Chapter 1: Year 1
Pat & Gray goofing around during the holidays - here they take inspiration from the movie The Christmas Story after a night of Chinese food and a screening of the flick.
I moved into L’Arche Saint John, A.K.A. McKim House, shortly after Molly’s passing, Ella’s arrival, my visits to Saint John to visit the house and stay in the house, and after my first Toronto Autism Symposium where I had met Temple Grandin, stayed in Royal York, and went to multiple HMV stores and malls. Besides me, there were 3 very friendly Core Members: Krista Simmons, Debbie Turnbull, and John Pike, friendly and humorous Assistants Gray Gillies, Teresa Bond (no 007 ammunition, cars, or relation, sorry), and Marilyn Moore, and a Community Leader Dan Kirkegaard, also a United Church minister. Since moving in, I attended mass at Holy Trinity Church, went to the gatherings at Stone Church, watched classic Christmas movies in the living room, played the organ that was by the door, had Friendship Circles at McKim House, had Community Prayer at the house, went to Christmas parties where I danced and played the piano and guitar if no piano, went to my first Sea Dogs home game, browsing at Superstores using their 4 listening stations each location, browsing and buying at McAllister Place HMV and Brunswick Square CD Plus, celebrated my first McKim-Mas, performed in my first of many New Dawn Players mimes based on bible stories and fairy tales, including different and updated versions of The Nativity Story, The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan, The Princess who Never Laughed, and The Golden Pears, celebrated my first Birthday in L’Arche, gone to my first Super Dogs show since I’d had Molly and Ella with Mom, Dad, Jen, Brian, and my nephews Brennan and Connor, went to concerts and musicals at local theatres and high schools, went to my first Prayer Partners’ Retreat, said goodbye to Teresa, welcomed a German Assistant named Marc, went to my first L’Arche vacation in our new 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan with DVD player...in Montreal, said goodbye to Marc, went to my first Faith and Sharing Retreat, welcomed Paul Martin (not Canada’s ex-Prime Minister) as an Assistant, bought my first Babe DVD, had my first Halloween in Saint John dressing as Harry Potter, attended a Cursillo Men’s Weekend at St. Joachim’s Church, attended my first Santa Claus Parade, and made an appearance on The Empty Stocking Fund and Channel 10’s Daytime. I also celebrated my first Anniversary!
Chapter 2: Year 2
This began with my first Anniversary! Then we decorated the Christmas Tree again! Something different: John Pike had to leave the house for multiple hospitals and later various nursing homes. Then again came McKim-Mas! Then came Christmas, and I was met with a surprise: Mom got me 2 books: Nop’s Trials and Nop’s Hope, both books about Border Collies, like Ella, Molly, Dillon, and another one I will mention later in this story, were, and these stories are like reading a Bond film or a Mission: Impossible film, full of action, peril, and touching stories. Before I had moved into this house I had been reading nonstop Jennifer’s green copy of Nop’s Trials at home, in Upper Cape, in the car, during trips, and with Molly with me, and even after I lost her at age 6. See the whole story in a separate story which I may send to this Blog. Now I had BOTH books! I already had a copy of the sequel, but Blake and Kansas Cameron’s Shepherd/Husky Mix Oskar had chewed it, so there were dog tooth marks on the book. Now I had mint condish copies of each book! At the time I am writing this story, they look as rickety as the screaming restricted book from the Restricted Section in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when Harry sneaks to the restricted section to find info on Nicholas Flamel and almost gets caught by Filch and Snape. Then came my second Epiphany mime concert. My birthday came up again, and then a young Acadian man, named Stephane Bastarache, who was a faithful Catholic and went to the local French Catholic church, moved in and he had a guitar. Then I attended a course at the City Market which lasted until May. One weekend during that Gray and I went to Antigonish for a Community Exchange and we had fun, staying at Yeshua House, visited other houses, shopped at Superstore’s DVD/CD section, and attended mass at St. Ninian’s Cathedral. This spring we went to Cape Breton for a Regional Gathering at St. Anne’s Gaelic College. Later we went back to Cape Breton to celebrate L’Arche Cape Breton’s 25th Anniversary. This involved concerts and a dance. Then I went home...to celebrate Erin’s wedding, where a friend of Erin’s and I were impersonating Jake and Elwood Blues from The Blues Brothers, all guys were wearing rented tuxes and there was catering and a rented electric piano and sound system. Then we went on my second L’Arche Saint John Vacation, this time on P.E.I., going to a musical, shopping at Confederation Court Mall, went to Confederation Festival with covers of the top 40 music from that year, and explored P.E.I. After this we said goodbye to Paul Martin, said goodbye to Dan Kirkegaard as our Community Leader, said welcome to Rosaire Blais, said welcome to a Chinese Assistant named Trevor...and later said goodbye to Rosaire and welcomed Jocelyn Worster as our Community Leader. I started working with Krista at a sheltered workplace which used to be a school on the East Side called United Catena Training Centre. John Pike, passed away at his nursing home and we attended his funeral service at Forest Hills Baptist Church with a touching rendition of Beautiful. I joined the Assumption Church’s Senior Choir as a tenor. Rosaire had me stay at his place in Wolfville for a weekend. During this time we went to 2 movies, a hockey game, a basketball game, meals out, and Rosaire told me McKim House was being donated a piano! Our family, including Granddad and Bill, all took a trip to Halifax, staying at Cambridge Suites, shopping at HMV Spring Garden Road, shopping at Park Lane Mall, watching Christmas with the Kranks at Stephanie and Glen’s apartment, attending the 1st Sunday of Advent Mass at St. Mary’s Basilica, and having breakfast at the Lord Nelson Hotel’s restaurant.
Chapter 3: Year 3
My 2 Year Anniversary came up.
McKim-Mas came up too. This Christmas Mom gave me a stuffed Border Collie which I named Shadow, and when I first brought it down the stairs that Christmas, Lisa, our Coton de Tulear, thought Shadow was a real dog, and got frightened and started barking. On New Year’s Eve we watched the DVD of the movie Mamma Mia!, based on the musical. And I loved it so much I bought a Mamma Mia DVD of my own. Then the Epiphany Concert came up with the mime. Then my Birthday came up. The March that followed Mom and I went to Halifax for the Atlantic University Basketball tournament, again staying at Cambridge Suites, shopping at HMV, and visiting Stephanie and Glen. Then I saw the movie Marley & Me, and I was touched by the fact that it was story about a family’s dog who gets into trouble but loves the family nonetheless and dies in the end, so I bought the movie myself. Then our basement underwent a facelift with a bathroom on my floor, new flooring...and our new piano, a Heintzman upright donated by the Sisters of Charity. Then Jocelyn, Trevor, and I, all went to Halifax...to run/walk in the Bluenose Marathon in which most of L’Arche Atlantic was involved. We took the 5k. Then we met Stephanie and Glen at their apartment, went out for supper, shopped at HMV, and attended a Sunday mass at St. Mary’s Basilica. This summer we started watching Family Channel a lot. On Vacation we went to Halifax for half a week...and then to Wolfville for half a week. In Halifax we went to Mic Mac Mall, went on the Harbour Hopper, went on the Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry, went out for supper, and went to Toy Story 3. In Wolfville we visited Rosaire, went to Applewicks, and visited L’Arche houses. Stay-Cation came up and we went to Baptist Book Room, went to Moncton where we went mini-golfing, to St. Hubert, Costco and lots of fun things, and came home with one of Baptist Book Room’s listening stations for me. Shortly after this, I got a saddening e-mail to call Jennifer. I called her...and she told me that Dillon, who for some time had been getting elderly and developing arthritis, had passed away at age 14. The summer after Grade 8 when Dillon and I first met he was a playful puppy who loved being serenaded by my guitar playing that summer. So when we went to Faith and Sharing, I took a picture I had taken during high school of Dillon with me. Later Jennifer got another playful Border Collie puppy...from Saint John, named Danny. I met and he was sweet and playful. We welcomed an Indian Assistant named Janet Christy...and later our second German Assistant, named Christian. The Winter Olympics were coming up in Vancouver and now the torch relay was happening and we watched the flame go up our street.
Chapter 4: Year 4
My Anniversary came up, as did McKim-Mas. This Christmas I got the book Imminent Dogs, Dangerous Men... and a DVD of a movie I had seen at Zellers, called Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy. The book and the movie were touching. The movie was like Homeward Bound, as each animal had a voice but their mouths don’t move like humans’ mouths do, and no CGI effects, and it was all a real and touching story. Later Janet left...and later Gray left, and an Assistant from The Philippines named Nova moved in. This St. Patrick’s week we did something different: we went to O’Leary’s, a local Irish pub, for breakfast with music that supported our house. Here traditional Irish folk songs came up. This continued every St. Patrick’s week after this year. Some of us got a tour of the new Marco Polo Cruise Terminal and I loved it. Janet came back to stay with us for some time. Jocelyn, Christian, and I went to Halifax to walk the 5K Bluenose Marathon and met Stephanie and Glen and did the usual Halifax things. This summer we went to Halifax...again. This time we stayed in L’Arche Halifax. We shopped and explored and ate out. Then we went to Cape Breton and stayed in one of their houses. This house had a piano and I played it, and we watched my Mighty Ducks movies and the house’s copy of Sister Act and we loved the Motown hits that come up in that movie. We also visited the other houses and their day programs. Later we welcomed a 5th Core Member: a young blind speechless but communicating and loving lady named Kristina Cooper, from a nursing home called Mill Cove, and so the sitting room became her bedroom. She had her ways of communicating: when we asked her a question, when her eyebrows went up, that meant “yes.” A humorous, pun-loving, music loving Assistant named Britney Shaw came with us. In October a local theatre company, a local symphony orchestra, and 2 high school choirs, all joined forces to bring together a musical about the world’s fastest ship (sorry Pirates of the Caribbean fans, not The Black Pearl) The Marco Polo, called Marco Polo: The Musical. In November Mom and I flew to Toronto for the Autism Symposium for our 2nd time, meeting Temple Grandin, and this time getting a Home Alone 2 style luxury suite at the Royal York with a view of the CN Tower, and at night the Tower looked like a giant Christmas tree with multi-colored twinkle lights. Here we went to 2 HMVs and met a couple of friends of ours. Shortly after I got back I got my bottom wisdom teeth pulled out, which was nerve-racking.
Chapter 5: Year 5
This Anniversary marked my 4th year here. This was my last full year at United Catena. McKim-Mas, of course, came up, as did Christmas. The Epiphany concert with the mime came up too. On July 4th of this year Krista and I started work at Key Industries. I started folding shirts for events and organizations and joined their choir, which performs at nursing homes once a month and attends the Summer Sounds concert at the nearby United Church. I also started volunteering at the local SPCA, walking the dogs there and at a local nursing home playing the piano for the residents there. Our family took me to Upper Cape, where now we had a cottage washed to our beach by a winter storm surge, which was now ours, where our trailer used to be. We stayed there then too. Marilyn retired as House Leader and moved to Yarmouth and Janet took over the role of House Leader. I was later chosen to go to Mobile Alabama with ex-Regional Coordinator John O’Donnell, Jocelyn, and board president Don Dickson for a weekend and to Atlanta for an International Assembly at a local college.
Chapter 6: Year 6
My Anniversary marked a big year: my 5th year in L’Arche. Our 3rd German Assistant, named Anna Bingel, who spoke German, moved in and I started doing Zumba every Wednesday with Anna and Krista. Another female Assistant then moved in, named Andreanne from Quebec, who spoke French. This Christmas I got a Toshiba 19” flat screen LED TV to replace my Citizen 19” TV/VCR and Jen got a huge Samsung LCD TV too. The Boxing Day after I saw my first Mission Impossible movie and it was gripping and I jumped. The Epiphany concert and mime, of course, came up. This spring, as planned, Mom and I went to Halifax, met Stephanie for supper, and met John O’Donnell...and he and I went to the Quality Inn Halifax Airport hotel, so my first hotel with a flat screen and a pool since I got my own flat screen, and since we had a pool, I used it. The next morning, bright and early, we checked out of the hotel and the airport shuttle picked us up and took us to Stanfield Airport. We bought our ticket, went through security, and awaited our first of 3 planes. The first took us to Toronto. Then we went through customs and took the 2nd plane to Atlanta Airport...and took the 3rd plane to Mobile Alabama. We went to a house with a pool and stayed 2 nights there. We went to shops and a nearby house with a pool and a beach nearby. Then our whole group, a 3 Chevy Impala convoy, all took off for Atlanta, stopping at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. Then we proceeded to Atlanta for the International Assembly. We went to speeches, services and mass at local churches, exploring the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Site where I heard about the racist stuff that was going on before King’s famous speech which I already knew from watching Forrest Gump, My Dog Skip, and The Help, night-after-night pub crawls, shopping at local stores, and I got to share my gift of music and humor with lots of L’Arche people from across the globe. There were also catchy songs sung for this event in all kinds of languages. Since this event I played the songs on piano and guitar from then. This summer we went on vacation to Cape Breton and I played the guitar at a Cape Breton fudge shop with a stage and listening posts and was the first to play Beatles songs there and bought a CD from a local rap artist.
Chapter 7: Year 7
The Anniversary marked my 6th year. This Christmas was spent in Halifax with Stephanie and Glen in their house with a musical at Neptune Theatre based on the movie Elf.
Then came my birthday. The St. Patrick’s Breakfast came too. This summer we went to Antigonish for summer vacation.
The fall that came after summer I went on an exchange to Antigonish with an Assistant from Kenya named Justine, and they had a Halloween dance.
Chapter 8: Year 8
This Anniversary marked my 7th year. McKim-Mas came, as did Christmas.
This Christmas I got a Sony CD player and a BlackBerry cell phone and since then I was texting a lot.
Of course my Birthday came up, my 33rd Birthday. And on this day it was announced that we had won the Kia Canada Drive Change contest and we were to get a 2014 Kia Sedona for one year...and then a 2015 Kia Sedona for another year!
Then again we had the St. Patrick’s Breakfast at O’Leary’s.
Easter came and before then our new van arrived: A titanium gray Kia Sedona, with automatic almost everything.
This summer my group had a stay-cation in which, my idea, we went to Fundy Park to walk a trail and to other local New Brunswick attractions, including St. Andrew’s for whale watching and to see Eleanor Roosevelt’s place for Tea with Eleanor.
Then I got a call from Stephanie, Glen, and Mom in the form of a conference call and they said the next Christmas would be spent in New York City where we would go to a musical, go to a play, have meals out, enjoy the sights from Christmas movies, and stay the nights at the Smyth Tribeca with our own hotel rooms!
Then fall came and with that 50 Fest! We went to Citadel High in Halifax for a speech and concerts where we met lots of people from different communities, a local church service and breakfast at an Anglican Church, and we stayed at the Best Western Chocolate Lake hotel, my idea, so we used the pool there, watched the flat screens, and enjoyed the continental breakfast.
2 days after we went back Gray and I traveled together to Toronto for the Autism Symposium, meeting Temple Grandin, shopping at local shops, and staying at L’Arche Toronto! I give that trip an A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++!
Then the weekend came and L’Arche Saint John, also part of 50 Fest, put on a concert with show tunes, and Gray and I performed I’d Do Anything from Oliver, dedicating to my new nephew, Erin and Christopher’s new son Oliver. Then the rest of the house went onstage and did Hakuna Matata from Disney’s The Lion King, and did the final chorus with the whole ensemble joining in.
Then Gray and I did a presentation for the Assistants and House Leader about what we heard and learned at the Symposium.
Chapter 9: Year 9...so far
My 8th Anniversary was touching. When they passed the candle around at prayer the peoples’ comments about me were beautiful.
Then I went home for a weekend. Shortly after I went back to Saint John I came home again to see Bill. This weekend is the time I have finished this story.