Dignifying my past.

An ode to the Tow abode: Dear house of green upon the hill, I wonder who will love you still.  You've housed some love and art and soul, and now I hope you won't be dull... for those who sang and loved and planted will now be moving and you'll be granted - new owners.  Farewell.

Anita and the boys and I met at the old bakery in Chemainus and ate our lunch.  The boys of course had to pick out their own gingerbread men and it felt like some of the best of old times.  Dear Doris... she seems so small, but you can see the sparkle in her eyes.  Anita is so devoted and Doris is quite dependent upon her.  I hope the move will be smooth for all.

One day I sent my boys to school with Sebastian.  I made them wear their button down shirts and pose at the fence...little knowing how cool they looked.  Then I sauntered off into town to shop and reminisce.  I got to visit my favorite soap store, pottery store and discover a wonderful new health food store.  (Wish it had been there when I lived there!)

Then I found myself at the theatre - not pink and peach with a copper dome... oh no, now it is a stately grey and green.  The interior is totally redesigned as well and I got a tour of backstage from Stephen Lewis.  Memories came rushing in with different sights.  Under the dome I recalled many Christmases singing on those steps.  Back by the Gallery I remember dusting shelves and Nancy's humor.  Up in the dining room I remember hosting patrons and adjusting tables and seating maps to meet their needs.  But it was when I got outside by the loading bay that I was stopped.  I had to sit down on those old metal steps and touch the familiar stucco building.  This was the very spot I had come out to rest eleven years ago after my first stint in the dish pit as a new intern.  I remember being so exhausted and hot and discouraged.  I had worked for four hours all by myself and I thought I had come to act!  I remember Jeremy found me that day and we proceeded to go swimming in the ocean, and then everything got better.  There was something about me needing to sit down on those old steps and touch that wall, like I was dignifying that time in my life and acknowledging how those experiences were still a part of me.  Being in Rosebud has filled up my last three years with little room to think about Chemainus, but being back was both familiar and strange... new.

One wonderful thing was getting to reconnect with our nanny during "I Do!, I Do!" - Eriko Yamamoto and her husband Brian.  She was living in Japan again after working for us and we thought we'd have to see her there some day, if at all.  But wonder of wonders, she married Brian who lives in Duncan and we got to go to their house for supper.  She and Donovan were warm with each other, even though it had been five years!  Weston took awhile to connect, but he was warm and friendly by the end.  Eriko was as kind and youthful as ever.  She put the boys first in her attentions and was very giving.  I wish she and Brian a wonderful marriage.