Ideas

Where do ideas come from? Is it just some stimuli to the brain or is there an actual process that pushes thoughts forward? At this time of the morning my brain is too sluggish to come up with a conclusion or search for memory. Circumstances around me have made me sluggish in mind and body and that is a desperate place to be. Too much water in the basement, miserable forecast in the offing, looking at my weight, I just want to pull the covers over my head and disappear!

Where is the eternal optimist now? Well, perhaps with a cup of coffee it will start to creep out. Mmm, already feeling better.

I get a lot of ideas when I’m driving to work in the mornings and one of them was going to be titled “I’ve Got a Horn and I Know How to Use It”. This pertains to my use of the horn when someone passes me without signalling. It drives me nuts. I just think, how lazy is that, to not be able to flick a finger to signal. Last time I checked signalling was not an option on a car. SUVs are the worst. They seem to think they are king of the road and swerve in and out of traffic with nary a red signal. I get particularly annoyed with the fools roaring out of Okotoks near the Deerfoot interchange. Not only do they not signal, they pass on the inside lane, outside lane, weaving in and out for the one kilometre race to get to the Deerfoot before Harry the Hound. One can only assume they have a fantasy of being in the Indy 500 because no one is in that big a hurry to get to work or the lineup at Tim Horton’s.

When someone tells me they live in Okotoks I give them an appraising look and mentally my eyebrows are raised “So you are one of THOSE, are you?” I think. To protect myself at the cluster I will drive on the outside lane both going to work and coming home. Nine times out of ten the speed demons are the ones who desperately merge into (or out of) Okotoks and I just want to be well out of their way. I know it’s not correct driving to be going slow’ish on the outside lane but how does a sane person keep pace with someone pelting down the highway at 140 km per hour? There’s reason in all things, I say. I also say “Get up earlier and beat me to the punch, pal.” And I say “Who made you so important that I have to pace myself after you, nutbar?” Oh yes, I have a whole string of choice comments for these yahoos.

But the best one is,

“I’ve got a horn and I know how to use it.” Toot.

Gemini - the Twins

Today is my sister’s birthday and for the next 5 days we are twins. As Geminis I think this is very fitting. I don’t believe in horoscopes and I don’t believe in pigeon holing people with tags and yet I can’t help finding this a bit amusing.

Jeanette is one of the sweetest natured people I know but that wasn’t always the case. When she was a kid she could be something of a royal pain. She used to take hissy fits like nobody’s business and often they didn’t seem to make any sense to anyone else. She was pretty wilful and when she got upset she would just cry uncontrollably and often she would jump up and down in a tantrum. She grew out of it eventually but I think it wasn’t until she was a teenager!

When we were little girls we were best friends and we could play for hours with our dolls, games or just plain old imagination. We shared a bedroom until I turned 13 so at night we would tell stories or sing songs when we weren’t having a quarrel (which was seldom). I remember one time making up a song about a flower pot. We’d often tell ghost stories and repeat the stories our Farmor had told us and then we’d creep each other out. We also liked to play games that included flysaucer. That was when one of us would lean against the upheld feet of the other and then we’d get flung off the bed. That was the flying saucer. Sometimes we’d get flung against the bedroom door and whack, it would make a serious noise. Sooner or later Mom would come in with the wooden spoon to get us settled down again.

Nowadays Jeanette will call me on the weekend and we will talk for at least an hour just about this and that. I miss her a lot when she doesn’t call and who knew one could get so jealous of a little Stanley? Just kidding. Jeanette has always been crazy about babies so it’s no wonder that she is a devoted grandmother.

Happy birthday little sister.

Wine, Coffee and Conversation

It doesn’t really matter whether coffee or wine is served, when a group of women get together the talk simply flows. There is never really a pattern to the conversation though it usually starts with normal chit chat like “how have you been” and “isn’t the weather something” but then the talk can flow in any direction. Either directly to the book we meet to discuss or into serious discussion on the events of the day or deeper discussion into our personal lives, depending on what is momentous that day. Seldom do we feel any negative waves coming out of the talk but frequently I feel a very genuine affection streaming from these women.

We talked a bit about coffee yesterday and I never realized how many different kinds of coffee are out there. Not only are there a variety of coffee beans but there are so many flavoured coffees that my mind boggled. I went for the traditional Colombian. Coffee tastes better in a nice cup or mug, haven’t you noticed that? Coffee is a really social drink as we can certainly see by all the Starbucks, Second Cups, Urban Beans and Tim Horton’s popping up in neighbourhoods.

Wine is also a social drink though it can frequently take a different turn. But a glass of wine on a sunny deck is charming and creates a very distinct type of ambience and a certain mood in the conversation. One glass of wine can last me most of the evening but I feel that I enjoy myself as much as those who can take a bit more than me. It’s not the wine that stimulates the conversation, it’s the company.

But sunshine sure does help.

Noah's Fortitude

I really don’t know how Noah and his family survived the Flood and the untold months of floating around with no dry land anywhere. I thought that hooking up the sump pump the other day had solved my problem but the constant rain defeated the pump and me. Even my lawn looks like a small sea, there is no place for the water to go so it has seeped through the cement in the basement. Erik and I worked like fiends last night but eventually my back gave out and Erik carried on alone. I lay in bed after taking a pain killer and speculated on various engineering feats that might solve the long term problem.

I’ve battled the waters before but I just don’t have the strength I used to have and if I plan to live to 116 I need some serious backup plans for disasters like flooding. Oh goodness, every time I look out the window I see more water. Perhaps when I am not faced with the present turmoil my brain will click in and I can figure this all out.

Meanwhile let us think a bit about fortitude. Today at book club we will be talking about the book “Half Broke Horses” which is a true life novel about Jeannette Walls’ grandmother in Texas and Arizona. What an interesting life this woman had and certainly she had that thing Texans call “grit”. Can you imagine riding on horseback several hundred miles to a strange town to become a school teacher? Can you imagine surviving a bigamist marriage in a big city like Chicago? Well, I’ve survived my share of drought, rains, snow storms and the like but still I have to admire a young woman who simply “moved on”. She didn’t have time for self pity and here I am going whah, whah, whah over a little water in my basement. J

It’s like I’ve said before, when things get tough you really need to take a look at the world around you and count yourself blessed. Things could be a heck of a lot worse than a little rain in the basement. Shame on me for being such a cry baby!

And by the way, my next critter is going to be named Noah. It’s about time.

Adios Oprah

As all the world knows Oprah ended her 25 year run on television on May 26^th with all the fanfare of a well beloved star. If she doesn’t know by now that she is loved across the United States there is something seriously wrong with her.

Oprah is one of the celebrities I admire the most because of the work she has done. She has tried to effect positive change in the world and I think she has become an excellent role model for many women. I don’t know how many books she has landed on the best seller list simply by mentioning it on her show or in her magazine. More than 10 years ago she shifted her show around to be more about enhancing lives rather than exploiting sensational stories, Let’s not forget the careers she has enhanced or developed, like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Nate, Rachel Ray, Gayle King, Suzy Ormon, Bob Greene, Does anyone remember Rosie, her personal cook who wrote a recipe book? She then disappeared off the face of the earth – I never heard what happened to her.

Did Oprah ever disappoint? There were a few disappointments for me. I didn’t like her position in the last election, it was obviously race oriented. I questioned her need for a magazine when she already was loaded with millions. Frequently her interviews have a lot of “I” in them. I wonder why she has to make a school for underprivileged girls in South Africa when there is a need in her own back yard.

So she’s not perfect which is probably a good thing. It would be too sickening if she was! Her energy level must be fantastic for her to achieve so much in 25 years. Think of all the audience gifts, not to mention her Giveaway Specials. Her face is so friendly and warm. Her last interview with Barbara Walters was particularly interesting and just made her like her more. She said that while she has met many wonderful celebrities it’s the regular people who have impressed her the most. Mattie Stepanek is also featured in her “what I know for sure” section in her latest magazine. I practically bawled when I read his letter to her. She’s so right. The ordinary people are the ones that affect us the most.

Oprah you are a true inspiration to many people around the globe. I admire and respect you more than I can say. Keep on doing what you are doing to inspire our best life and forget about the nay-sayers. It’s hard to stay humble with so much adulation (and money) but that is probably something you will have to learn along your way. As we all do. J

The Day from Hell

It's only 9:30 in the morning and I am already having the day from hell. First I attempted to login to my blog to no avail -- I have no idea how I have managed to access this at this time as it has been a complete circus.

However, the worst was getting ready to leave the house to have my brother come up with the interesting news that we were experiencing another flood in the basement. Oh joy. I went down to take a look and it was a disaster. Sure I have all the equipment and I know how to start the shop vac and haul everything out of there but why wasn't the sump pump doing its job? And how was it possible to get so much water in the basement with all the cement we now have surrounding this house? My mind was whirling.

I had to call in to the office to let them know I wouldn't be in until I resolved the problem - and I had to call my carpool to let them know.

I've been stewing and stewing but somehow I got the pump running and it seems that the water seepage is mitigated.

Then working from home - which thankful was operating properly but oh my goodness, my head does ache already this morning. I simply hate this.

Call me Job-Noah -- I feel the pain of both those lads.

Being Fifty

We more mature women have been giving Marie our wisdom about turning 50, the most significant item being that we no longer care what people think or say. Fifty is like liberation to the n’th degree. Gillian and I echo Oprah’s declaration

“Our fifties are the best time ever.”

I wonder why it takes us until that milestone before we really start caring more about ourselves and less about others? Do we feel we are on the last leg of the journey, albeit the thought is not at the forefront of our thinking? Have we decided we no longer want to carry the weary loud? Do we simply feel tired of having dished out respect all our lives and now it is our turn to get a little respect? Or a hundred other combinations of “enough already”? Whatever the reason I know that I just feel like I want to do what I want, think what I think and the heck with what anyone says. It just feels great.

Another thing I’ve noticed about people in general in my age group is that we are less caring about being “politically correct” though we may give some lip service to the topic. Even men seem to shrug their shoulders and say what they think. It’s good to just be natural and not feel that we must walk a fine line of thinking like the newspapers want us to at least speak. Perhaps that is why we relate so well to Maxine of cartoon fame.

Oh dear, I’m just noticing that it is raining quite a bit which means I won’t be walking this morning unless I take my umbrella (I did put one in the car before I left). Yes, that’s another thing- we no longer fuss about our hair! But to compensate for all these “care for nothings” we have become obsessed with weight gain which is quite a downside. But that’s a talk for another day.

Today we are touring wineries, there are 2 new ones besides our 2 favorites that we like to visit when we come out here. We will be taking some bottles home with us – which is apparently against some obsolete law still on the books although it is no longer enforced if it is for private use. At least that’s what we believe. We didn’t even know about the law until Gillian read some article recently!

Let’s hope we aren’t made examples of because then I will have to make a phone call and it may be to you!

Girfriends' Retreat in BC

I’m having breakfast at a high table overlooking the lake and straight ahead of me I see the birdfeeders and currently there is a tiny blue headed bird that I will look up in Marie’s fancy talking book on birds. I think it is a mountain chickadee. It’s very pretty. Last night we could hear the wild beating of hummingbird wings as they dipped into the feeder. They are so tiny it is just incredible to watch them. I’ve landed in a little piece of heaven where everything is lush and green and the birds are singing to beat the band.

Marie has made her deck so warm and welcoming but she had us keeling over with laughter when she told the story of visiting her neighbour and coming home thinking “I have deck envy”. Only Marie could say something like that and get away with it. But she was right on it and my eyes fall on lovely potted plants with adorable hummingbird solar lights. Charming little accents on the tables, like a seabell in white or a potted gerber daisy in soft pink are restful to the eye.

As always I am the first one up, out the door for my agonizing walk up and down hills at 6 a.m. turning around because I’m exhausted but I will fob the gal pals off with the excuse “it was starting to spit”. LOL I declare that the hills in B.C. are steeper than anywhere else because I did not have THAT much wine last night to incapacitate myself to the extent of getting winded on a mere driveway. I’ll have to post a picture of the mere. (Remember the story where the grandpa says “You didn’t get beat by a mere girl?” And the kid says “Girls aren’t so mere anymore” or words to that effect . . .) Seriously Marie has one killer of a driveway, going up and down that a couple of times would equal a one hour walk, I’m pretty sure!

Walking along and admiring all the lovely gardens I have to say that I have tulip envy. I kept wondering “how do they get them to grow so tall?” Mine are tiny little pygmies and frequently fail to bloom. I am doing something wrong but I don’t know what. I’ll have to ask Gill she’s our horticultural expert in the group. Whenever I come out here I muse for a while on the possibility of having a second home here but it would be for the gardening and then what would I do with the house all winter? No, I must persevere with the challenges of Southern Alberta gardening and accept that lushness is never going to be one of the features of my garden. But I did get an inspiration to seed violas in my east pathway, it will look charming and simple as well as blending in with the purple irises.

I can hardly wait to get into my own garden but in the meantime I am enjoying the companionship of some wonderful girlfriends, even if they are sleepyheads!

Road Trip with Friends

I’m off this morning on my annual girls’ retreat in Salmon Arm. We have so much fun just on the drive and that is saying a lot for a 6 hour drive. Gillian is hilarious and Rose has her own dry wit that startles me so often. I’ve known Rose for 9 years now so you’d think I’d expect these witticisms by now. These are my FF gal pals, FF being the law firm we all worked for at one time or another. There are 5 of us fast friends but our Brenda is severely allergic to critters so is unable to make the trip because Marie has critters.

I’ve talked about friendship before but I don’t think I can say it enough. Friends are the treasure of life. We are born into a family and if we are lucky we have a great family but when you can find friends for life you are truly blessed. I used to think that friendships couldn’t evolve after high school because for many years it didn’t seem to happen to me. I’d make friends at work but when we moved on we only stayed in touch for a little while before the friendship dwindled into nothing. I realize now that it was partly my fault and these last 11 years I’ve made huge efforts to keep my friends.

Huge efforts? That sounds dramatic. I should say that I worked at it rather than just allowing a friend to evolve. After all, what did I do in high school? I called Silvia and Ranee, we had lunch all the time, we went to each other’s houses every weekend. We worked at it. I wrote to Ninette weekly (sometimes twice a week)! For years. Friendship isn’t osmosis. Friendship is work, but it is pleasant work. Like last weekend in Winnipeg. Like this weekend. Getting up at 4:00 and being on the road by 5:30 and laughing our heads off through Banff and Golden.

This year I’ve made a new friend in Jane, my NYC buddy. She is going through a tough time right now with her second hip replacement surgery and rather than send flowers I’m doing the true friend thing by visiting her, by helping her with her housework and cooking. This is how we treat our friends and guess what? It makes me feel great. And a special blessing on Cristy for making the tasks simpler by sharing them. You are a treasure.

After all, we can’t let Marie have all the sunshine and all the flowers. She has to share. That’s part of friendship.

Marie, we love you and we adore Paul for letting us steal your birthday weekend from him!

(Sorry everyone, this is a very personal blog this morning but I just feel so blessed in friendship. Let’s just pretend this was a special Gratitude Lesson).

The Blank Page

There is nothing more frightening to a writer than a blank page that stays blank for more than five minutes. Panic sets in and the writer begins to wonder if she has lost her mojo, her imagination, her ideas, her wisdom. You get the drift. This is my state of mind this morning. The last few days I’ve been rambling about nothings and as I don’t want this to turn into a journal I am at a loss of what to write about today.

A friend thought it best to write a separate blog about politics but here’s a thought that exploded in my mind the other day. Steven Harper is a hypocrite of such proportion that I cannot fathom it. In all seriousness I suspect him of being a S?. Am I allowed to say that about our Prime Minister? Probably not hence I erase and put a question mark – you’ll have to email me to get the answer. Seriously – trying to sneak in 3 new senators that have just NOT been re-elected to keep them on the gravytrain? What a slap in the face to their former constituents. I’d say those ridings will never vote Conservative again (one hopes).

Unfortunately just like the engineering industry people’s memories are extremely short and all is forgiven four years hence. Myself, I have the memory of an elephant when it comes to being done wrong. In fact, when it comes to bad behaviour, even when it occurs to someone else, I have a very long memory and allows leaves me with a huge question mark behind the perpetrator’s name. I’m like an avenging angel, righting wrongs and when I am powerless to do anything I become so incensed I almost feel like I am suffocating. This is especially frustrating on the job but when it comes to “city hall” I feel that there is SOMETHING that can be done. We can Not Vote For That Person (or party) ever again.

But people do. Why is that? Why don’t they remember? Why don’t they want justice? And yet the majority of people polled want to see Capital Punishment come back. Honestly is there any raw material in this land or were the brains all left in the old country? One has to wonder. Just look at the statistics – there’s more violent crime in USA than all of Europe and yet people want to tell me that capital punishment will deter crime. Hello, more than 50% of the states in the US has the death penalty and there is no capital punishment in Europe. Explanation please? I’m waiting. Still waiting.

Passionate? That’s me. But I’m not so passionate that I am blood thirsty. Hang ‘em high, Charlie, is not me. Don’t get me wrong. If something happened to one of my own I’d be out for blood. BUT that is why we have the justice system that allows disinterested citizens to make the balanced judgment on the defendant. That’s called Civilized. Being vengeful and blood thirsty is not a sign of civilization.

People say they don’t want to pay the cost of feeding Cliff Olson. Well, folks, I don’t want to pay the cost of feeding those fat pigs we call senators but I’m not allowed to execute them either.

Think about that.

Life Changes, World Upside Down

My life is being altered for the worse by this new “highway realignment” which began two weeks ago and by October the highway will be running 500 m across the front of my house. I am seriously depressed. It will cut off my direct access to the golf course, it will destroy my usual morning walk, it will remove all the natural wonders of the countryside around my place. I am seriously annoyed.

I first heard about this about 5 years ago and they kept telling me “it may happen in 5 years, 30 years or never”. Yeah, right. I knew from the start that it would be useless to appeal and as I was in the final part of a legal battle with my neighbour over the infamous 9 feet I was too tired to take on City Hall, so to speak. In this case it would have been the province which has decided that it would be ideal to have a Super Highway run from the United States up to Fort McMurray. Because every country should lay out the red carpet for an alien nation, don’t you know? It’s like saying “welcome in, go ahead and rape me, the pleasure is all mine”. As I’ve said before, the lightbulb has never been turned on in this province.

You know how much I dislike change but this is more than “change” – this is turning my world upset down. But as I was driving down the scaled down highway (very disconcerting to see cars coming at you on the bridge) I thought to myself “at least it’s happening when I’m still young. I just hope I remember when I’m 86 that this has happened and don’t start thinking I’m back in 1980” . Wouldn’t that be something?

That’s me, always thinking ahead.

This is a graveyard at Windermere, England

From School to Retirement

Right now I am living from event to event, anticipating the pleasures of my travels. Winnipeg, Salmon Arm, San Francisco. It reminds me of high school when we lived from start of school, to Christmas, to Easter and then to summer vacation. Patterns from childhood are hard to break. It’s a concern that I have upon retiring, what will I be anticipating then?

When I had my last talk with the retirement consultant I told him that since I’d determined that I would go within four years he asked how I felt about that. Relief, I said. And liberated. Barring the unforeseen I had made a decision that I was comfortable with and while I am not exactly second guessing myself I am wondering how that new life will evolve. Sure I have hobbies and things I want to do but I can assign my own goal date to them. How do I make it so they aren’t moving targets?

Yes, I am making retirement sound more complex than it should be but I think that it’s important to be prepared for the strangeness of not having to get up in the morning. Some of my classmates are now retired and seem to have figured things out. One said she was living her dream life when she was in Florida, taking dances lessons, sun bathing and socializing with nice people. It sounds lovely and I’m glad to hear that some people have it figured out. Others though are just living day to day without a plan.

And there it is. I need structure. I need a plan. As my family will tell you, there is always a plan even when I go shopping. First here, then there and no deviations. Okay, maybe I am not quite so anal but it’s close. I like things to go a certain way. I like my plans.

Despite my hesitation I am really looking forward to this new phase in my life and I think I do have a plan of sorts set out. The biggest goal in the plan is Be Happy. And that is one goal I never have a problem reaching.

Candy from the M&M Store in NYC

High School Reunion - the Aftermath

First a word about airports – cheap. The only airport that has free internet is Seatlle. Dallas, Miami, Calgary and Winnipeg want to charge you for WiFi and my question “what’s up with that” since we pay an arm and a leg already for our tickets!

And that explains why there were no posts over the weekend.

I arrived in Winnipeg to find it drizzling spit rain and a wind to knock your socks off. Talk about cold! Marjolaine was there to meet me with her great big umbrella but the rain stopped while we crossed the tarmac then started up as we drove to a shopping centre. All day it was intermittent but at 10 p.m. it miraculously had not only stopped but it went from 3 degrees to 9 so we were able to have a great bonfire in Oakbank. The rest of the weekend was sunny and warm.

This isn’t a journal so I won’t go on about who said what or who looked good and who didn’t. But what I found as a recurring note was how much people loved being there and asked the question ‘why isn’t such & so here?’ People were disappointed that so many others chose not to attend the reunion and as many of us said “it’s so important to stay connected” because you don’t know what will happen as time goes on. We’ve lost quite a number of classmates already to accidents, cancer and other illnesses.

I know that some people didn’t have a good experience in school but we are not only adults we are soon going to be senior citizens and it’s time to grow up, get over things and just enjoy people as they have grown and matured also. Then there are others who may not be able to afford the whole weekend but our own class had a free get together in Oakbank with a voluntary donation for the food. So many who reside in or around Winnipeg didn’t attend and let me tell you “you were missed”.

If anyone can do a little preaching it is me, and I mean that in more than one way. I am pretty good at it! LOL But here’s the thing – not only was I a very shy, quiet girl in school but I am still reserved when I am around a lot of people. I find it difficult to talk in a huge room full of people that I barely know and it is disconcerting to have to shout into someone’s ear because the music is so loud (no we aren’t quite deaf yet). Despite that, despite classmates not remembering me, despite not having much of a talk with many of them – I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed seeing them happy, I enjoyed being with those of my friends who were there, I enjoyed little chats here and there and I loved, loved, loved dancing with them!

I met up with some classmates outside the formal affairs and caught up with their lives. It seems at each reunion I develop a stronger relationship with one or more classmates that I come to treasure. I renew old friendships.

I count my blessings and let me tell you something - WPC’s Class of ’71 ROCKS.

You should be there!

One More Sleep and I'm So Distracted

I talked to Liz last night and she said that the energy is in the air which she felt when she went to the school to pick up the tickets for the EVENTS. I was madly packing just before I called her and stopped myself because I was afraid I would lose track of time if I kept going. Now here I am this morning doing the last minute packing and wondering what I will be forgetting because sure as shooting I will forget something.

After graduation I worked all summer on the bacon line at Burns Foods and then in September I went to Denmark on my long awaited trip to see my beloved grandmother and aunt. I had broken up with George in August so I was a little depressed when I first got there but my cousins started taking me to discothèques and before I knew it I was having a blast. I was very popular with my cousins’ friends which didn’t hurt my feelings at all. I think a lot of kids from my class went to Europe that summer, it was the thing to do but I had no idea about that. For me it was simply natural to want to go “home” to see my relatives. My cousin Birthe and I sailed across to Sweden for the day and on my return trip the plane landed at Glasgow airport for a half hour. That was the extent of my trekking through Europe!

Returning home after 4 months I found myself unwilling to go to university right away so I went into the work force for 3 years before attending the University of Waterloo. I managed to luck out there because I only had to go 3 years to get my B.A. instead of 4. Because I had been working for a while I was very focused on the ‘in and out’ procedure of attending university. I was there to get my degree and get back to work. That has been my life now for over 40 years, to simply move on to the next thing and work, work, work. To think that from kindergarten to grade 12 was the longest stint of one’s life and the Afterwards goes by in the blink of an eye seems incomprehensible in terms of numbers but for me at least that is how time has progressed.

All my classmates will be approaching 58 if they aren’t already there but just in our talks and emails I know that not one of us feels older than, oh 21 maybe! It’s terrific to be young at heart and I am so looking forward to seeing them all again. I can hardly wait.

And oh tonight while I stay over in Calgary I get the chance to go out drinking with some of my colleagues. I’m not sure that is such a good thing. I’m supposed to get up again at 4 a.m. to catch the plane. I suggested to Blaine seeing the new Jane Eyre would be a good thing. His silence leads me to believe that Thor or The Green Lantern would be a better idea. Men. No idea of the romance of things.

June 12, 1971

I remember all the anxiety of getting permission to go to Grad. My father was not happy about me being out all night on the paddleboat but finally he gave in. Then there was the whole issue of the Grad dress. My mother still had her gorgeous figure and she had just bought a really nice white pant suit and thought it would be a great idea if I wore that to Grad. What was the point of buying a dress I would never wear again when there was something perfect already in the closet. “Because it’s not a dress Mom.” That battle I did not win so I bowed in ungracefully. Lucky for me Barb Seier decided to wear a pantsuit also so I was not the only freak there. I was grateful that during the dinner we slipped out as the guys wanted a drink so I missed the whole parade thing which was just as well as I would have been humiliated to be strutting around all those beautiful gowns in my pantsuit. The things we stress out about! I was also upset about my hair. I had curled it but it was so humid that evening that the curls went out and I just had this long mass of stuff around my head. It was neither straight nor curly. It was something in-between. But I had cool shoes and a perfect beaded shoulder bag in white (I still have it) so some things were ok. And I had a date.

To be perfectly honest I had a so-so time at Grad. I felt awkward because I was not sitting at the same table with my 2 best friends Silvia and Ranee. I was with Yvette, Marj and Barb because all 4 of us had St Anne guys as our dates and they wanted to stick together. The guys were grumpy because there was no booze and when we got on the paddleboat they wouldn’t dance with us. I got mad at George, Yvette got mad at Lucien. Barb at least was having fun with Gilles and Marj was happy to be with Jean-Paul. But George too tired to dance and he also didn’t want to go over to visit Silvia so it was a real mess for me. I was glad when I finally got home at 4 in the morning.
So that was Grad. For me.

We all know the rest of the story. Dark days the final 2 weeks of high school. I can still remember the utter silence in the halls the Monday after Grad. I hadn’t yet heard the story but still I felt something was wrong. Ann and Chris were relieved to see me because they thought it was me. I was stunned by the news. We all were. And that’s about all I want to say about that.

Let’s just say that I’ve made up my disappoint with Grad in all the Reunions. I’ve learned that you have to make your own fun and not count on your date!

P.S. Just looking in my diary entry for June 13th

"The graduation was very beautiful. I'm just so sorry George was so tired. He only had 4 hours sleep on Friday."

I guess I did have a good enough time. :)