Getting To Know Me.......

I don't really 'buy' all this sharing of ourselves 

and putting our life 'out there' for all to read and see,

but I guess if I was being honest, which I have always 

tried to be, I can see that it may matter to some

in getting a better 'picture' of who this Jim Cuvelier

character really is.

So here is another episode of my story that I feel

helped me to appreciate and value the life I have.

Let's go back to around 1958 when I was 9 years old

going on 10. 

We lived on a corner property in Halifax which had 

sidewalks going around two sides of it, 
guess that would make sense mathematically,lol!

You will probably think what a strange kid I was when I tell

about this incident, and you would be right to do so.

I suppose I could have been considered a little weird.

But this 'time' impacted me for the rest of my life 

and how I looked at things from then on.

Remember I was just 9 years old.....

A number of kids used to use 'our sidewalk' all the time

to get from A to B. That was OK. But I had noticed that

some of them would make it their mission to step on and kill

any insect (ants mostly) that they may see along the way.

I thought that this was wrong of them. They should leave 'my ants' alone.

I told them. They did not listen. So I blockaded the sidewalk!

Yes I did!

I know! All kids kill insects like plucking off the legs of a dandy-long-legs,
 and some continue to do this today, I assume.

But you see, I couldn't.

I have no clue why I felt so strongly about this at such a young age.

My older sisters and younger brothers had no problem with 

killing insects whether accidentally or not.

Back to the blockade! OK. A friend of mine at the time

came walking down the sidewalk and came up to this 

obstruction I had built.

He asked me what it was and why I wouldn't let him pass.

I told him unless he promised to not kill any ants, 

he could not walk down this part of the sidewalk.

He looked strangely at me and jumped over it

and proceeded to kill every ant he could find.

I became very confused and couldn't understand

why anyone would or could do such a thing.

I think I even got physical with him and pushed him off 

'my sidewalk'!

I can't really remember how long I kept my blockade

to protect the insects, but I remember my vigilance and the impact

that this had on me at that age.

I had a difficult time understanding that some people

think differently about things than I do, 

even when it has to do with 'life and death' situations.

I don't know what brought me to be such a serious kid.

I really don't. All I know is that I felt that I had to protect those ants.

And I really did see their value and their purpose in living.

It was their life just like mine was mine to live.

I just dawned on me that maybe another incident may have

been the factor in making me take things so seriously most of my life.

But that is a story for another day.

Oh yes, to this day I continue to value the lives of all sentient beings.

But I have left those 'blockade days' behind me.

All images were taken from the internet for this post.