Saturday morning, up at four and racing around the house to get all the things done. I wanted to do before leaving for Vancouver. In the darkest dark of night that we get on the island, I was out watering all the plants that are the thirstiest in my garden.
At 5:30, we pulled out of the driveway, and I stopped at a trail on the route to the ferry terminal to walk her highness. It was a short walk, but she did what she was supposed to do, and I felt that we’d be OK on the ferry. I was surprised at how many people were waiting for the 6:20 ferry, but I was close to the front of the line.
In the early morning, with mist on the water and total calm. It felt like fall. It was beautiful to be out and about in the silence of the very early morning. There wasn’t a single wave on the surface of the sea, except that of our wake. We were on time and so I had no anxiety as I disembarked and headed for the second ferry terminal where we catch the ferry from departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver.
I was early off the boat. The exit ramp leads directly to the upper levels Highway, and that highway takes me directly to the Hastings and Renfrew area. I’ve been gone from the city now for 10 years, so I was shocked by the many changes along the route, but the worst change was when I arrived at Hastings Street, there is no longer a left turn lane from the highway, letting you turn onto Hastings. I took the next exit, Renfrew, and right there was a big, beautiful park, so I stopped and took Sheba for a long walk. And then I got in the car, turned on my GPS and headed for Diane’s.
It successfully took me to Hastings Street, but Hastings Street was blocked off for street work. Thank God for GPS, because when I failed to make the turn onto Hastings, it just told me to carry on and took me to an alternate route. I arrived at Diane’s to find her and her cousin, Beverly, who’d come to stay with me last Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful reunion.
We all got busy with final preparations: putting cones on the street to reserve a disembarking area, setting up chairs for the ceremony, setting up tables and putting tablecloths and vases of flowers on them, and then we were done. Dianne ordered a huge batch of sushi to be delivered, and when it arrived, we all stopped for lunch. Then we workers got changed as wedding guests started to arrive and suddenly the wedding was underway.
I remained inside the house. It was air-conditioned, but when it was time to go outside for this ceremony, I stepped onto the porch and saw so many people, most of whom I didn’t know, and I went into a seizure that lasted a fair while. Jane noticed I was in trouble and came to fetch me. We sat together with Beverly as the wedding got underway.
The wedding was beautifully informal and very, very moving. Ash looked absolutely gorgeous, and the ceremony was so personable and easy with us surrounding the marrying couple. Alex looked stunning too. He had a bespoke silk/linen suit that was exquisitely tailored; on his tall, thin form, he looked magnificent.
When the ceremony was over, we all broke into groups to chat and to eat delicious hors d’oeuvres. Then, as things were winding down, Ashlee and Alex made some thank you speeches. When Ashlee was making hers, she began by welcoming the people who had come the longest distance, and then she moved onto talking about we ‘elders’ the longtime friends of her mother, whom she thinks of his aunts and uncles. She was looking around the crowd as she was talking about us, and when she started talking about me, she looked around to find me in there I was staring at her from behind a tree, and when she saw me, she burst into tears and so did I.
I felt so loved in that moment. Tears for me tumbled down her cheek, so I got the greatest gift of the whole wedding. We have a very wonderful relationship, Ashley and I. I couldn’t be more grateful. Alex‘s mother, Pam, an elderly relative of Diane’s who come from Langley, Carol, and a couple of other people all searched me out. Each one of them said that they were keen to meet me because they’d heard so many things about me from Ash. I have rarely felt so good about myself as I did yesterday. All those people made me feel make a good and worthy person. That’s not something I feel very often. (Writing that sentence made me cry.)
Ashlee‘s wedding day was also her birthday, so as the wedding wound down Dianne and I came inside and Beverly went to bed, and Ash and Alex and their friends sat in the garden chatting and laughing. They were still there when I fell asleep at around 10 o’clock. Dianne and I watched a bit of TV and talked about the day. It was nice to wind down before going to bed.
Her Highness and I were up at five on Sunday morning and we immediately went for a long walk in the nearby park. It was beautiful because the park is high up on a hill and the view across Burrard Inlet provided a stunning view of the North Shore mountains and valleys. Plus, we were alone in a big gorgeous park, the air was sweet and fresh, and all was quiet.
We came back to the house to quietly pack all my stuff back into the van. I wanted to leave early and be amongst the first in line at the ferry terminal so that my car would be on an upper deck, which means that you can go into the ferry to get food and come back to the car. Only on the upper deck can you get in and out of your car. The lower decks are inaccessible once the ferry has left the port.
Everything went to plan. We were on the upper deck and the trip to the big island passed quickly as I read my book. We were the first car off the ferry and I raced to the Gabriola ferry where I had only a thirty-minute wait for the ferry. We were home at 14:00. We stopped and walked along the way, and so once home, we were home for the night.
The pleasure of being home was so intense, it almost hurt. Sitting on the chaise with my dinner is the best feeling in the world. Fred and Ethel were by my side all night. They’d missed me.
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