Tears are streaming down my face.  Just watched the documentary about the final 15-show tour of The Tragically Hip.  Talk about bravery.

None of the band members thought the tour would actually happen.  Based on how front man Gord Downie was doing after brain cancer surgery.

But they stoically met at the rehearsal stage and they prepared.

After the first concert, the producers saw the neurologist in the hallway and he was bawling. Because he had given them permission to do the tour.  And then he had carried the weight of that decision.  Would they be able to do it?  Would Gord have a seizure in front of thousands of people?  And when he saw Gord making magic on the stage, he released all that pressure and cried.  And the producers cried too.

Talk about bravery and fearlessness and unselfishness and authenticity.

We could all learn from Gord.

He had teleprompter screens on the concert stage floor with the words to the songs he had written.  Because cancer had taken his words away but he refused to let them go.  He fought until the final day.  He inspires us all.

He sang, “No dress rehearsal.  This is our life.”  It should remind us that we only have one chance.  Gord could have curled up in a ball and waited to die.  But instead he ignited a nation.  He reminded us that anything is possible.  That we can all make a difference.

Gord didn’t know if he could do it, but he did it anyway.  And we should honour Gord by having the courage to try in our own journey through life.

As Gord sang, “So there’s no simple explanation
For anything important any of us do
And yeah the human tragedy
Consists in the necessity
Of living with the consequences
Under pressure, under pressure.
Courage, my word, it didn’t come, it doesn’t matter,
Courage, it couldn’t come at a worse time.”