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WELCOME TO THE R&R HOT STOVE

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Hot Stove was initially a baseball term says Wikipedia.   My husband tells me that in Canada the Hot Stove actually refers to the hot stoves in the “skate shacks” across Canada where kids would “fry” their wet mittens as they warmed up and wiped their runny noses between stints on the ice in the skate shacks beside the ice rinks that dotted our prairie towns!  Who do you believe?? LOL!  My friend Ross Meek- athlete, coach and former PE teacher would speak about his ‘team’ of colleagues adopting the term to describe their gathering together in ‘Hot Stove’ conversations early each Monday mornings after a weekend of watching NHL teams compete in Canada’s game.  

Each MONDAY MORNING you will find a Hot Stove post here on our website.  The focus will NOT normally be about hockey although the passion of two beautiful young hockey-playing boys named Radek and Ryder was certainly front and centre when the boys were alive and the hockey theme runs throughout the book.  We plan to give the reader further insights into some back stories and delve into our objectives as writers of this powerful narrative.  We will profile the incredible courage of a mother and her counselling therapist in the telling of a mother’s love story.  We will also share the actions of those who have helped a grieving mother in the mending of her broken heart as she continues to work on finding a degree of meaning and mastery since the death of her two boys on December 19, 2016 in a brutal senseless act of filicide by their biological father. 
Sometimes the topics will be passionately HOT like that of a burning stove aimed at stoking your courage to find your voice about things that matter in ending all violence against women and children in our society.  May our words encourage you to speak from the rafters of every arena in concert with our aim to end such violence.   Sometimes hopefully we will also bring a grin to your face as we share our connection on this road as client and therapist since 2017. 

                                                                                                                                                SANDRA YOUNG KOLBUC   ​

R&R Hot Stove - Graduation 2022

7/4/2022

1 Comment

 
GOOD MONDAY AFTERNOON EVERYONE!

As per usual in the last little while, I am the ‘late’ Sandra Young Kolbuc for getting my blog into the universe. Busy as all get out! What was it this time??? Hilltop High School; Graduation 2022!   

This week I had the distinct pleasure of being a grandmother in the stands watching with delight as my first born grandchild crossed the stage to receive his diploma and of course we celebrated his achievements all weekend! The Scott Safety Arena was packed on June 30th and the pride and excitement of many friends and family of the over 130 graduates filled the air. I did not know, as I watched the tribe of beautiful young people cross the stage to receive their diplomas that Tracy Stark, one such friend of many whose children were graduating and good friend of many kids themselves… was in the building. This year -2022- was the year between Ryder whose graduation year would have been 2021 and Radek’s year which would be in 2023. Tracy had watched many of these young people grow up with Ryder and Radyk since the boys’ kindergarten days! Partway through the ceremony I received a text from my writing partner congratulating my handsome grandson, Gavin Kolbuc Stark, who had played hockey with both Tracy’s boys - on his achievement.  

“God!  That woman is courageous” I thought and texted back “Are you here?”  Naturally in typical Tracy style I did not receive an immediate reply but was very moved by her text.  As if that beautiful message filled with hearts was not enough to bring tears to my eyes, the next series of events definitely was... At the end of the speech by the Hilltop Valedictorian, the young scholar in question completed his address by doing a back flip in the air to end his speech! My heart began to race and my tears came again as I processed what I had just witnessed by this phenomenal young graduate. 

Then the words Tracy and I had constructed in the final chapter of
Gross Misconduct: Hitting From Behind came to life in my mind as I thought of the end of the last chapter in our book where Tracy Stark’s message to the Class of 2021 - Ryder’s year - is profiled. 

Quote “
I am honored to watch classmates of Ryder Patrick exit Hilltop High School as High School graduates.  Of course I wish with all my heart that Ryder too was shaking the hand of Hilltop’s Principal, holding his diploma high in his other hand and, in Ryder style, probably doing a flip off the stage….” 

Wow!  That profound gesture at the end of the 2022 Valedictory address had me trembling in my chair as the crowd roared at the athleticism of the young academic on the stage.  I wondered what was going thru Tracy’s mind if she were there… and if she had felt that same rush of energy as I did when she witnessed the flip!


There is a quote I often use when I speak of young people who like Ryder and Radek die long before their ‘time” It is simply this... "THEY DIED MUCH TOO YOUNG…..SO I GUESS WE HAD BETTER DO SOME LIVING FOR THEM."

Thanks for the flip young graduate! Nailed it! As you go forward to live your life out loud, may it be filled with many more incredible moments on behalf of young men and women, like Ryder and Radek, that have ‘gone too soon’.

HAPPY GRADUATION EVERYONE!
 
AND REMEMBER the book Gross Misconduct Hitting From Behind is available in many venues detailed on the R & R Legacy Facebook page and will be available in Sangudo this coming Saturday, July 9th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Deep Creek Market.  We will have books on hand to sell as well as R&R Merch and I will be on hand for book signings. Let’s turn on the sun that day!  Hope you will stop by and say hello!

                                                                                                                        LOVE SANDRA
Picture
Sandra and her eldest grandson at his graduation
1 Comment
Helen Connochie
7/4/2022 05:32:06 pm

As always I enjoyed reading hot stove. Of course as soon as you mentioned Tracy was there my eyes filled with tears & when you wrote what your grandson had done well that was it for me. (the reason why I didn’t come to the book signings in Edmonton, I wouldn’t be able to hold it together & that’s not fair to Tracy) I haven’t quite got to the end of the book yet so I didn’t know about that part. I don’t know how Tracy does it but I admire her so much. Look forward to the next one ❤️

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    Sandra Young Kolbuc

    Sandra is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist  who has been in private practice since 1993. As an incredibly engaging speaker Sandra as a storyteller weaves together her adventures as a woman of the earth, a wife, mother, grandmother, professional therapist and good good friend finding joy and hilarity in life coupled with serious reflection on the challenges that exist in life.

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