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January 31, 2009
The Continental Triangle Tour
Chis and I were invited to a baby shower in San Francisco for one of his colleagues who is adopting a baby boy from Russia. We decided to go. Despite a freeze on all travel at the company he works for, he decided to take advantage of the trip and visit the office in San Mateo. I had been thinking for a while about visiting Toronto and Vancouver to see friends and family, so I decided to head out early on a triangle tour of the continent.
On Tuesday, January 27 I caught a flight from New York to Toronto. My visits to Toronto are always a little strange. Familiar – I know I can’t get lost. But it is also a place that, despite living there more than ten years, is now a place I am from. My parents, sister, half of Chisholm’s family, and important and dear friends are there. But my business contacts have withered away. We left Toronto in 1999 to live in Vancouver, returned in 2001 to live north of Toronto, then moved to Platina, then to New York. It occurs to me that I really haven’t been in Toronto in almost as many years as I lived there.
This trip was a little different. Sort of cathartic. I have been thinking a lot lately about starting a business in the US, and how to weave an immigration strategy into such a plan. I have some ideas, and decided to discuss them with people in Toronto who would be an important element of the plan, if successful. These meetings went very well, and I feel infinitely more confident in moving forward to develop the business plan. I practiced yoga, renewed my driver’s license, had dinner with my parents and sister, reconnected with an old friend, had lunch with one of Chis’ sisters, dinner with our dear friend Jim, and stayed with David, Alex and their newborn “twins” Georgia and Sadie.
It was my visit with the new family that was precious beyond belief. Georgia and Sadie are little angels, in the truest meaning of the word. At the risk of being slightly invasive of David and Alex’s privacy, this is a magical story.
Because of some fertility issues, David and Alex have spent years trying to conceive a child. They decided that surrogacy was worth pursuing, and successfully impregnated one of Alex’s eggs. The surrogate carried full term and Sam was stillborn in September 2006. The grief from their loss was overwhelming. A testament to their tenacity, they soldiered on. This time, they decided to double their odds. Georgia was born September 22 at 26 weeks. Everyone held their breath. I went to Toronto in November, the day after Georgia arrived home from the hospital. All reports suggested she was doing well. Sadie was born as nature scheduled on December 22.
In three short days, I fell head over heels for these two adorable little “twins”. I am inspired by David and Alex’s tenacity, strength and courage. They have taught me to remain steadfast in the things that are important in life. I am so happy, honoured and blessed to know them. And I look forward to watching the angels grow up in the shadow of their incredible parents.
As the days led up to my departure I was beginning to see a purpose in the voyage. This wasn’t just to visit friends and family, and to work on my new business plan. This was a personal journey. It seems like the right thing to do, and the true purpose will reveal itself along the way. But to be sure, my outlook is wickedly positive, my interest level in friends and family is upbeat and thoughtful. This feels like a pilgrimage, the purpose of which seems to be right in front of me, just ever so slightly opaque and out of reach.
As I write this, the plane is descending into Vancouver. I adore Vancouver, and miss my friends terribly. In a short period of time, I will see the Mulligans, who are a big part of our extended family. I will get some time to see some important friends as well.
Posted by dave at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2009
Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra
In early September, 2005 Chis and I sailed into New York on Platina and tied up at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from Manhattan. It was to be our most northern destination. Across the dock from us, we met Toby on his First 46 "Pearl". We became instant friends and later that year with my brother Jeff, Toby helped us sail Platina from Charleston, NC to Fort Lauderdale, a voyage of three days and nights.
We haven't seen Toby a whole bunch. Life in the city takes some commitment to see friends, and either our schedules conflicted, we were sailing different ends of the Sound, or some other thing had prevented our getting together.
Toby flipped me an email invitation to a fledgeling chamber orchestra that was performing at the Winter Garden at World Financial Center this past Saturday. Being lovers of classical music, we decided to go. The performance was pretty good, although I often find that programs that are designed to satisfy all tastes are a lunch-bag letdown. There was a bit of contemporary, some Bach baroque, and some Broadway show tunes. A favourite for all of us was Strauss' Blue Danube, during which the conductor invited the audience to dance. At first, few participated, but soon plenty of all ages, even children were up dancing. It was really fun.
We went to Nam for dinner after and had a great chat. As an avid sailor, we always have plenty to talk about. We're going to try to get together more often - his freshly broken heart is not conducive to spending time alone.
On Sunday, I hopped on the PATH and went over to Jersey City to give Toby a hand with boat chores. We ended up chatting and getting very little done. The hardest thing to do when someone's heart is broken is to sit and listen. I just wanted to tap a magic wand on his forehead and make it all go away. Having been there before, the best I can offer him is my advice and my ears. Why is there no manual for life?
Posted by dave at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)