A Long-Lost Lunch

My friend Tony and his wife Linda are visiting in Toronto from the Yukon. They have been enjoying their recent retirement with lots of travelling around the globe – this time including Toronto in their Montreal-Ottawa-Picton-St. Catharine’s tour. Today, they were going to the AGO, which is just a few blocks from my office, and they asked me to meet them there for lunch.

Although I have known Tony for nearly 40 years, we never actually lived in the same place (except for maybe one winter here in Toronto). I met him on a trip home to Fredericton after moving here, where he was studying at UNB. After that, he would pass through Toronto on his way to somewhere else. So we have remained in touch, off and on, all this time.

If memory serves me well (which it does very sporadically these days) I think I met Linda once when our kids were very small. If I recall correctly, a herd of kids, some dads and myself all trekked off to the Toronto Zoo. After that, contact with Tony was usually when he was in Toronto for a conference and the Fredericton contingent would get together for a mini reunion.

I re-met their daughter Julia today, and her hubby (whom she obviously didn’t have on the zoo trip). Wow, kids are the real gauge of exactly how much time has gone by. She is a lovely blend of both her parents and it was a treat to see her all grown up and married. In a world where it is too easy to lose people, it’s so special to re-connect, even if it’s only for a quick lunch. And even if it’s only every however-many years.

I had my “face in the crowd” bag with me (it’s the one I carry the most) which invited lots of conversation and curiosity about the rug hooking, the workshops, the teaching and the blog, which they vowed to visit soon. So I thought I would do this special post to welcome them.

So, welcome to my blog. Have fun reading about this passion of mine. The picture with this post is of the bags I was telling you about. The ones with the hooked flap and the recycled jean legs. I call them my "jeanius" bags and they are the ones that have become my workshop favourite around the province.

Who knows, some day they might just bring me to that workshop in the Yukon. You just never know! In the meantime, I hope you visit the blog. And when you do, please leave a comment!