05-11-25 a conflicted day
I woke up at 9:30 having had the best sleep since I arrived in town. It might’ve been the prescription antihistamine before bed, but in any case I really needed that. Jake went for a haircut. I answered messages and talked to Ashlée and sent Mother’s Day messages to my friends and of course my mom. I’ve been jumped in the shower and got ready. Jake came back and did the same and he drove us to ANZA club wear Jackie’s celebration of life was to be held.
It really was beautiful, even if it got started very very late because her brother and his wife had some kind of issue with their flight and got here late. Reid did an amazing job putting together a slideshow which he went through slide by slide telling little stories. There was a delicious table of food and a cash bar. they had brought in Molson Canadian and Jaeger Meister in Jackie’s honour. There were speeches and tears. Mostly family were there and I was a little sad not to see more of her friends, but that made me even more glad that Jake and I were there. I did get up and talk about her and that was good because it made it more real and this part of the letting go.  it was nice to see Derek and Tyler there to support Reid.
We left went separate ways at the apartment as I was a little bit beside myself. Jake reminded me that Stanley park is my place of healing. I stopped for an hour long visit with Mark and when I talked to the nurses discovered that he is behind in his recovery and I told him that they should feel free to be stern with him and get him to do the things because he will opt out and I need him to get ready to go home. He tried to tell me he can get someone to volunteer to drive him home. I dare say that’s a pipe dream
I decided to head downtown and see if I could find a good seafood meal but there is no parking near where I want to go so I just auto pilot at two Stanley Park and ended up doing the drive around before stopping at Stanley Park brewing. I was able to get a seat right away at the bar and they put down the list of the daily tap to see that the first one on the list was Anzac. Now, that did make me feel like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I had a bucket of prawns and the most delicious edamame I have ever had. I enjoyed my bartender, Sabrina and the entertainment of Josh, who introduced himself to me and said it was just all about being happy. I bought the cutest little glass as my souvenir of this entire trip and wrote a note to leave it for Sabrina and Josh to let them know that they’re smiling and being kind without even knowing what was going on made a difference. I do find that why most important moments of internal pain are easier to handle when I am alone in a crowd, just soaking up the energy of those around me and reminding myself to breathe.
triumphgal 