Reflecting on 2013

Gerard was asked to participate in the New Year's Day service by "sharing and giving a testimony to how God's faithfulness and goodness have been demonstrated in your and your family's life" and to choose a hymn and a Scripture passage to go with it. He agreed to do it and has chosen the hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and the Scripture passage of Psalm 100, and is writing his testimony following the pattern of Psalm 100... alternating between "I thank you for..." and "I praise you for..." 

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness.;

Come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us and we are his;

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.



 

this picture represents many of the blessings of this year

 

While contemplating what Gerard was working on, I thought it might be a good idea to write down some of my own reflections on this past year of 2013... 

 

I will praise you, Lord...O Lord my God, I pleaded with you, and you gave me my health again.  You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive!  Psalm 30: 2

 

What a year this has been! Another whole bonus year!  The first half of the year was focussed on my chemo and radiation treatments and the second half was one big celebration after another-  Alida and Jeff's engagement, my cancer back in remission, the birth of Hannah and the birth of Charlie, lots of family time, a wonderful recovery from the effects of the treatments, and Jeff and Alida's wedding.  With all of these happy events occupying our thoughts from day to day for the last six months, it took Gerard's reminder that we also dealt with all my treatments this year and with his recurring infections.  O, that's right. Almost forgot that that all happened this year too!  

 

We receive each day as a gift and try to leave our future in God's hands.  Sometimes doubts and fears creep in;  When and how will the cancer surface again?  Will I still be alive at this time next year?  Then I make myself focus on knowing that we are walking this journey hand in hand with God leading us step by step and day by day. 

 

Through all the ups and downs I am so grateful to have Gerard by my side and also the loving support of family, friends, and our church community. 

 

Our morning devotional booklet directs us each day not to worry, not to fear, God is walking with you, keep your eyes focussed on God...  Sometimes I get annoyed that it repeats almost the same message each day, and yet, it's exactly what we need to hear each day. 

 

      Don’t fear, because I am with you;
    don’t be afraid, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you. I will surely help you;
    I will hold you with my righteous strong hand

Isaiah 41:13

 

So here we are at the end of an amazing year of ups and downs; just a few hours away from the start of a brand new year!  What will this coming year hold?  The Lord only knows.  

 

But I am trusting you, O Lord.  I said, "You alone are my God; my times are in your hands.

Psalm 31:14

Christmas 2013

banner at benefit concert for Neighbourlink, at Spring Garden Church 



What makes it feel like Christmas to you?  My sister just posted a picture on Facebook of her adult children around her son's swimming pool down in Arizona.  Does it feel like Christmas to them? Does there have to be snow or a fireplace or Christmas lights or candles or a Sunday School pageant or turkey dinner or going out carolling followed by hot chocolate, mandarins, or listening to Handel's Messiah, in order for it to feel like Christmas? Most of us have Christmas traditions that make the happenings of this time of year very predictable.  However, the ice storm and resulting power outage made our Christmas and surrounding days anything but predictable.  It didn't feel like other years. But that's OK.  Change makes you think about why we do things the way we do. 

surprise candle lit dinner at church during the power outage

 

Some of our church services were cancelled or re-scheduled at the last minute, so therefore rather sparsely attended.  Still, we heard the good news message of Christ's birth, we celebrated communion, we sang Christmas hymns and carols, and we even had a service and dinner totally by candlelight. 

 

Our custodians are amazing cooks.  Their apartment was without power so they were cold and could not cook there.  So they moved into the church kitchen and cooked up a storm on the industrial gas stove there.  They invited people from their building to bring the food that was defrosting in their fridges and freezers, and offered to cook it up for them.  They served breakfast, dinner, snacks.  Even though there was no power at the church, it was a place of warm hospitality. We ate by candle light with our coats on, and the stove warmed the kitchen.  It was amazing! One of the highlights of this Christmas season for me.  

the patriarch of our family reading the Christmas story

 

On the afternoon of Christmas Day we went to Stratford to celebrate Christmas with my dad and brother Jeff who live in the same building, and with my brother Carel and his family and our own little family.  There were seventeen of us in the party room that my dad had reserved.  Just enough people for it to be cozy, but not overwhelming. 

 

 

singing Christmas carols during the reading of the Christmas story

 

One of our special Christmas traditions is that after dinner my dad reads the Christmas story from a children's Bible and intersperses the reading by announcing fitting Christmas hymns that we sing together.  We have done this for as long as I remember.  Right after dinner, when it was dark, we would all move to the living room.  In Holland we had real candles in the real Christmas tree (with sand and water nearby for safety).  My dad would read and we would sing the songs he picked.  Then afterwards us kids could each volunteer to stand beside the tree and sing a Christmas song or recite some Scripture for the family.  Very special memories!  I'm so glad our children and grand children get to experience Opa reading the Christmas story for them too.  This was another highlight of this unusual Christmas season for me. 

Sinterklaas Family Day

So back to just before the ice storm... Even though the freezing rain had just started, everyone made it safely to our house for our Sinterklaas family day.  I had asked them all to come at 11 am and to stay all day!  And they did.  We had time for food, baby's naps, just catching up, games, a gift exchange, and an informal photo shoot!

 

Jeff and Melanie

 

I was born in The Netherlands where Christmas is (was in the 50's) strictly a religious holiday. They celebrated Sinterklaas Day on December 5 by exchanging small gifts, each accompanied by a poem. It was all to have a fun time together. The commercialism and gift-giving around Christmas in Canada has always created tension for me, especially when I worked at a mission where there was hardly any "peace on earth" at Christmas time - the place was stressful and busy for months leading up to Christmas.

 

My parents resolved this tension by letting us open gifts on the last day of school before Christmas and so we carried on that tradition with our children.  This way the gifts were separated from Christmas Day and they had new things to play with for the whole holidays.   

 

Last year one of my friends started celebrating Sinterklaas with her adult children and her grandchildren.  They loved it!  So that inspired me to try the same.  It was great!  We had a relaxing day together.  Everyone wrote a poem with their gift and they were great!  We had a chocolate letter hunt (like Easter egg hunt).  The babies seemed relaxed.  All together, it was a wonderful family day! And now for the photo shoot...

 

Oscar in 2011 @ 3 months

Hannah in 2013 @ about 5 months

Charlie in 2013 @ 3 months

 

Looks like we have two new traditions: Sinterklaas-style gift exchange with poems and pictures of babies in the basket by the Christmas tree.  

Henry with Charlie and Melanie with Oscar

Mark and Rosemary with Hannah

 

Jeff and Alida: Our lovey-dovey newlyweds

 

 

Gerard and I with our arms full of blessings!  Hannah, Oscar & Charlie

 

The hours just flew by. Before I knew it eight hours had passed and it was time for everyone to head home.  What a wonderful family day!  I just loved it! I feel SO blessed!  Thank you, Lord!

Emerging from the Ice Storm

Hi there!  I'm just emerging online again after 91 hours of power failure caused by a terrific ice storm that happened early Sunday morning.  At around 2:30 a.m. Gerard heard a loud noise outside.  We jumped out of bed, scanned the dark back yard with our flashlights and saw that a large branch had come down. On Sunday morning we woke up to the view below from our kitchen window!  By 3:45 a.m. the electric power cut out.  About a third to half of the branches of our (at least) 50 foot silver maple did not survive the weight of the ice and broke off. Thankfully, everything landed very neatly between the garage, the house, the deck, and the swing set.  A few small branches bent a short section of the eaves trough, but we haven't seen any other damage.

You just don't realize how much our lifestyle depends on electricity until it's not available. For four whole days we were figuring out how and where to stay warm and how to cope without power.

 

this is what our backyard looked like on Sunday morning

 

That's been an interesting and at times stressful and tiring experience, and yet at the same time there were lots of community-building heart-warming wonderful moments.  The temperature in the house dropped to the all-time low of 4 degrees Celsius! We got some heat from the gas fireplace insert, but without the electrical fan going it overheated constantly, so we had to keep turning it off. We are so grateful to friends and family who invited us into their warm spaces. 

 

love the way you can see the branches inside the ice! 

 

We've been walking around our neighbourhood, seeing both the devastation and the spectacular beauty brought about by this storm.  As we were out and about this afternoon, the sun broke through the clouds and transformed the ice-covered trees into sparkling crystal-like formations.  Absolutely beautiful!

 

 

By now we have emerged after the storm; the house temperature is back to normal; the extra blankets and comforters, flashlights and candles put away; we are down to one or two layers of clothing from five or six; the plants are back in the window sills close to the cold windows; perishable food has been sorted and brought in from our cold garage; the freezer has been cleaned out; the Internet is up and running again; the timers on the Christmas lights are re-set; the aquarium is uncovered and the fish survived! - Yes, we have emerged.

 

these pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the sparkling crystal-like ice

 

There is so much to show and tell about the last few days including Sinterklaas and Christmas.  I don't even know where to start.  So I'll leave it at this for tonight. 

 

There are still people without power in the Greater Toronto Area.  There has been a lot of damage, especially to the beautiful majestic old trees!  The power of nature is awesome and humbling. We thank God for beauty, safety, warmth, neighbours, our church community, friends and family!

Waiting in Eager Anticipation

 

We're waiting in eager anticipation for the kids and grandkids to arrive.  We are going to hang out together for the whole day, eating, playing games, admiring the babies!  Everything's ready; the food, the toys, the gifts and poems.  Today we are exchanging gifts, Sinterklaas style. Each person is bringing a small gift accompanied with a poem.  We've never done it this way before, but hope it will be a lot of fun. Thought we'd enjoy some of our Dutch traditions.

Here's what's happening outside - freezing rain. The roads are OK so far, so we're hoping and praying everyone will make it safely over here.

 

And here's what's happening inside - the first set of new flowers on the geranium brought in from the garden in October.

All right, gotta go.  Only five more minutes until the expected time of arrival.  Oh, here's the first car load just arriving.  I'm so excited! Will tell you more about our celebrations later.

Good Food and Fellowship



We've just had our first substantial snowfall of the season.  It makes the house feel so warm and safe and cozy!  I love the lights with the snow, and also indoors.  We've been enjoying all kinds of food and fellowship.

Last week we made the rounds of our little family.  On Wednesday Mark and Rosemary invited us over for dinner.  Their home is always cozy with their seasonal decorations and I felt very loved by the warmth of their hospitality. On Thursday was our weekly visit to Henry and Melanie's.  Melanie opened the door for us and said, "Oscar, Opa and Oma are here!"  He came running, looked at us and said, "Oh, my goodness!"  It sounded so funny coming from such a little kid!

Then on Friday Alida hosted a girls' lunch - meaning that just the "girls" in our family were invited.  And of course Hannah and Charlie came along. It was good to see Alida starting to settle into her new home.  Part-way through our grand tour of the house, we had a little photo-shoot of the little cousins. Lunch was delicious and the time of fellowship was heart warming!

the little cousins: Charlie and Hannah

 

On Thursday the participants of our English Conversation Circle thanked us for leading their group, by treating us to a delicious home-cooked Korean meal; stir-fried shaved beef, something like sushi, "birthday soup" - (seaweed soup),  and fresh fruit.  It was fun and interesting.

Part of our English Conversation group

 

On Saturday was our annual Christmas dinner with our small group.  Once again lots of good food and fun and fellowship.  We played a game with little gifts.  Gerard ended up with a very cute little bobble head turtle and a family of nesting snowmen, both of which I really liked.  And then I ended up with this Chewbacca (from Star Wars) flash light! Oh well... 

our gifts from the gag gift exchange game

 

Last evening before our "lessons and carols" service at our church we were greeted in the Fellowship Hall with a light supper - a choice from six different quiches, plus salad, and dessert.  It's so nice to socialize over food!  And the church was simply and beautifully decked out with lit candles and small white lights. 

love this wreath on the pulpit at church

Meanwhile, in our home, we have our Christmas tree and window advent candles lit, the lights are on outside, the nativity sets are out and I've been doing some baking: chocolate truffles, marshmallow rolls, date squares and cranberry and pistachio cookies.  

some of my Christmas baking

 

Last night we hosted my brother-in-law, and our nephew and niece, who were on their way to China to visit their daughter/sister for the Christmas holidays! Feeling so enriched and thankful for all these wonderful times of food and fellowship these days! 

Spending time with Hannah

Yesterday we got to spent some time with Hannah.
 

Hannah at 5 months

 

She's developing so fast!  This week she rolled over for the first time.  After sleeping in a bassinet in Mommy and Daddy's room since she was born, she made the big transition to the crib in her own bedroom this week.  And we think she's teething.  She chews on her toy giraffe and on her hands and drools a lot.  In a few days she'll be trying out some cereal for the first time.  

 

Opa just loves the grand babies!

She's interacting with us more and more. Yesterday I was moving my mug from left to right, from top to bottom, and she followed it all around. She makes sounds, we copy them, then she does it again, just as if she's having a conversation with us.  And when she's in the mood she's starting to smile in response to our smiles.  It's becoming fun to interact with her.  Such a miracle to see her development from a newborn into a little person already!

A Relaxing Day so Far

Today has been a quiet day so far. We started out making juice and green smoothies, then walked to and from lane swimming. We soaked up the sunshine that came pouring in through our bay window. So relaxing! Over coffee (and coffee substitute)and a pumpkin muffin we got to talking about plans for the day. I didn't have any. Usually I have at least a bit of a to-do list, but not today. "I'd like to do something that will give me a feeling of accomplishment like re-arranging some pictures on the wall or clearing out a closet..." "How about setting up the Christmas tree or working on the puzzle?" Gerard suggested. Well, I didn't have anything like that in mind. I wanted to really accomplish something.
 

the painting on this Sunday's liturgy reminded me of my puzzle

On our way out of the living we passed by the puzzle, at least I had intended to pass it by. But wait, I think I see a piece... And Gerard saw a piece, and then another... An hour and a half later and the puzzle was complete!  Since then we've had lunch, I had a great chat on the phone with Gerard's brother, now I'm writing this post and then I'm off for a nap. Still don't feel like I've accomplished much of anything, but it's been a wonderfully relaxing day so far!

Random Updates from This Week

It's already Saturday night, December the 7th!! Where has this week gone? Not a single blog post, so here are some random updates to keep you posted.

We had two positive routine medical appointments recently.  One was with the ophthalmologist who said my eyes appear to be stable - no new developments -  "See you in two months".  So that's good news. Yesterday was our three-month check-in with the oncologist and he also sent us on our way for another three months, unless something out of the ordinary shows up before that time. It looks like the cancer has decided to take a break for awhile, which is just fine with us!  I've been feeling great for weeks already, so that makes life more relaxing. So this week I've been...
 

 

- enjoying my new wavy hair

- making this challenging puzzle.  The whole dining room table is covered.  We can usually make a 1,000 piece puzzle in a few evenings, but Gerard has left this one up to me and it looks like it's probably going to keep me occupied for a few weeks.





 

 - reading an interesting book about the history of the Toronto waterfront.



- walking a lot -  to church for worship and for Bible Reading group, to the library, to the pool, to a concert, to see the lighting of the menorah marking the beginning of Hanukkah, to the movie theatre to see "Philomena", to my little volunteer job, ESL group and Pilates class. Feels great to get out of the car and walking helps to clear my brain.

- Pitching in with what needs to be done around the house.  Lately I've started preparing dinner a few days a week.  Cooking has never been my strength, and since I've been dealing with cancer my mind has almost completely blanked out as far as inspiration for meal ideas is concerned.  So glad that Gerard is more interested in food than I am and so we always have something on the table.  

 

- visiting with little Oscar

- making plans for celebrating Sinterklaas (Dutch St. Nicholas) with the family. (more about that in a few weeks).

- thinking about plans for spending Christmas Day in Stratford with my dad, my brother and other family members.

- assembling this new wreath for our front door using odds and ends found around the house.

- gradually shifting over to Christmas decorations (first little nativity scene is up, outside lights are on the house and the deck railing, evergreen arrangement in planter on the deck, poinsettia plant in front hall, advent candles in the windows...but the decorative gourds are still on display as well).



 

 

Today I worked on this wreath, baked muffins, tidied up around the house; Gerard got groceries and did the laundry and then we attended a benefit Christmas concert and an open house at our pastor's home.  Lately I keep thinking that don't do much of anything, but writing it out like this helps to put things back into perspective and I realize that I do have a much slower pace of life than I used to have, but still have plenty of enjoyable things on the go, with no pressure.  That's retirement, right?

Preparing for Christmas

This week is the beginning of Advent - a period of four weeks leading up to Christmas Day, in which the Christian church observes a time of living in anticipation of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah - our Saviour. So on Sunday our small group was asked to lead the congregation in the candle lighting ceremony that one of our members had prepared. And I was invited to light the first candle.
 

From:  "The Christian Family Prepares for Christmas"

 

Here is an advent prayer that I found in a blog I follow daily.

 



Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness,

Send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do

Seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things

Look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways

Long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy

Seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!“

Amen.

by Henri Nouwen

 

one of our children's' Sunday School papers, from about 30 years ago

 

This way of preparing for Christmas stands in such stark contrast to the Christmas preparation madness that I hear and see all around me.  It takes effort (and prayer!) to keep things in perspective.  I love the lights at this dark time of year.  We have our advent candles in the windows and lights along the eves of the house and on the railing of the deck.  I love the Christmas music too.  For the rest... I'm not sure what to do with it all.

Thursday Visit with Oscar



We have the cutest message saved on our answering machine from Little Oscar (with a little prompting from his mommy). Every once in a while I play it back, just to hear his clear sweet little voice saying, "Hi Oma!  Call back! I wuv you!" This heartwarming message always brings a smile to my face and into my heart. I just love this little guy! 

our grandson, Oscar

 

Come rain or shine or snow, we always take him for a walk to the "puck" (park).  Today it was slippery in spots and he wiped out on a patch of ice.  After that he stood on a patch of icy snow for awhile, sliding one of his boots over the snow and ice testing the bumpy and smooth parts to see which was slippery.  And then he started walking again, mostly avoiding the slippery sections.  Fascinating to watch!

 

 

Come rain or shine, we take Oscar for a walk

 

On the way home from the playground he's usually tuckered out so we stick him in his stroller.  He's just recently started singing and counting while he's sitting there.  Today he was singing parts of Bah, Bah, Black Sheep and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and A, B, C, D, E, F, G  all through each other. I suddenly realized that they all have the same tune, so maybe he thinks they're all part of the same song.  He's also learning to count: "One, two, three, five, six, seven, eight, TEN!"  (usually skips 4 and 9).  

 Oscar checking what's in Oma's activity bag today

 

A few weeks ago I started a new tradition.  I bring an easily recognizable bright green bag with things for Oscar to play with while we are there.  When we arrive at their house I just set the bag down in the front hall with anything else we're bringing in.  He stands there looking at it for a while until I say, "It's OK, you can look in it."  The first thing that always comes out is a stuffed cat.  He loves it!  Then "The Big Fire Truck" book and the "Old MacDonald had a Farm" book.  We sing through that whole book together.  Today I had monkeys in a barrel and some stickers and we all got a sticker stuck onto our sweaters, in fact I just noticed that my frog sticker is still on my hoody.  It's so much fun!  

 

He's such a caring, sensitive little guy.  We were reading a book that had a child with a happy face on one page and a sad face on the opposite page.  He said, "Baby sad! Hug, hug?" and then he kissed the baby's sad face and hugged the book!  He hugs and cuddles his baby brother, Charlie, too. So adorable!  I just want to hug him, but unless he's sick or very tired, he's not into cuddling so much.

 

He also notices details and is very meticulous.  As he was playing with a fire truck and two little people this morning, I noticed that when he picked up the people from the floor to put them on the fire truck, he turned them so that they'd be facing the front of the truck.  Then he turned them to face the back of the truck before he let them step down off the truck again.  I couldn't believe it!  I just love watching him process things like this.  It's absolutely fascinating! Even though I was never really into little kids very much, I'm just enjoying and treasuring these little grand children of ours so much!

Now What?

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland so we went out for a walk in the snow and the sun to enjoy the first real snow fall of the season. 

 

I've been thinking that at about this time last year we found out that the cancer was active again, this time in my right eye.  I honestly couldn't have imagined then that I would be feeling as well as I do now, a whole year later.  And what an amazing year it has been!  One round of chemo and two rounds of radiation treatments ...  How did we get through all of that?  It all feels like a miracle and a huge gift from God. 

snowy "chef's hats" on black-eyed Susan's seed pods

 

We lived from one exciting goal to the next, always something to plan for, to occupy our minds and to look forward to.  It started last Christmas when Mark and Rosemary broke the big news that they were expecting their first baby in July.  Wow! Another new grandchild to look forward to at the end of the radiation treatments.  And then Henry and Melanie told us they were expecting in September and then Alida and Jeff announced their engagement!  We had showers and parties all summer long.  The most recent celebration was the wedding a few weeks ago.  

 

My big, long-term hope was that I would be alive and well enough to be at Jeff and Alida's wedding.  Well, over and above all expectations, that big hope became reality.  I was able to fully participate in and thoroughly enjoy two solid days of activities and celebrations without even a single nap! What an amazing gift!
 

And now as we switch gears everyone's question is... "How are you doing since the wedding?"  My answer is, "Fine!  Absolutely fine!"  We were not involved in the wedding planning so it's not as if we had been super busy leading up to the wedding day, but we had been living towards the goal of the big day.  When the wedding was over, we had some long afternoon naps for a few days.  And then the big question surfaced:  "Now what?"

All these special events came at the right time during my treatments and during the after affects, and helped us cope by living in the moment, one day at a time, towards the next event.

About four and a half  years ago when the word "lymphoma" first entered our lives I immediately had a wish list of four things:  to live long enough to see grandchildren, to help my parents in their old age, if Alida were to get married that I could be at her wedding, and to spend special retirement time with Gerard. 

Well, God has granted me all these wishes already!  So now that the wedding is over, and the last wish left on my list has been granted, I live with the constant thought of, "Will God decide to call me home now that all the wishes on my list have been met?  I just can't seem to get rid of that thought. I feel so healthy (relatively speaking) right now, I got all my wishes. the blessings keep coming, life keeps rolling along ... I feel so blessed and yet I'm wondering how to live meaningfully in response to all these blessings and at the same time within my limitations.  It's a daily challenge. 

Our Family's Infant and Child CPR Training

This morning our family suddenly grew - by one new toddler and seven new babies!

The room was filled with babies; one for each of us.

 

The girls encouraged all of us to get baby CPR* training.  Rosemary arranged for a trainer to come to their house and invited us all for the CPR course and for lunch.  Melanie and Alida have both done this through work already and Jeff - I'm not sure, but all of the rest of us spent the morning together learning what to do in the event of an emergency, and visiting over lunch afterwards. 

learning what to do if a baby is choking

Mark with his two little girls

Hannah was quietly watching all the goings-on around her.  Hopefully we'll never need to use CPR on her, but if we do, we should now be better prepared to do so.

 

On the way home I was reflecting on what we had learned.  Hopefully if there is ever an emergency requiring CPR I'll be better prepared to deal with the situation.  However, after this morning I'm also more aware of all the potential risks of chocking and smothering and am wondering whether sometimes ignorance is bliss.

 

* CPR = Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation 

Where Were You When...

Isn't it amazing how some events can be etched into your memory as if they just happened yesterday? Today the news is filled with talk about the assassination of John F. Kennedy 50 years ago, which prompts the question, "Where were you when...?" and triggered memories of where I was for some other major events. 

The Assassination of President Kennedy - Nov. 22, 1963 - I was in Medicine Hat, Alberta, walking home from school for lunch.  Just as we were by the boards around the outdoor skating rink, someone told us that President Kennedy was shot.  As soon as we got home I told my dad the news.  He couldn't believe it, and immediately turned on the radio and sure enough, the airwaves were full of the shocking and unbelievable news!  The radio stayed on during our whole lunch time, which had never, ever happened in our family before. 

First Moon Landing - July 20, 1969  - My mom, my brothers Bart and Carel, and I were camping in the Finger Lakes area of New York on our way to Washington, DC (for some reason my dad stayed home with the younger kids).  It was a rainy day, so the neighbours camping across the road from us invited us to come with them to watch the landing on the moon.  We followed them to their home, which was about an hour away.  I remember that they were Tupperware dealers who had stacks of orders all over their house as reminders that they needed to be delivered. We enjoyed their warm hospitality, in a dry house, and we got to see the first landing on the moon!

Collapse of the World Trade Centre - Sept. 11, 2001 - I was at the Toronto City Mission office.  It was Tuesday, the day of our staff meeting.  Staff members were coming in from all over the city and with each arrival the story got worse.  Our book keeper usually attended the opening devotions and then went back to his computer.  He kept us posted on the latest developments.  What a day!

Toronto Black-out - August 14, 2003 - The power went out as I was getting an allergy shot.  As I left the office, the elevator wasn't working so I took the stairs.  On my way home the traffic lights weren't working either. I turned on the car radio and heard that there was a massive black-out all over north eastern North America!

Sunrise Propane Explosion in Toronto - Aug. 10, 2008 - We were awakened at 3:50 in the morning by some booming sounds.  At first we thought it was the Toronto Star truck dumping off bundles of papers for our neighbour kids to deliver.  It actually sounded like things being thrown into the back of a truck.  But the sounds just kept on going.  We opened the window and looked outside.  To the southwest of our house we saw the sky lighting up with each boom.  We rushed to the radio and TV and within half an hour heard that there had been a fire resulting in a big explosion at the propane storage tanks in Downsview.  Scary!

My Second Birth - March 23, 2011 at 2:30 am - I was in my bed at Sunnybrook Hospital for chemo treatments. Suddenly I was wide awake!  The only thing I could think of doing was to read the notes and Scripture passages from the sermon one of our visiting missionaries had preached a few weeks before.  I was sitting on my bed in my dark cubicle, trying to make out the print by the light coming in from the hallway.  And then I had an amazing "being born again" experience.  I read the familiar passages over and over again and they spoke to me so convictingly and in such a new way - as if I'd never heard them before.  All I could say over and over again was, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!" (see July 01, 2001 blog post).  I wanted to tell everyone that it was my second birthday, but it was the middle of the night and no one was around. Interestingly, it happened on March 23rd at 2:30 am (all 2's and 3's just like my first birthday - July 23rd!).

Do you have events that are etched into your memory like this? I wonder why certain events, even when they are not part of your personal experience, can make such a detailed and lasting impression on our minds?

In the Grocery Store

Here are a few interesting things I saw in our grocery store yesterday.   

bright yellow and blue poinsettias!

 



"free bandaid and cotton ball with every flu shot"

kosher food labelling

 

grocery stores cater to high Jewish population in our area