I have a couple of things to share here from last week when we got back from Mexico. Wait, back up you say? OK. I spent a week in Nuevo Vallarta with my sister and our parents, returning home on Friday Oct 11th just in time for the Thanksgiving weekend.
You may laugh at this, I know I did. But I actually wrote myself a note to remind myself that we live in Langley now and left it on the seat of my car, parked near the airport. We were arriving late, I knew I would be tired and possibly stressed, and I was afraid of going to North Van on auto-pilot before realizing that I should have gone to Langley!
We had our Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday night because young son and his girlfriend had a wedding to attend on the Sunday. So Saturday night eleven of us gathered around the dining table in the new house to give thanks, including Chuckles who rolled in from his hunting trip just a couple of hours before the dinner was ready. As well as my kids and their partners, Julie's daughter and Mom and Dad, we invited my boys step-sister Emily and her husband Ranj (Ranjit).
My Dad has spent the past 10 years working on his memoirs, and in the past couple of years, I have helped him by typing up the text from voice recordings he made, and that helped to move things along. He sorted through the archive of family pictures and inserted relevant photographs as well. Just prior to our Mexico trip, Dad picked up the printed version of his memoirs, a huge milestone in his life! The Thanksgiving weekend was his opportunity to hand over autographed copies to me and each of my sons. Not only do the memoirs make very interesting reading, as Dad has had a wide range of life experiences, and he is an excellent writer as well, but they are a reference document for future generations of our family to refer to. I know I learned a lot of our family history through the transcription I did, and I look forward to sitting down and reading the entire document from cover to cover. That may entail another trip to Mexico, which is the only place I have the luxury of reading for hours on end!
.JPG)
Front and Inside Back Covers of Dad's Memoirs
Dad was raised in India, and went to Bishop Cotton school in a town called Simla. Ranjit, Emily's husband, is a very personable young guy, and his Indian heritage and Dad's history from India have given them a common bond. Ranj was very excited to try to get his grandfather and my Dad together for a lunch on the Monday of the Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately that didn't work out as Ranj's grandfather was leaving for India the next day and needed time to pack. But what was quite amazing was that Ranj's Grandmother also went to Bishop Cotton school and she and my father had met each other in the 1980's when they both attended a school reunion there! So there are plans afoot for them to get together in the spring. Such a coincidence!
I also got the sweetest note from the people who bought our city house. It hung on my fridge for all to read and enjoy during the Thanksgiving weekend, and now it is on the corkboard near by desk. I had sent them a change of address card and wrote them a little note saying I hoped they loved the house as much as we had and to call us if they had any questions about anything. In reply, I got their letter, complete with photos and a bit about them. They just got married two weeks before taking over the house. They love the space and will be putting in a suite. He's a carpenter and can do all the work himself. They have a baby daughter and plan to have more children.
I have no doubt that the house is in good hands with a family that will grow in it and love it too. And I am a bit surprised at how much it means to me to know this! I haven't had any pangs of missing the house, but I did love living there.
Letter from new homeowners
No comments:
Post a Comment