Bonnie just sent me this picture of Conner sleeping in his Crib. He had been sleeping in his Swinging Chair, Rocker or his Bassinette since he was born. But since he’s so FUCKING big that he’s pretty much growing out them we had to finally get the Crib ready for him. He’s over 17lbs and about 27 inches long and at only 2 1/2 months pretty soon he’s gonna need a King Sized bed.

My sister turns “Old” today. She gave me grief for not posting Birthday Wishes for her on my Blog as much as I seem to for other people. She’s right I do seem to neglect her and quite a number of others as well.

Since it is your Birthday today which happens to conicide with the first game of the Canucks Playoff please make them winning your wish!

I just found out that a friend of mine Andy Eustis suffered a Heart Attack last night. I was scanning Facebook and noticed a status update from a mutual friend Troy Blomme, he was wishing Andy well. I instantly hoped that nothing was wrong and said to my wife Bonnie that something might be wrong with Andy. Because in this day and age things seem so much more impersonal. I texted Troy Dewinetz to ask about Andy’s condition. Troy immediately called me back and gave me the run down. My heart sank as he told me the story. My voice broke in relief when told of his current condition. Andy was in recovery!

Andy having a heart attack? This has been a concern for a lot of Andy’s friends for a number of years. Even more so now. Andy is married to Sandy an amazing woman and they have a beautiful young daughter named Emily. What makes this all the more important is that Sandy is 8 months pregnant. It breaks my heart to think that Sandy, Emily and the new child to be almost lost Andy. As you can see in the picture above Andy is not the smallest of individuals.

Now I am not going to pretend that Andy and I are the best of friends or that I have some special insight into the man because I can tell you I do not. I know Andy! I have known Andy for almost 20 years, when I met him he was part of the White Rock Crew as I called them. At the time they consisted of Andy, BJ, Troy, Todd, Dave and Hamish for the most part. I met most of them in Whistler one summer and all of them were the greatest of guys. I remember being so impressed at how they seemed to welcome a relative stranger into the fold. At the time Andy and Troy for some reason I don’t think I know lived on Gabriola Island so I did not see much of them in relation to the others whom became very good friends of mine.

Regardless of that Andy always treated me kindly. Whenever we would see each other we always spoke and had laughs. He was kind enough to invite me to his Wedding Reception dinner, which I did not attend but the offer was appreciated. I remember when Hamish was married and I had asked Sandy to sit with my girlfriend Bonnie at the time. Bonnie did not really know anyone that was in attendance since everyone she did know was in the the Wedding Party. She was sweet enough to oblige. I will never forget that.

Recently I was hanging out with Fraser and Troy and I had mentioned that I appreciated becoming friends with Troy these past few years through our Poker Club. Troy was another that I was never particularly close too even though we always seemed to get along. I conveyed to him the story as to why Andy and I were never close, it ran exactly the same as to why Troy and I were not. I think that was an important moment and this latest happening is another.

Andy I want you to know that you are so very important in the lives of your friends and family. Your Wife and your child(ren) need you. You have so much more to do in this life. I hope one of them is becoming better friends with me.

Stay Strong Buddy!

It’s been 20 years since I graduated from Alpha Senior Secondary. Wow 20 years! Well this Friday night I am going to meet up with what will end up being a handful of fellow graduates at the Villa Casino in Burnaby. With the advent of Facebook it has become easier to keep in touch with people from school, even the ones you never even spoke with. It seems the bonds that you share from those formative years maintain even now. For the most part people are genuinely interested in what is going on with you and your life now. I know that I am, I enjoy touching base with most of the people i knew 20 years ago…mostly.

I look at my life right now and see who has survived the years and stayed close to me. There isn’t one single fellow grad that I can count in my life right now as a friend. Oh sure I still occasionally see and speak to some of them but for the most part they are not in my life. I ran with quite a few great guys back then, Jim Vela, Lino Botehlo(.sp?), Andre Caverzan, Agostino Soligo, Stewart Brown come to mind. And if I happen to see any or all of them of Friday it will be hugs all around. That’s what it is like with me, I can go years without seeing you but the instant I do it all snaps back into place like the years just disappeared.

In recent years I have enjoyed having a couple of Elementary School reunions that have gone great. I hold a special place in heart for that group of people though much more than the Alpha gang. For some reason Gilmore just resonates with me after all these years. Actually I am hoping of having another Gilmore Reunion in June.

As for Alpha get together I know I will see people that I want to see. Carol Akasaka, Judy Lee, Treena Yen and others. Jeez could there be anymore Asians there? good thing I have an affinity for them. As well Adriana Merlo looks to be going, she was my first Alpha crush so it will be interesting to see her again. I really hope that Jeanna Kang shows up, I would relish the chance to bug my former Grad Date. Maybe I can get a game of “Who Slept With Jim Vela” going! As for who won’t show up I am pretty sure that my high school girlfriend Wendy Lee won’t be there. Which is fine, it would be nice to see her again after all these years but I think she still has issues with me. Especially after a Post I did about 2 years ago.

As for people I hope show up I think I would love to see Lino Botehlo and Mike Pozzobon( who I actually work with and just left my office after a failed photo attempt ). It would be good to see Andre, Ago and Jim again since it’s been quite a number of years.

Well we’ll see how it goes. Maybe i’ll be the only guy to show up.