Ten years on, the adventure continues
I arrived in Canada a little over ten years ago. Here is the Cliff Notes/Cole's Notes primer for folks unfamiliar with the story.
Lab Fests used to be a thing for board members. A Lab Fest was a meet and greet for owners and their pups. I lived in Austin TX at the time and hosted one in March 2005. Several area board members committed to attend, as did a Canadian member. Well I thought 'I can demonstrate Texas hospitality.' My Canadian visitor stayed for a week and we learned we had much more in common than the love of and for dogs.
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Faye and I married less than a year later. We agreed that the best move was for me to head north. So I landed in Canada July 27 2007, became a permanent resident, then a Canadian citizen.
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Each of us had two dogs when I arrived - Achilles and Stella, Kendal and Rex.
I have been blessed to experience some quintessential Canadian things. I've seen the Snowbirds aerial demonstration team,
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the RCMP Musical Ride equestrian team,
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ride The Canadian transcontinental train;
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See what was then the only flyable World War II Avro Lancaster in the air. (Which Faye clambered on as a youngster before the Canadian Warplane Heritage [Museum] bought and refurbished it.)
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Went up the CN Tower. Was present when Rusty Staub, Le Grand Orange, was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expo.
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Voted in all three levels of elections, local, provincial, federal. Still need to visit Ottawa and Quebec City, see the aurora.
Life throws knuckleballs and nasty breaking pitches so it's not been all sweetness and light. We have let go of dogs - Rex,
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BoJo,
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Kendal,
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Stella,
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fosters Charlie and Lucy.
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We've gained first a foster then forever, our Fitzi. And Achilles is still here.
Let go of loved humans, faced other challenges.
How you handle adversity is a good measure of your strength and character. We have not become bitter, resentful of others' good fortune, are grateful for our blessings. I like to think we are at least as strong if not stronger.
We celebrated my decentennial with a less than remarkable weekend. Friday evening, watched our town's annual exhibition parade, visited the exhibition, and enjoyed delivered pizza on the deck. Saturday, I went to Detroit and watched Houston lose 5-3 to the Tigers. (We are closer to Detroit than Toronto, and I still follow the Astros.) Sunday, did chores before enjoying some deck time.
While I miss Texas wildflowers, friends, seeing fambly more often, don't miss Texas' two seasons - hot and not as hot. I've never regretted embarking on this adventure, am still very much in love with my sweetie, and look forward to whatever life, fate, karma, whatever, sees fit to send my way. Our adventure is very unlikely to have happened without this board, created by Woody. A tip of the hat and very deep thank you to you sir.
