To you, readers, allow me to say I am a Volunteer of God and a pastoral worker in my milieu. Yves and I sold our house in the country to move to the city. We were obliged to move March 30, 2018, that is Good Friday morning. Since we were given the key to the house Tuesday morning we decided to clean up before moving in. Surprise! That Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., a rag festival took place. My team of Volunteers with their spouses came with pails, mops and rags in hand.

We saw the rise of a tornado of friendship caused by the Chénard siphon and, as if that wasn’t enough, a volcano of love erupted spurred by a gigantic 10 on 10 earth quake. After 3 hours, the house was clean from top to bottom. To you, dear friends, our heartfelt thanks for all you have done for us that day. At times I was moved and Yves was speechless before such gratuity. How can we have deserved such love and support.

To each of you, our gratitude for having followed Pauline’s initiative of ‘giving forward,’ in keeping with spirit of the Volunteers; generosity manifested in a marvelous ambiance.

Even the Volunteer journalist supported us to till the end. Thank you, Jacqueline, for your presence and for your eye trained in taking photos. Here are some extracts from interviews:
“It is with pleasure that I do this for Louise and Yves whom I greatly appreciate.” “It is in the footsteps of Mary who helped Elizabeth that we offer our services today,” “It is easier for me to help than to ask for help.” “It is motivating for me to help people in need.” “It makes me happy to be of service; it revitalizes me.” “For me, it is ‘giving forward’. (I needed assistance in September, 2017, and I appreciated the generous help I received.)”

Thank you Jocelyne for your simplicity, Ghyslaine for your patience, Robert for your perseverance, Aline for your strength, Fernand, jack of all trades, for your joyful support, our friend, Axel, for his strong arms and generous heart and you, Marie Jeanne, for your smile. Please pass on our thanks to your handsome son for his dedication: we were happy to meet him and we appreciated his help.

What can we say about Paulette, a good listener for each of us, if not to express wonder from the depth of our hearts. The power of your love radiates around you.

May you all be blessed with profound joy for your spirit of service and your concern for others. As our good Pope Francis says, “Being of service is the path to happiness.” The expression thank you is inadequate in light of your generosity of spirit.

We can be proud to be Volunteers of God. Special thanks to those of you who accompanied your spouse; you were extraordinary.

Louise and Yves
March 27, 2018