Saanich, B.C., senior rides around on scooter playing harmonica to spread joy
When John Ryzebol started riding his scooter, it was the colour of wet asphalt at night.
“I heard a big truck coming,” he says, before imitating the roaring sound that was driving towards him. “But he never seen me.”
So — to avoid being almost smacked by a semi again — John painted his scooter a far-from-mellow yellow.
“This scooter is my Ferrari!” John laughs, before pointing to a sticker of the car logo on his dash.
John also painted a mural on the wall beside his driveway, depicting his past on the prairies.
“I was born in that little old house there,” his says, adding that his dad delivered him because there was no doctor nearby.
John was one of nine kids enduring the Great Depression.
“Lost everything, but it did us good,” he says before bursting into infectious laughter. “It humbled us to the dust!”
John holds up a black-and-white picture of himself from when he was seven, before imitating his younger voice: “We got to write Santa Claus a letter!”
That Christmas, he requested and received a harmonica. John says he couldn’t have been more grateful, learned how to play “Jingle Bells,” and realized “the power of music is joy.”
Now, he shares his joy with his wife of 65 years, Rita.
“It makes him happy that he can play,” she smiles.
John plays for more than just his ever-expanding family (two children, seven grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren). Since the start of the pandemic, John’s been taking musical rides around the neighbourhood, playing harmonica from his scooter every day.
“He enjoys entertaining people,” Rita laughs.
John pulls out a piece of paper filled with typed titles. He says his playlist — which ranges from country to classical — is 1,000 songs long.
His goal is to perform a sunny soundtrack no matter the weather, to make the people he passes feel better.
If there’s one thing John’s learned after travelling so many miles on the road of life (he says he’s “close to 100” years old), if you live like you’re on a joy ride, you’ll always feel powered by positivity.
“Enjoy life to the fullest,” John says before returning to his harmonica and racing off in his “Ferrari.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.