Working as a reporter at the Richmond News may not be one of the highest paying jobs in the media business, but it comes with some remarkable benefits. The most valuable of which is meeting some truly inspiring people.
It occurred to me one week in December just how grateful I am for the “paid” education I receive each day I come to work at the Richmond News. That week, I interviewed two men, eight decades apart.
First up was 22-year-old Jaelem Bhate, a UBC music student and director of a jazz band that was performing Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite in a jazz style a couple of weeks before Christmas.
What struck me about this well-spoken, mature-for-his-age young man was his all-encompassing passion for what he does.
From a young age, he had an interest in music, and now it’s something he’s pursuing with his entire heart and soul.
I listened to his carefully chosen words as he explained how he considered all musical genres to be linked in a way that allows him to appreciate the nuances of all styles.
I could almost feel the unbridled enthusiasm he exuded when he told me that every day is an adventure for him, and every musical experience he is thankful for.
It’s obviously working for Bhate, as he conducts also the Vancouver Pops Symphony Orchestra and continues with his studies at UBC.
My second inspirational interview was with 104-year-old Reuben Sinclair who, despite growing up through the ravages of the Great Depression when his family lost their farm, serving in the Second World War, and then later on bringing up a family, never allowed worry to be part of his days.
It’s something he still subscribes to, he told me, because anxiety never gets you anywhere.
“He was the best father, ever!” exclaimed his daughter Nadine Lipetz during my interview, confirming that Sinclair’s easy-going approach to life fit him, and his family, well. So did his enduring sense of humour, which was evident when he told me I could interview him about reaching his 104th birthday, “only as long as I can get a copy of the paper afterwards.”
Sinclair also told me he’s a pretty private person and that he’s lived so long because he doesn’t ask a lot of questions.
This was a man who still had plenty of life left to offer, whether it was spending time with his family, keeping physically and mentally fit with daily exercise and word searches, or still doing the regular chores of cooking and cleaning his own apartment, where he had lived for the past 21 years.
That streak of self determination and independence stemmed from his childhood when he was entrusted with running the family farm as a teenager when his father lay ill.
“I aways knew that if things were going to get done, it would be up to me,” he said.
Two men, more than eight decades apart. Both with the ability to inspire.
That was my “paid” lesson for the week.
My job and the interesting people I get to meet never ceases to amaze me.
Actually, the amazing part is that in the weeks to come, many more amazing people are sure to cross my path.
The community of Richmond is my classroom and I look forward to continuing a much-valued education.
Philip Raphael is a staff reporter with the Richmond News
