triumphgal

I wanted to share the beauty of the day, I awoke to a beautiful breakfast, after preparation of snacks i was on the road to head from Blind Bay to Lac La Hache. my mission for this journey was to meet a friend from Salt Spring Island who was bringing a box of paperwork from a client and the dining room table of my friend Jackie that holds so many memories. This province is simply stunning. It deserves it’s motto of Beautiful BC. It was relaxing and I was entertained by listening to the Audible recording of Canadianity. I even laughed out loud a few times. It was good for the soul. I even found a moment when I had to pull over and take a video

I made it there and couldn’t spend much time. It was happy to see Barb and her gorgeous dog before I loaded up and headed back. I was once again lost in the beauty of the surroundings and starting to feel better again. I even stopped for an ice cream

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I had just finished passing the same spot outside Savona and found myself amused when I saw a train now coming in the opposite direction of the video when I saw a message flash up from a dear friend that Matt Steffich had died. I was half way across a bridge and managed to hold down the feeling that I needed to vomit until I could safely pull over. I sat there and sobbed at the loss. He had had a heart attack at his studio and I only hope it was sudden and quick. This man has been one of the kindest people I have ever met. He was one of the first people that befriended me when I moved to Salt Spring Island as a single mom in 1995. He had this home that he invited me to to share his teepee, his hot tub, his life, his friends, his music, his j’ois de vive. One day I popped in to visit his art gallery which was then called Thunderbird and my eyes must have lit up at the new pendants he had for sale. He took one look, asked me which I loved best and hung it on his office wall telling me to pay whatever I could until it was mine. When I left to come on this road trip I thought of the pain my fellow Salt Springers were feeling and put on my Salt Spring heart as I have always called it.

Since I heard the news I have been clutching it. When I met him he played with a band called Three Chord Sloth, usually entertaining us at The Vesuvius Inn. Neither of those things exist any longer but when I was leaving Salt Spring in 2010 Matt pulled together the guys to play my going away party at my brothers and of course sang a little Hank Williams just for me.

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One of the gifts Matt gave me was the love of Scotch, My Dad tried to get me to love it and he crashed his plane and died in 2004. That year in October, my Dad’s birth month, Matt had a Scotch tasting party at his gallery and I attended only to find that I like really top shelf. Since then I have always bought an expensive bottle to remember my Dad on the anniversary of the crash, Father’s Day and his birthday. June 3rd will now also be a day I drink in remembrance of the good men in my life.