I ventured out into the wilds of far, far away Cloverdale yesterday for a final dinner with my great group of friends at Terry & Sab's place, before they move into their new house (which by all accounts is an amazing 100 year old farmhouse) and is amazingly located even farther away from the rest of us - if that is at all possible. It was great, and I always look forward to our communal gatherings. We all hug each other when we arrive and leave, we all get to kiss all the kids goodnight when it is bed time, and I really take comfort with being close to them, and being surrounded by my friends who are my family.
It was a little over 4 years ago that all of us moved them into their current place from their big rental place in Tsawwassen. (For those of you not up on your local Vancouver geography, Tsawwassen is as far south as you can get in Canada, before getting needlessly intimidated at US Customs. (Fun fact #1 about Twassassen: The Lower Mainland region is the traditional home of the Tsawwassen First Nation people, with their present-day 700-acre reserve located near the Ferry Terminal. The Tsawwassen People are one of 54 Coast Salish nations who traditionally inhabited this land for over 10,000 years). (Courtesy BritishColumbia.com)
It was a grey, rainy, and utterly shitty day 4 or so years ago when all of us descended en masse to move Terry & Sab from Tsawwassen to their new digs in Cloverdale. The rental truck was ready, the friends were ready, and the only thing that wasn't ready, was Terry & Sab. They hadn't finished packing (by a long shot) by the time we arrived. We only had the truck for that day, and had to also stop off at Terry's parent's place to drop off other big heavy things, then make the long trek to Cloverdale. Have I mentioned that they hadn't even come close to finishing packing? Suffice it to say, it was a very, VERY long day which involved multiple trips from Cloverdale, to Tsawwassen (which is approximately 400 miles as the crow flies) back and forth, jamming loose clothing, jewelry, children's toys, and various children into the moving truck. Don't worry though, we lashed the children down with packing tape and wedged them between Terry's freakishly weird large antique cabinet collection, boxes of sharp cutlery, and a few moving blankets to prevent the furniture from being scratched. (Fun Fact #2 about Tsawwassen: Tsawwassen is actually pronounced "soo-WAH-sin" but most lazy people pronounce it "too-WAH-sen").
It was only 4 years ago that we did all this, and yet so much has happened in our lives; Terry & Sab squeezed out the unholy boiling demon (and infinitely adorabole source of amusement) known as Shanie - Pie. Their middle daughter Mia, who when she was 2 weeks old, Doctors told her parents that she was severely retarded, probably blind and would never walk. Yesterday, little Mia sang the ABC song (twice) in front of everyone, to great applause. After which, she demanded more ketchup and ran around the back yard playing with the multitude of other kids who were there only to annoy us. Their oldest daughter Ella, is now a stunningly beautiful girl of 10, who is blessed with movie star good looks, and will be the bane of her father's existence when she starts getting interested in boys in a few years. Randy & Drew got married, moved to a bigger house and adopted little Jack, Bonnie & Steve moved into a newer, bigger house in Richmond, and I bought some sandals. I just found out while there yesterday that the husband of a friend of ours collapsed and died last Tuesday, while she was driving their kid to school. She got back home 20 minutes later and found him on the bathroom floor. He apparently had a heart issue, but something that unexpected really put things into perspective for all of us.
With the extraordinary changes that are happening to all of us (my sandals not withstanding), and with what is going on in the world these days, it's somewhat disconcerting that change keeps sweeping around me, and life keeps moving forward, no matter what.
But, it's equally reassuring that no matter what happens that my good friend Randy can always find the time to wrestle up any sort of joke that is scatalogical, fart related, infantile, or just completely adolescent. So, I submit photographic evidence of the above.
Stay Classy, Vancouver.
It was a little over 4 years ago that all of us moved them into their current place from their big rental place in Tsawwassen. (For those of you not up on your local Vancouver geography, Tsawwassen is as far south as you can get in Canada, before getting needlessly intimidated at US Customs. (Fun fact #1 about Twassassen: The Lower Mainland region is the traditional home of the Tsawwassen First Nation people, with their present-day 700-acre reserve located near the Ferry Terminal. The Tsawwassen People are one of 54 Coast Salish nations who traditionally inhabited this land for over 10,000 years). (Courtesy BritishColumbia.com)
It was a grey, rainy, and utterly shitty day 4 or so years ago when all of us descended en masse to move Terry & Sab from Tsawwassen to their new digs in Cloverdale. The rental truck was ready, the friends were ready, and the only thing that wasn't ready, was Terry & Sab. They hadn't finished packing (by a long shot) by the time we arrived. We only had the truck for that day, and had to also stop off at Terry's parent's place to drop off other big heavy things, then make the long trek to Cloverdale. Have I mentioned that they hadn't even come close to finishing packing? Suffice it to say, it was a very, VERY long day which involved multiple trips from Cloverdale, to Tsawwassen (which is approximately 400 miles as the crow flies) back and forth, jamming loose clothing, jewelry, children's toys, and various children into the moving truck. Don't worry though, we lashed the children down with packing tape and wedged them between Terry's freakishly weird large antique cabinet collection, boxes of sharp cutlery, and a few moving blankets to prevent the furniture from being scratched. (Fun Fact #2 about Tsawwassen: Tsawwassen is actually pronounced "soo-WAH-sin" but most lazy people pronounce it "too-WAH-sen").
It was only 4 years ago that we did all this, and yet so much has happened in our lives; Terry & Sab squeezed out the unholy boiling demon (and infinitely adorabole source of amusement) known as Shanie - Pie. Their middle daughter Mia, who when she was 2 weeks old, Doctors told her parents that she was severely retarded, probably blind and would never walk. Yesterday, little Mia sang the ABC song (twice) in front of everyone, to great applause. After which, she demanded more ketchup and ran around the back yard playing with the multitude of other kids who were there only to annoy us. Their oldest daughter Ella, is now a stunningly beautiful girl of 10, who is blessed with movie star good looks, and will be the bane of her father's existence when she starts getting interested in boys in a few years. Randy & Drew got married, moved to a bigger house and adopted little Jack, Bonnie & Steve moved into a newer, bigger house in Richmond, and I bought some sandals. I just found out while there yesterday that the husband of a friend of ours collapsed and died last Tuesday, while she was driving their kid to school. She got back home 20 minutes later and found him on the bathroom floor. He apparently had a heart issue, but something that unexpected really put things into perspective for all of us.
With the extraordinary changes that are happening to all of us (my sandals not withstanding), and with what is going on in the world these days, it's somewhat disconcerting that change keeps sweeping around me, and life keeps moving forward, no matter what.
But, it's equally reassuring that no matter what happens that my good friend Randy can always find the time to wrestle up any sort of joke that is scatalogical, fart related, infantile, or just completely adolescent. So, I submit photographic evidence of the above.
Stay Classy, Vancouver.
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