Shutters & Bolts

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I heard a great story this week about how much fun a Charlie Pride concert was at Casino Rama, and I was instantly reminded of an epic battle that I had with my son. He was about five at the time and he fell in love with a Charlie Pride CD of greatest hits. It was his number one choice for the car … which, at the time, made for a refreshing change from the Barbie Twelve Dancing Princesses soundtrack that was my daughter’s favourite. There is a song that Charlie sings with the chorus, “shutters and boards cover the window of the house where we used to live.” It is the classic country sad song about an epic breakup. So, my five year old belted out: “shutters and bolts cover the windows…”  I corrected him, but then he explained why what he was hearing was right: “without bolts, how would the shutters stay on?” Who can argue with that?

This tale reminds me that there are certainly things in our day to day that we must correct or clarify, but then there are also bolts instead of boards that do not materially affect the outcome or safety of everyone in the car – so we can just let them be. I totally backed down from the argument. Now, twelve years later, I am pretty sure he would sing it the same way if he wasn’t too cool for Charlie Pride. We all see things just a bit differently and, most of the time, there is room for all of our different lyrics. After all, something has to keep the shutters on, right?

For all you do and the absolute creativity you bring each day, I thank you!