Category — Rick's GoodThinkingStuff

To honor dads the world over on Father’s Day 2010 I am posting the eulogy I gave at the Percy Beneteau Memorial Bursary Celebration (University of Windsor, 1996) where my late father’s friends established a perpetual music scholarship in his honor. The classical concert event was attended by hundreds of the music elite from the area.

Happy Father’s Day!

“The measure of a person’s greatness is made not only by the number of people they have touched, but by how they have touched them.

One could attempt the arduous task of calculating the sheer number of people who listened to my father’s music at the one, two or three masses he played on Sundays—every Sunday, for over 60 years.

I believe a more meaningful measure of his life would be the number of tears he may have helped to draw out at a young child’s funeral.

Or, the goose bumps he gave when the pipe organ bellowed as the new bride and groom proudly marched down the aisle.

[Read more →]

Rick Beneteau invites you to become a Messenger of Change

It was one of the worst periods of time in my life.

Recently separated, I had just lost custody of my two daughters and was forced to vacate my newly-renovated home (with three days notice) that contained the well-equipped recording studio I had spent two years building prior to selling my drycleaning business (in order to build a long-desired music production company).

Divorce – Canadian style!

Two years before, I discovered that a *friend,* a music contact I had worked with and even spent time with in Hollywood a decade prior, had stolen a song that I and my music partner had written and presented to this budding writer/producer at that time. He had since become a major player in the music business and had ‘borrowed’ much of our song, placing it on the album of a multi-million selling female artist.

After much consideration and consultation with a prominent Detroit attorney, we decided to proceed with a lawsuit against this record producer. And, as these matters usually go, we had to retain high profile legal representation in California and also sue the ‘innocents,’ in this case the recording artist, record company, and publishing company, with the hope (at least mine) that they would bring pressure upon the sole guilty party to get a just settlement.

And of course, I was counter-sued for over a million dollars and had to deal with that ugly business.

Living with friends during this confusing, dark period of time, I received a call came from my attorney in California. I was forced to confront the inevitable – a trip to Los Angeles for a legal hearing.

[Read more →]

It was the day before Cameron’s ninth birthday. I expected to hear an excited voice on the other end of the phone in Windsor but there were only sobs and tears. Cameron’s classmate, Destiny, had died suddenly two days before and my youngest grandson was feeling deep, deep sadness.

“I’m not going to have a very good birthday tomorrow, Papa” was the only clear sentence he managed to articulate at that point. This is the rest of the conversation as best I can recall.

“Cam, I want to tell you a little something you can do so that you WILL have a super birthday tomorrow.”

“What’s that, Papa?” he whimpered.

“You know when you say a prayer before you eat?”

“Uh huh.”

[Read more →]

I’ve followed his career closely for three years now. Each year has revealed dramatic improvement in his art.

I’ve been witness to his rigorous practicing and rehearsing. While those he could be socializing with were out doing other things for fun he buckles down to work perfecting that which he loves and desires to do best.
I’ve listened to him, always confident and never boastful, talk about that what he is profoundly passionate about. When he isn’t speaking you can almost hear his self-talk, upbeat and positive.

I had the extreme pleasure of watching him perform recently on a large Toronto stage and it was magic. Astonished by not only the total confidence he displayed but by the ultimate joy he radiated. He was amazingly humble after receiving the highest awards and deluge of accolades. I thought to myself he was by far the best performer and if he keeps this up he’s headed for the big time. But even if he chooses not to take the path to stardom I feel compelled to write about what is at the very core of this exceptional achiever – Purpose!

One of my personal quotes has it, “Purpose is the seed from which a successful existence sprouts.”

When one discovers their purpose in life they join the small fraternity of people on this planet who rarely get moody or depressed. They are consistently optimistic and seldom sick and enjoy vibrant and healthy relationships. Needless to say, they have high self-esteem and almost always feel fulfilled. As such, they lead stellar lives on that most magical level most sadly never experience.

[Read more →]

Teri was five. As younger siblings do, she looked up to her older sister, the dancer, in a big way. Sara was four years older and excelling in ballet, tap, and jazz.

So we enrolled Teri in the same dance school and she really seemed to enjoy the lessons and her new friends. She was now, of course, a dancer, like her sister. Teri very much looked forward to the climax of her first dance season, the year-end dance recital this school put on.

If you’ve ever been a dance parent, you realize that the obligation is quite large. Aside from the weekly lessons, scheduled on different days in our case, there is the extra investment of time and money preparing for the ‘big event’ – extra lessons and rehearsals, fittings for the completely different head-to-toe costume required for each dance number and a parents meeting for each dancer to make sure everyone was on the same stage come recital night. Baseball parents have it easy!

As fate would have it, Teri had surgery to lengthen her heel cord a few weeks prior to her dancing debut. But that didn’t stop her from lugging around the heavy cast trying keep up with the other performers. That’s my girl!

The big night arrives and in a flurry of hurried activity, we deliver our girls backstage complete with special hair do’s and a full coat of stage war paint and we take our seats in the auditorium.

The place darkens, the curtain rises and the show begins with the performances of some of the advanced students. They beam with pride showing off the stuff they had worked so hard on all year long. Two of Sara’s dances were slated and as always, she didn’t miss a step.

[Read more →]

The power went out. Again!

I looked out my second story office window and knew exactly why. I could hear the sounds throughout the morning. There was a crew of four men and three bucket trucks stringing power lines along the new poles they had been planting in the front and back yards of my neighborhood the past few weeks.

Often, during this time, I would work on my laptop on the front porch and watch this professional teamwork in total synchronicity, moving from pole to pole in planned sequence. First, it was connecting the phone lines. Then, cable. Today, and finally, from the back alley, the electricity.

What was of extreme interest to me was the foreman of this well-oiled machine. A big, burly middle-aged fellow whose sheer stature and hard look would intimidate most. But, he always uttered his commands, some very loudly as his underlings were often thirty-five feet in the air, with warm authority.

You could tell his crew really liked and had great respect for him. Although this was far from your typical ‘lean on your shovel’ squad, they still joked while working at a well-managed pace. Bossman, whose job description no doubt mandated a no hands-on, no physical labor approach, was always doing something to speed things along, be it picking up refuse or spooling wire. In fact, while they were in the process of connecting my power, guess who was pruning the overgrown pine tree branches in my backyard to make it easier for his boys?

It was at this point that I brought my high-wire friends a sampling of my special blend coffee (I prepared this, just prior to ‘lights out’), reserved usually for special company. Setting a tray down on the patio table, I engaged ‘Jim’ in conversation and remarked how much I enjoyed watching them work and how much it reminded me of my great production team when I owned a drycleaning business. Another well-oiled, and fun to run machine. His sun-hardened face beamed with pride as he began telling me about what a great group of guys he had and how they were the most productive crew in this large company. No wonder!

[Read more →]