My bit of the toast...

So my big brother Rob is getting married tomorrow! And we 4 sisters have been tasked with writing a speech. We divided it up into four parts, Young Rob, Teen Rob, Daddy Rob and Dr. Rob, the healer. I chose Daddy Rob.. and here is my speech... Daddy Rob As the baby of the family, I don’t have young Bobby memories, and when I was a teenager, he was my “moved away, Big Brother Rob” who came home to the valley with the likes of Benny, Bradley and Johnny, always bringing fun and laughter, and his super secret spaghetti sauce recipe. But I think how he treated me as a little one was a great indication as to what kind of father he was to become. When I was about 8, my hero was Wonder Woman. I had the doll, I watched the show faithfully, and had a Wonder Woman costume. I wanted to be Wonder Woman. One day Rob came home with a gift for me. It was an autographed photo of none other than, TA-RA TA-RA, Lynda Carter herself, which he had stood in line for, at World Of Wheels, for two hours to get for me. He was a teenager… and as I understood it, in my self absorbed 8-year-old mind, teenage brothers mostly thought their baby sisters were pests. But no. Two hours. Just for me. And I cherished that photo for years. It said “To Stephanie, Peace, Lynda Carter.” Sadly that photo has been lost, but the indelible impression it left on me, or rather Rob’s efforts to get me such a fine gift, will be in my heart forever. Years later, as the mother of a terminally ill baby daughter, I was again gifted with his love and dedication when he flew across the country to meet her before her short life was over. To celebrate it, to be there with a fellow parent, his pesky kid sister, and to once again prove how boundless his love is. And when his own children came, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind they were the apple of his eye. He never made parenting sound like a chore. He never “babysat.” He was a dad. He does not laugh at his children’s dreams. He encourages them. The rules are in place. But so is the unconditional love. Daddy Rob’s life and all its parts include children. Why? Simply because that is who he is: a Daddy. Fullstop. And now, he has two more daughters to love, play with, laugh with and guide, and lucky little girls they are. xo Stephanie

The roll of the universe...

Indeed, I do mean roll, not role... And sometimes those waves bring lovely souls, like brilliant bits of flotsam and jetsam, into your life like a soft blessing. Enter Leah and Michaela this week. But first I have to backtrack a touch. When I was with the youth centre, as some of you may remember, I joined TYPS (Town Youth Participation Strategy), the national youth centre board. The people I met during this few years were many and varied, and many have joined the ranks of my collection of souls I love. My first conference with TYPS was in 2006 (I think!) in Cornwall Ontario. Delegates from all over Canada, representing youth centres and groups, gathered to meet, discuss, create and share ideas. We were each given a tidy little book outlining our agenda, various topics, and in the back, we were told as we sat in the theatre, a spot to "write down the names and email addresses of the new friends we would make here." The young man sitting next to me smiled, and leaning over to me, wrote on his blank page, "will you be my friend?" I laughed and wrote down my name and info, and met for the first time the irrepressible Michael Bergeron from Orleans, Ottawa Ontario. He was there with his youth centre partner Andre Brisbois, and in an instant of sharing, Mike fast became a dear and lifelong friend. We met at a few more conferences, called and emailed now and then, always sharing the highs and lows in our lives, laughing, being very silly and, occasionally, doing things that, while fun, nearly got us arrested once! (I believe the pink and purple dog story is a few years back on my blog). Years later, we have kept in touch, sometimes sporadically, but the friendship has never suffered and it is always like we just saw each one another "the other day." Mike even attended my family reunion a couple of years back, cementing his spot in my clan. When we spoke on the phone a few weeks ago, Mike told me about his new adventure as an intern at a biodynamic farm in Ottawa with his Aussie love, Leah Shields. He had met her during his travels in Indonesia, and mentioned she was going to be travelling our way soon with a friend visiting from Australia. So of course, if I could not see Mike, at least I could meet this young woman I had heard so much about, and told him to let her know to look us up. I friended her on facebook, extended the invite personally, informed Tony I had invited two total strangers to stay with us, and two weeks later, late at night, she and her best friend Michaela were in our home, sipping ginger tea and trusting that we were not going to kidnap them and keep them on this remote ranch in the Rockies! They meant to stay only a day or two, then head towards Vancouver, stopping along the way in Nelson for a few days. But we fell completely in love with them, and convinced them to stay. The week has been filled with fun and laughter, good food and hugs, and I once again feel so very fortunate to live where I work so we could have this time with them. I am not certain I have ever had easier house guests, and with both at 23, it was much like finding two new daughters in my life. Tony fell in love with them as well, and today, Friday, we look at having to set them on a bus as Michaela's Canadian adventure ends Sunday when she flies back Down Under. I don't mind admitting I am really very sad to see them go. These beautiful young souls have added their colour and beauty to the tapestry of my life... and I am so thankful for that Cornwall conference that brought not only Mike into my circle, but Leah and Michaela as well. Travel safe my darling and daring girls... there will always be a bed and cup of tea waiting for you here... a safe port in any storm, our loving arms awaiting you. xoxo

Dinner and a thought...

We just had dinner. Roast chicken, fingerling potatoes, baby carrots, salad... and every bit we raised or grew and harvested ourselves. That feels.... pretty amazing. :)

WTF??

I mean seriously, are we really getting to the point where people just cannot take the time to a) spell a word out and b) spell correctly? I can see WTF... only because swearing is not really a nice thing to do publicly (or any other time, though yes, despite my best efforts I still on occasion slip up use some pretty juicy language). And I do use lol, or rolf. So yes, I am being something of a hypocrite. But are we really so lazy that we cannot spell out "I don't know?" I am consistently shocked by the increasing spelling errors I read in posts on facebook and other places, especially when it is young people I know get straight A report cards and yet cannot spell worth a hootnanny. We all make mistakes. But come on! The age of auto correct is a scary one. I make a point of spelling out words, even when texting. Yep, it takes me an extra few seconds that could be better put to use, I don't know, breathing, but I have mastered the art of breathing WHILE texting, so it seems a moot point. We are just moving too too fast. Tony and I have been talking about this, and the fact we really feel we should continue our (as in his and my) current trend to be more self sufficient. We are growing more of our own produce, raising chickens (yesterday's "harvest" was not as awful as I thought it would be and we got our first 7 eggs today!) and there are so many more things we can start doing that will help us help ourselves. Slowing down... getting a little more back to basics... spelling our words out in full and correctly.... reading more, loving more, being more at peace.