50 With Wonderful Friends

June18
This is a Magical day. I didn't know I would enjoy it so much. Birthdays don't really mean that much to me but this one was very special because of the company who joined me today.

A week ago I got a surprise phone call from one of my dearest friends; Joyce. I lost track of her about three years ago. We used to get in all sorts of trouble when we were in the same spiritual group back in the late Seventies. I was a quiet respectful person before she came along. Don't let that oxygen tank fool you. She just needs it because she lives life faster than the rest of us. Joyce is a Gemini like me, with her birthday just two days before mine.

Ted is also a Gemini, with his birthday on May 26th. He's a loyal friend and I'm lucky to know him. He has been working with me on several construction projects here in Calgary.
The lovely woman beside him is Lilian. She is an energetic woman with a lust for life. She is a retired Art teacher and still does a lot of painting herself. She taught in Africa for 3 years. Lilian has lately become an expert 'Squirrel Catcher'. She's my landlady, and a great friend. The more I know Lilian, the more respect I have for her. It was really fun to see her and Joyce meet. Right from the get go the two began talking. It turns out that they have two friends in common. They carried on like long lost friends even though they only met today for the first time.

Around the table you can see my very dear friend and fellow conspirator; Malcome, on the far right. Next to him is my 'contiguous' friend, Geeta. You may remember Geeta from a couple of Blogs I did last year when Ted and I renovated her basement. She has made my reconnection with Calgary a wonderful experience. She got a call while we were having the party. She had a prospect for her house. It sold that same night for a great price. Now she's moving to Winnipeg to be closer to her family.

This is Belen. She just arrived a month ago from Hong Kong to work as Geeta's nanny. She's a warm gentle woman who has a great way with children. I'm sorry you're moving again so soon, before I have a chance to get to know you better. Be sure to email me. Remember you promised to show me around Manila when I visit the Philippines in the near future.

This is Scott. He's Kathy's daughter's partner. It's great to meet you Scott, but mostly I just wanted to show everyone your tattoos. Wow. I told Scott we have to do a Seminar on his tattoos one day soon. He has twenty-two of them. I'm only prepared to look at nineteen. Some things should be left to the imagination.

And here is my new son, Braden. He belongs to Christine and Scott (Sorry I don't have a photo of you here Christine.) Braden latched onto me when I arrived and stuck like glue.

I got everyone to sing Happy Birthday to me before I did the Japanese Cake ceremony with this very delicious Cake.

And this is the hostess behind the party. I have shown you Kathy before. She is 'Nanna' to her grandson Braden. He adores her. Kathy suddenly went blind last year. In fact she has experienced an amazing series of mind boggling events in the last couple of years. Two years ago her father died. Her daughter had life-threatening surgery. Her estranged husband died a few months ago, and her mother was diagnosed with Cancer on Christmas Eve and died 10 days later. The doctors didn't even know she was sick.
And yet, Kathy decided she wanted to throw me a party for my fiftieth birthday. She made all the arrangements, prepared the food, bought a barbecue and made sure everyone was taken care of. She's blind. She still works full time. She's cheerful. I'm honored to have you as a true friend Kathy. You made this day Magical. You're my hero.

My Day Off

Since arriving in Calgary I have been working six days a week. So here's how my day off went. I woke up at 8am and walked out into the backyard to see about cutting the lawn. This is a beautiful Garden, as you can see.

I met my landlady and friend, Lillian. She asked if I could help her with a couple of things so I went inside and moved two mattresses and adjusted her computer for her.

Then I went back down to my computer and caught up on my emails. This is my room here in Calgary. It's very simple and I really do keep it this neat every day.

While I was on the computer, my Friend Jookie from Thailand popped onto MSN and we had a wonderful talk using our Web cams. I told Jook I was going to cut the lawn and she asked what a 'lawn' was. I hope this Blog helps my friends in Thailand to see how we live in Canada.

When I was finished on the computer, my room mate and new partner in Construction, Teddy, asked if I would like to join him at Smitty's for breakfast. I love the Eggs Benedict.
As soon as we got back, the phone rang and a new customer asked us to do an estimate for him. We got that job, installing doors and baseboards for later in the week.

Then we noticed that one of Ted's tires was low so we changed it. Then I came home and designed a Website for selling Thai amulets and silk; a business I am pursuing with several friends around the world.

I finally took a bit of time to read before going to bed early. While I was reading, my cellophane rang and I had a wonderful talk with my dear friend Kitty, from Cape Cod. She was driving home in a terrible storm so her cell phone kept cutting out. I said to her: "Kitty, if you don't want to talk to me just say so." She is a joy to talk to.
I find I have tremendous energy these days because my life is so simple and focused. But most of all I have wonderful friends around the world.

My Calgary Family

After a few days in Vancouver I felt so happy to be connected with my family here that I decided I should stay and work in the area for a few months to get to know everyone better. Then I went to Calgary.

My good friend, Ted, met me at the Calgary Airport and gave me a place to stay while I visited. At the airport he said, Steven, I have some work for you to do. We dropped my bags off at his place and I worked five hours on his client’s basement. Then we worked together the whole next day too. Finally, on Thursday, I told him I had to take a day off to connect with my family in town.

In Thailand it’s easy to describe these two women. I would simply call them my daughters. In Canada we’re supposed to say: ‘these are the daughters of my ex-girlfriend’. I don’t mean to imply that I am their father, although I would be honored to be. But I love them as if they were my daughters. They are both extremely bright and confident. U of C has just accepted Rachael where she is looking at a career in journalism. Rachael is the one I was talking about when I met an American student in Laos. She went to school in San Antonio Texas for her first year and got the highest mark in American History, even though she has spent her entire life in Canada. Rachael was surfing the Net a couple of weeks ago and on a whim, entered a contest on the U of C site and won a free year’s accommodation.

Sarah is working in the accounting office of a printing firm here in Calgary. She actually runs the company but some of the management just hasn’t realized it yet. She’s looking for higher challenges and is thinking of working in one of the Oil Companies downtown where there are more chances for growth.

Rachael and Sarah took me for dinner when I arrived in town and they brought Michelle, who they seem to have adopted as another sister.

On Thursday morning, Ted left for work and I was just starting to hunker down to get this Blog written and sort out who to see next, when Ted’s land lady and dear friend, Lillian, poked her head downstairs. “Oh, so you’re not working with Ted today? Well would you mind looking at a job for a friend of mine?” The next thing I knew, I was installing basement windows. Lillian took me for lunch and told me of her adventures as a schoolteacher in Zambia from 1970 to 73. She is a very sweet woman with Jai Dee, a smart heart.

By the time Ted got back from work that night I realized that we should be working here in Calgary together. Ted has been working for the last 14 years doing smaller construction jobs by himself. He has a truck and tools. Lillian agreed to rent me a room with telephone cable and Utilities for $300 per month, so I was all set. Except for two things.

Millie; my niece in Vancouver; was making arrangements for me to take my first bungee jump and my Mom was busy planning our meals for the next month in Waterloo. So I did what I always do when I have a dilemma. I phoned my sister.
“Melbah, I said, “I don’t have the heart to tell Mom that I will be in Alberta for the next four months. So this is what I want you to tell her…”

So I booked a ticket back to Waterloo to get my tools and finish some home repairs for my favorite sister and my Mom, and I will head back to Calgary for the first of August to start work with Ted. Then I plan to go to either Vancouver or Waterloo for Christmas. January, I head out to Asia again. I’m planning to meet up with Ted and visit his wife, Bee, in Malacca, Malaysia. Then it’s off for a tour of Vietnam. So the journey continues.

The one thing I never envisioned when I began this odyssey of discovery was how lonely it would make me feel. I thought that when I visited my family and friends it would just be fun and I would move on. But what actually happened was I renewed such strong ties with my Mom and my sister and my brothers and my dear friends and adopted families that now I miss them all, all the time. I feel such love for all you guys. I just don’t know what else to do about it except to keep traveling.