06 July 13

Jeff and I went out to Maple Ridge and had dinner at the Billy Miner with Mom & Jimm, and then picked up Maddie & Hayley to go to Alice's birthday party at Josh's. It's always a pretty fine time getting drunk with my sisters.

26 April 13

Josh called me around 8pm, saying there was a bit of a situation with Kenny... I won't get into the details out of respect, but we were very glad that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Mom and Jimm were stuck in Florida and Maddie (who is best at talking to & understanding Ken) still in San Diego, so Jeff and I went out there to keep him, Alice, Josh, & Trav company for a little while. We watched some old Disney cartoons and then Ken went to bed, and the rest of us had some beers and played Munchkin.
Sometimes growing up is such crap. I wished so much that Kenny were a little boy again and I could just hug him and tell him it's going to be all right.

23 March 13

Jeff & I drove down over the border to hang out with his family at Justin & Deanna's. It was a really nice day, and we also ran into Tamara at Trader Joe's, which was pretty unexpected!

29 August 12

We spent the day at Hollywood Studios. You can tell how hot it was by the fact that in this photo, all three of my brothers have visible patches of back sweat. However, riding the new and improved Star Tours ride made it all worth it, as well as our dinner at the Brown Derby.
A couple more photos from this day are here.

28 April 12

My brother Riley, at the Witch of Endor Pub for Alice's boozetastic goodbyefest with all her friends.

23 April 12

Alex's memorial was held in the theatre of our old high school. It was so painful and so beautiful. Mostly it was just friends of his, playing music, telling stories. It was nice for Alex to be remembered through music and in theatre, the way he felt most at home. Above is a friend of his, Chloe, playing a song she wrote for him after his death, entitled "The Good One". It was so soulful and heartfelt; she brought the house down. I don't think there was a single person in that overpacked theatre that wasn't struck dumb with emotion listening to her play it. You can watch a recording she made of the song here on youtube.

Afterwards my family went to the Black Sheep Pub, where a few of Maddie and Alex's friends and teachers had gathered for a drink and a bit of food. Steve Moore, one of my favourite teachers, sat with us and we all had a pretty good time talking about music and things. Maddie was especially grateful to him, because he was the only one involved with the memorial who really asked for her input, and that allowed her to give him a poem Alex liked to read aloud during the service. We were all pleased to see Maddie talking, and eating, and even laughing. I'm sure nothing about life is going to be easy for her for a long time, but sometimes a little distraction can help for a little while.

19 April 12

Alex died this Thursday afternoon. Jeff and I went out to see my family in the evening... Jeff made pasta dinner for those that felt hungry enough to eat it. We sat around in the living room, talking, crying, laughing... Maddie curled in front of the fire, underneath a blanket from the hospital, wearing one of his shirts.

Her friend Kayla showed up and didn't say a word, just laid down at Maddie's side. We were so thankful she was there to spend that night with Maddie so she wouldn't have to sleep alone in the bedroom she shared with Alex.

18 April 12

I received some shocking and unbearably sad news this night from my family. Maddie's boyfriend Alex was in a car accident and it was clear he would not make it. He just turned twenty-one years old last month. Life is so fucking unfair sometimes I just want to throw up.

14 January 11

My aunt Wendy is joining the reserves, and my mom hosted a going-away party for her before she heads off to Montreal for basic training. I was late due to bussing out in the snow, but apparently my uncle Mike showed up in full camo gear and started yelling at her, and made her do 20 pushups. My uncle Ken gave her a bunch of army figurines and a nerf gun. We all ate too much and drank wine in the afternoon, so by the time Jeff came out after work to join us for dinner at the pub, he was the only one who ordered a full meal.
Kenny (above) is going to be seventeen tomorrow. He is my youngest brother. This makes me feel old.

23 April 11

We went to my dad's place for Easter dinner, where we ate two kinds of meat and two kinds of cake and I spilled beer all over myself. We had to eat early because Dad had to be at work at eight, and I must say it was a nice change to be eating in the warm dining room with sunlight spilling onto the table (as opposed to Thanksgiving, when it was dark and dreary when we got there at 4:30, let alone when we sat down to eat).
Dad gave Jeff and me a bottle of nice tequila and asked us if we could take Ken and Trav home, so we had a short visit there with Mom and Jimm and Alice as well. Mom loaned me some old photo albums so I could scan a few things, some of which can be viewed here, if you're interested in seeing me as a baby and/or my parents' 80s fashion.