Robert Gustav Schwab, Dr.
When I was about 10 years old, my father gave me a present. It was a simple present – a journal with 200 blank lined pages bound in a fake leather cover that measured 6½ by 10 inches. His instructions were simple. One page a day. Every day. At first, it seemed an impossible task, and I resisted it. But in time, I accepted it and even came to like it. And in the end, the resulting collection of journals chronicled a lifetime. From those simple words and sentences, the memories of a lifetime, one day at a time, magically reappear in extraordinarily vivid detail, even 50 years later. It was different then, in the 60’s. It was with a sense of tradition and independence that we lived our lives, but also with a sense of innocence and interconnectedness with the natural world. And we lived differently. Without computers and today’s digital overload, we made sense of the world in human terms, through human relationships, and based on human experiences in a natural world that, somewhere along the way, all but disappeared from the lives of subsequent generations. Mine was an incredible life, and an incredible childhood. It was a timeless journey of discovery and growing and learning and joy. My journey started at Spruce Cliff, a suburb of Calgary, and it was here that the urban culture of the 1960s and the traditional culture of the old west met- not in conflict, but is seemingly perfect harmony. And from there, over a lifetime, that journey continued, ultimately spanning continents from Africa to Asia. And in the process, intimate connections to some of the most far reaching corners of the world and some of the most fascinating and diverse cultures on the planet. When I think back on what makes a time or a place special, I am convinced it is not the place, nor is it the time, but rather it is people that create those most significant and lasting memories. So in retrospect, this is in not so much a story of an incredible life as it is a story of the incredible people who cont
Read this work at the World Public Library (library card needed).