then? Let's explore this together and learn a lesson from a little girl, and a butterfly!