I have a picture posted on one of the walls of my cubicle at work. Each day over the last eleven days, I’ve been placing poppies around the edges of the picture. Eleven days, eleven poppies. The picture is of a young man in an Air Force uniform, his smile wide and genuine, his eyes twinkling.

I was named after this man. His name was Eric William MacDonald, and he was a sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was stationed in England and was a gunner aboard a Lancaster bomber. Returning to England from a mission, they were coming in for a landing in a dense fog. The pilot misjudged the runway, and the plane crashed. All aboard were killed.

My uncle was twenty years old.

Today, I’m remembering him, even though I’ve never met him. My mom was eleven years old when he died.

I wish I’d known him. He was Mom’s hero.

And he’s my hero too.

Thanks, Uncle Eric, for going overseas to face grave and terrible dangers for your country, and for the rights and freedoms of all of us alive today.

Thanks to every person who has ever served their country, and to all those who are serving their country right now. You have, and continue to, make a difference.

I hope you took time to remember today too.

Thanks for visiting.

Welcome to the first interview of my Voices of Reason Project. I’d like to thank my talented friend Margot Sampson for agreeing to be one of two “guinea pigs” to get the project started. Margot is an accomplished singer, songwriter, actress, painter, and videographer. Oh, yeah, and she raps, too. Can you say “force of nature”? I knew you could. You can find out more about Margot at her website. Read on for Margot’s answers to my almost-probing questions.

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–First off, how would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a pretty happy person, someone who enjoys the adventures of life and who is genuinely interested in knowing what brings other people joy. I much prefer diving into an authentic conversation with someone and getting to the “real” stuff without too many of the usual pleasantries getting in the way. I laugh at myself easily and frequently—a good belly laugh goes a long way, and I’m a firm believer that laughter truly is the best medicine.

I am very sensitive to the emotions and energies of others, and yes, I sometimes get verklempt at a mere TV commercial, but let’s blame that on the hormones, shall we? I am fair to a fault sometimes (it’s the Libra scales!) and a good listener, though I do my fair share of talking too… some of it, admittedly, to myself. I’m starting to feel like I’m answering a questionnaire for a dating service, so I’m going to move on to the next question… (more…)