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 Niki Leach a.k.a. Jean Victoria Norloch is a Canadian author,
online radio show host, filmmaker and mother with a mission. Born in Toronto, Canada and now living in Montreal she looks at the world with wonder and
amazement. Believing there to be a commonality in the fundamental make up of
the human heart she set out to show through her work that all peoples are
caring and compassionate and in need of the same basic essentials to live.
Finding inspiration has been easy and the closer she examines the
remarkable beings we call humans, the more joy she finds in being an active
part of the global community we call humanity.  Jean's Media Corner Excerpt from Truth - The Messenger.mp3     | I have a friend
I have a friend, his name is Joe. He and his wife Heidi both have cancer, she having battled it for years and he just recently diagnosed. They have a beautiful golden lab named Latti who forces them to get outside more often, so despite their health challenges they spend more time outdoors hiking than most perfectly healthy people. Over the last year they have taught many of their friends and family what the word courage means, they have also shown us that unconditional love does exist and that faith truly is a guiding light to those in need. Above all they have reminded us how important it is to appreciate the little things and laugh as much as you possibly can.
Thankfully they have not had to undertake this journey alone, their support network is massive and steadily growing by the day. Prayers and words of encouragement await them daily from friends and family, and the community that surrounds them continues to stand strong with them while they walk their path.
I have a friend, his name is Joe and I have never met him…
I have often heard complaints that the old ways have vanished and that community, as it used to be, no longer exists. It is a tragedy some claim that we do not care so much about the people we live close to and that we don’t spend more time getting to know our neighbours. Yet I have to ask what defines the word neighbour???
Granted the times have changed, and we do seem to be allot less involved with what the guy who lives next door is doing with his gardens yet I see this glorious new community growing steadily larger and for the most part we seem to be unaware of the incredible impact it has had on our day to day lives.
The same people who make those claims also seem to think that technology is pulling us further apart rather than providing new avenues with which we can connect.
In Canada we make the claim that the US is our closest neighbour, since Joe lives in Washington State then I guess he qualifies. What about our extended family on the other side of the world, the people who we will never meet but send money and supplies to when in need?? What about those who we have sent men from our own lands to defend??
I remember growing up and hearing very little about the troubles of others, growing up and know not much more about my world than what my teachers, my parents and the TV were willing to show me. I remember that my perceptions of others were based on third person information and that was very rarely awarded the opportunity to actually ask somebody from another part of the world what their thoughts on religion, politics or the weather were. I remember feeling often that there had to be more to what I seeing, that the world as large as it seemed could not be too big for me to explore – I simply had to find a way…
Technology expanded and I grew and with it my own personal knowledge and experience. Today I am connected to people from around the world and work with people in too many different countries to list. Today I am free to discuss what I wish, when I wish with who I wish and learn through those discussions what I wish to learn. I am free to love and embrace all kinds of new people and share their laughter, joy, tears and fears. I am free to pray for who I want, in whatever manner I want and share those prayers with others around the world whose desires and dreams align with my own. I am free to choose my friends and family from a wonderfully diverse smorgasbord of incredible human beings from around the world. I’m free to build my own community of loving, caring and supportive individuals; I’m free to finally explore the true community of humanity.
I’m free…
PS – I have a friend, his name is Joe, I’ve
never met him but he and his wife were the inspiration for this article; it is
my hope that it will help their legacy of love live on. Jean Victoria Norloch
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