An A+++++++++++++++++++++ New York City Christmas Week!

Chapter 1: The Food

The day we landed we went to the hotel, the Smyth Tribeca, put things in our room, freshened up, watched a bit on our rooms’ LG flat screens, and went to a nearby restaurant and I had a New York meatball pizza with Pellegrino sparkling water for lunch. 

That night we went to a restaurant (Minetta Tavern) and I had a hamburger with fries and some others in our group were having the same thing, so I could say the famous When Harry Met Sally line “I’ll have what she’s having” after Meg Ryan’s oohs and aahs. 

The next day we gathered in the hotel’s restaurant and I had a New York bagel with cream cheese. 

The lunch was a Chinese buffet at a restaurant with a sparkling orange drink. 

The supper was a Fettuccini Alfredo supper with both sparking and regular water at an Italian restaurant in Times Square near the location for our play. 

The next day breakfast was Greek yogurt with berries and a croissant with sparkling Orange Pellegrino. 

The lunch was a McDonald’s McChicken with fries and a strawberry smoothie. 

The supper after the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall was chicken tenders with fries, sparkling water, and an ice cream plus some shared New York cheesecake at Rockefeller Center’s café and we had not only a good meal, but we could see the outdoor rink and fountain where Buddy the Elf and Jovie kiss on their date scene. 

The breakfast was a brunch at Mom and Dad’s luxury suite with fruit, yogurt and berries, crackers, croissants, and sparkling lemon and sparkling orange Pellegrino. 

The lunch was a New York street-stand hot dog with ketchup, mustard, and relish RIGHT IN FRONT OF MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!  [See the full story of why this part is great in the Sights chapter] 

The supper was at Mercer Kitchen and I had Fish and Chips (Flounder, Ariel’s friend in The Little Mermaid, as opposed to the cod and haddock I order in Canada) with sparkling water and mango sorbet for dessert. 

The following breakfast was another yogurt and berries with orange drink. 

I had one of the store-purchased New York cheesecakes with a Starbucks strawberry smoothie. 

For lunch I had a pizza sub at a Potbelly’s sub shop with sparkling blood orange Pellegrino. 

For supper before the Movie On-Location bus tour, I had, yet, another street-side New York hot dog with all 3 condiments. 

For breakfast before takeoff I had another New York bagel with cream cheese with water. 

Chapter 2: The Sights

From the first plane during takeoff I could see the highway and most of Moncton before dawn. 

When we landed in Montreal I could see the Olympic Stadium, home of the Bio-dome and the old MLB team the Montreal Expos. 

After customs we headed to our gate and I could hear final boarding calls for places like Chicago, Orlando, Minneapolis, and then finally...Newark, where we were landing. 

When plane #2 finally landed in Newark it looked like the opening of The Blues Brothers before Jake is freed and is picked up by his brother…”IN A POLICE CAR!”  When we got out of the gate we went up an escalator…and met up with Stephanie, Glen, and Mary! 

When we got in the shuttle van, I could see the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building. 

Enjoying Smyth Tribeca to the fullest.

When we got into the hotel and finally saw our rooms I could see we had a large LG Flat Screen, a bed, a luxury bathroom with shower, and an excellent street view. 

Then we went to a few shops to browse and one had lots of good clothes, and another had great jewelry and another had lots of furniture…and a Steinway grand piano with a picture of New York City above the Steinway logo on the cover. 

The first day we went to Schwartz’s Toy Store where the giant foot piano Tom Hanks and his friend/s play with in the movie Big and I was hoping the foot piano would be there so I could play Let it Go from Frozen, but it was not there. 

Then I saw the Empire State Building and the inside looks almost exactly like in Elf.  The decorations throughout the building were beautifully lit up for Christmas.  When we went into the elevator we soon arrived on the 25th floor where we were to meet Glen’s friend at LinkedIn, who would give us the free tour to the observatory.  When we went through security, we went onto another elevator, which took us to the 80th floor.  And there was the observatory.  Too bad it was too foggy to see the buildings from the observatory, but we went anyway.  Then we saw the gift shop and I bought the movie Sleepless in Seattle, which ends right in the observatory of that very building with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks finally together with their son!  Mom also bought some souvenirs for McKim House! 

Waiting to go up to the observation deck inside the Empire State Building.

After this we saw the giant department Macy’s, AKA Gimbel’s in Elf.  We went up several wooden escalators and had drinks at the 6th floor’s restaurant.  Between floors Stephanie and Mom bought clothes there and I wanted to see the electronics/movies/music section if there was one. 

After this we walked down the streets and I saw and went in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and I wondered what New York’s bishop’s name was as it is often read in the Eucharistic Prayers before communion at Mass, and I thought of my grandparents, Stephane, and Marilyn.  I paid 2 American dollar bills and lit a candle in memory of my grandparents. 

After this we walked past several stores and then past Rockefeller Center and saw its giant Christmas tree and its outdoor skating rink where Buddy and Jovie skate in the date scene of Elf before the big fight with Miles Finch.  Then, after walking for several miles, that’s right, US miles (if we were in Canada I’d say kilometers) we took a cab back to our hotel room. 

We then saw Times Square at night and the lights were unbelievable!  It was like giant flat screens and video screens on giant pro arena and field scoreboards. 

The following night we went to an Italian restaurant in Times Square [see the menu in the food chapter]. 

Then we saw It’s Only a Play, at a nearby theater, starring Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’s Matthew Brocerick, Grease’s Stockard Channing, and Stuart Little’s Nathan Lane, whom you may know as Snowbell, the snooty and funny white cat.  Each star, on their appearance, got a rousing cheer and applause. 

Across from the theater was a huge Marriott Hotel, which, judging by the size, was, I guess, very expensive to stay in.

We took a cab after this through and past the big, amazing lights of Times Square back to our hotel. 

The following morning Mom, Stephanie, and I, and Mary, all went to Barnes & Noble, and we went up an escalator...and there was the bookstore.  Originally, I was going to buy, that’s right, buy, my own copy of Nop’s Trials, expecting it to be in stock here, but it was not in stock, so instead I bought a Border Collie book and Stephanie bought me a James Herriot book, a compilation of short dog stories, and Mom promised me she would order Nop’s Trials and Nop’s Hope for my birthday, in fact coming up on January 7th. 

Then we went to Whole Foods to pick up some local groceries for the hotel room, like small New York cheesecakes, 2 Pellegrino sparking lemonades and 1 Pellegrino sparking orange drink, BBQ chips and nachos, lots of berries, Greek yogurt, and croissants. 

Tonight was the big show at Radio City Music Hall, where Warbucks and Farrell take Annie for Camille in the movie Annie, with the Rockettes and a fabulous Christmas Story with real live sheep and camels!  There was a huge rising stage, a 3D movie, a giant moving orchestra pit, and 2 huge pipe organ keyboard sets with 2 organists dueling with each other! 

Then we had supper at the Rockefeller Center Café and it was amazing.  [See the food chapter for the menu}  From where I was sitting I could see some Christmas trees and the outdoor skating rink, where some people were putting on skating shows.  When I walked around I took a picture of the giant tree where Kevin and his mother meet up near the end of Home Alone 2 and the rink. 

The cab that took us home drove, unexpectedly, past Madison Square Garden where the Knicks and Rangers play. 

When we got to the hotel, channel 26 had started 24 Hours of A Christmas Story and it was probably the only year I got to see this movie on a hotel’s LG flat screen, and as you see in the picture, something else rare, on the LG flat screen in the hotel, the closed captioning under Miss Shields reads a famous Christmas Story line “You call this a paragraph?” 

The following morning Mom gave me my socks back, which I had given her to use as Christmas Morning stockings, and in it were a package of mints from the Empire State Building with the picture on it, shower gel from the hotel, a New York t-shirt, a New York key chain, and 2 extra US dollar bills.   

I watched my new Sleepless DVD on Mom and Dad’s suite’s flat screen and took a picture of the Empire State Building scene where Hanks and Ryan meet in the end.  We noticed that from the suite we could see the peace tower, which replaced the World Trade Center after the horrible terrorist attacks with hijacked planes on September 11th, 2001, and the Empire State Building, which is beautifully lit at night, as you can see from Kevin’s room in Home Alone 2.  We also Face Timed Melody and Erin. 

Then we took the subway to a place called the High Line, where there used to be train tracks and a train, now a park, with good views.  Also from here we could see the Empire State building. 

We looked for a place to have lunch… and where should we find a hot dog stand on a nice sunny day…but Madison Square Garden, where a Knicks game just finished.  My memory associated with that arena was that every February the Westminster Dog Show happens in 2 days, and my favorite year was 2005, where there was a Cardigan Welsh Corgi by the name of Harry Potter, and the winner of the herding group, the last group before Best in Show, was, in fact, a Border Collie by the name of Merlin, a big moment for Border Collie lovers like me, and I hoped he would win Best in Show, but he was shortlisted.  Other events that happen here include pro hockey games, pro basketball games, college basketball games, and concerts.  This building is also Penn Station, a train station.  And from where I was standing it looked like a giant mall, linked by escalators.     After this…we went in to find a gift shop.  Then we found the subway station…and took the subway to our hotel.  Tonight we went to a restaurant for supper by cab [see chapter 1 for the menu].  Then we walked down a street past several stores, including the furniture store.  Then we picked up a cab and went back. 

Madison Square Garden

The next day some of us went to Central Park by subway and it was like living in the movies set there.  At a gift shop mom bought a book called Strawberry Fields.  We thought of going to the zoo, but we decided to skip it.  We walked past the Plaza where Home Alone 2 was set.  I took pictures from all angles.  Then we walked past this and went past several stores.  We went into Tiffany’s Jewelry Store, where the new locket comes from in Annie.  Then we walked past several other jewelry and department stores, one more time past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one more time past Rockefeller Center and its giant Christmas tree, and past Empire State Building, which now had a 2-hour wait to see the observatory due to the now nice sunny day. 

The Plaza

We played with the idea of going to Macy’s again, but it was crazy busy.  We steered out, picked up a cab, and went to the hotel to relax and freshen up.  Tonight we went to Time Warner Center, a giant mall, and we had another street side hot dog, went into the mall, browsed a little, and went to the second floor to watch the Christmas light show and to gather with a group, as this group was to be led with a tour guide to a bus, and this bus was to take us on a guided tour of Christmas movie locations, with clips and trivia on the screen.  This took a couple of pit stops, and at one, at Barney’s Department Store, we had to stop for 15-20 minutes, as we witnessed a robbery in progress, where a woman was caught red-handed stealing a purse and was screaming at the top of her lungs, denying that she did it when she knew she was caught, and fighting as security guards, dressed and posing as fellow shoppers, were holding her until NYPD cars came and took her to jail, and someone behind me on the bus said it was not her first time doing this and being caught here.  After a few locations, we bailed at a pit stop at Macy’s, flagged a cab, and had it take us back to the hotel room.  It was so sad to see New York at night for the last time. 

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast, enjoyed our hotel for the last couple hours in which I made a video to thank Franck, our hotel’s concierge as I had not met him yet, flagged a cab, and had it take us to Newark Airport.  And it was so sad to see New York City and its amazing sights in the cab’s rearview mirror after such an amazing once-in-a-lifetime Christmas vacation.  We went through security and found our gate, and I was expecting to go through customs here.  Within hours our plane showed up, and within less than one hour we boarded.  We took off, and after less than an hour we landed in Montreal and I saw the Olympic Stadium.   After we came out of the gate, we saw Stephanie, Glen, and Mary en route to their gate, next to ours!  We gathered, went through security one final time, found a restaurant, and ate together one final time on our vacation.  We went to our gates and within minutes Steph and Glen’s plane showed up, then ours showed up.  Within hours Steph, Glen, and Mary, boarded their planes and later we boarded ours.  When we landed in Moncton it was about 11:30pm!  We were so tired. 

Thank you, Stephanie, Glen, and Mary, Mom, and Dad, for making this possible.  And thank you, Franck and the Smyth hotel staff, for the hotel room and its many great amenities!  A thank you to the salesperson at Barnes and Noble who sold me the Border Collie book, a thank you to the LinkedIn people at the Empire State Building for the free tour of Empire State Building, a thank you to the salesperson at the gift shop who sold me the Sleepless movie, a thank you to the waiters at Minetta Tavern, Mercer Kitchen, the pizza place on the 22nd, and the hotel’s restaurant, a huge thank you to the hot dog stand people who sold me the hot dog, and all the people I met who served and helped me during the whole trip, all without whom this trip would not be a huge fun success! 

A FROZEN-TONGUE-ON-METAL-FLAGPOLE-FREE CHRISTMAS STORY

Editor's note: 'Tis the season to be joyful. Patrick has revived this 2005 holiday essay for your reading pleasure. Stay tuned for updates on his upcoming NYC trip in the weeks to come.

My first Christmas with the McGrath family, 1987, was merrier than the last one I had with my foster mother.  It is more fun spending Christmas with a real family than with a foster family as you will live with them forever.  Every Christmas season we would sing Christmas carols, listen to Christmas carols, decorate the tree, watch movies like A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Santa Clause, Elf, Santa Claus: The Movie, and Muppet favorites like The Muppet Christmas Carol and Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, get out the Christmas lights, go for nighttime drives to see other houses’ lights, lighted snowmen, lighted Santa Clauses, “Merry Christmas” signs, and lighted reindeer, read stories like The Night Before Christmas and Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas every Christmas Eve, have French toast every Christmas morning, open our stockings, and then open the big presents, and then call everyone we know who sends us the presents from far off places and thanking them for the Christmas gifts.  Every Christmas night we would open crackers, wear the crowns that came in the crackers, read the jokes and trivia questions which also came in the crackers, and then we would have our traditional: Turkey with dressing and cranberry “sarce,” potatoes, turnip, carrots, and for the final touch, we would have our dessert.  Some would have plum pudding while others had Mom’s Special Apple Pie with ice cream.  My top 4 Christmases were 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001.  2001:  This Christmas saw me get a grand total of 10 CDs from Stephanie, a Border Collie calendar, the movie Cats and Dogs with Jeff Goldblum and the voices of Tobey McGuire and Michael Clarke Duncan, and a couple of gift certificates.  2002:  I was working at Community College that year, plus we had just gotten a new Land Rover Discovery and on Christmas Eve on the way between church and Jennifer’s we listened to Cowboy Christmas on 96.9 and I recognized one of the songs because it had played in my office at Community College. 

Jennifer gave me a present that said “To Patrick from Tessa.”  Tessa was the name of Jennifer’s Collie whom she had gotten two springs ago.  The present was a framed picture of the lovely Collie by our back door with the others looking in.  Stephanie got me a gift certificate.  Christmas of 2003 saw me get a Toshiba 19” TV/VCR Combo as my second TV as I was living both on Alexander Avenue with my family and with a younger couple on Twin Oaks Drive and I didn’t want to take my little one back and forth each weekend and I wanted to watch my own at home while Dad would watch golf or Mom and Dad would watch 24.  We had cinnamon French toast with syrup as a special breakfast.  Jennifer gave me a picture of Dillon, her Border Collie, having fun on the marshlands near her house.  Stephanie gave me the movie Finding Nemo.  Mom and Dad got me a MuchDance CD.  Erin got me a hockey team claw and the people I lived with gave me a shirt with the hockey team logo.  Christmas of 2004 saw me get a karaoke machine and two karaoke CDs from Stephanie, Erin and Kyle, a ghetto blaster from Mom, a hockey team horn to blow whenever the team scored a goal, and a hockey team poster with the game schedule.  Once again, it began with Erin’s cinnamon French Toast.  My best gift in 1995 was my first Timex digital watch.  My best gift in 1996 was my keyboard.  My best gift in 1997 was my NOW! 2 CD.  My best gift in 1998 was a book called Floss, a story about a Border Collie who has to sacrifice play with children to start working on a farm.  My best gifts in 1999 was a Timex Ironman watch and the soundtrack to the musical Mame.  My best gift in 2000 was my first TV.  I did not even try sticking my tongue to a metal flagpole like in A Christmas Story, asking for “a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle”, or making a lightning-fast slide down the hill like in Christmas Vacation.  I didn’t even try “putting a light of candle in anybody’s hair,” like in Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree.  Like the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”  

My 8 Years in L'Arche

Chapter 1: Year 1

Pat & Gray goofing around during the holidays - here they take inspiration from the movie The Christmas Story after a night of Chinese food and a screening of the flick. 

    I moved into L’Arche Saint John, A.K.A. McKim House, shortly after Molly’s passing, Ella’s arrival, my visits to Saint John to visit the house and stay in the house, and after my first Toronto Autism Symposium where I had met Temple Grandin, stayed in Royal York, and went to multiple HMV stores and malls.  Besides me, there were 3 very friendly Core Members: Krista Simmons, Debbie Turnbull, and John Pike, friendly and humorous Assistants Gray Gillies, Teresa Bond (no 007 ammunition, cars, or relation, sorry), and Marilyn Moore, and a Community Leader Dan Kirkegaard, also a United Church minister.  Since moving in, I attended mass at Holy Trinity Church, went to the gatherings at Stone Church, watched classic Christmas movies in the living room, played the organ that was by the door, had Friendship Circles at McKim House, had Community Prayer at the house, went to Christmas parties where I danced and played the piano and guitar if no piano, went to my first Sea Dogs home game, browsing at Superstores using their 4 listening stations each location, browsing and buying at McAllister Place HMV and Brunswick Square CD Plus, celebrated my first McKim-Mas, performed in my first of many New Dawn Players mimes based on bible stories and fairy tales, including different and updated versions of The Nativity Story, The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan, The Princess who Never Laughed, and The Golden Pears, celebrated my first Birthday in L’Arche, gone to my first Super Dogs show since I’d had Molly and Ella with Mom, Dad, Jen, Brian, and my nephews Brennan and Connor, went to concerts and musicals at local theatres and high schools, went to my first Prayer Partners’ Retreat, said goodbye to Teresa, welcomed a German Assistant named Marc, went to my first L’Arche vacation in our new 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan with DVD player...in Montreal, said goodbye to Marc, went to my first Faith and Sharing Retreat, welcomed Paul Martin (not Canada’s ex-Prime Minister) as an Assistant, bought my first Babe DVD, had my first Halloween in Saint John dressing as Harry Potter, attended a Cursillo Men’s Weekend at St. Joachim’s Church, attended my first Santa Claus Parade, and made an appearance on The Empty Stocking Fund and Channel 10’s Daytime.  I also celebrated my first Anniversary! 

    Chapter 2: Year 2

   This began with my first Anniversary!  Then we decorated the Christmas Tree again!  Something different:  John Pike had to leave the house for multiple hospitals and later various nursing homes.  Then again came McKim-Mas!  Then came Christmas, and I was met with a surprise:  Mom got me 2 books:  Nop’s Trials and Nop’s Hope, both books about Border Collies, like Ella, Molly, Dillon, and another one I will mention later in this story, were, and these stories are like reading a Bond film or a Mission: Impossible film, full of action, peril, and touching stories.  Before I had moved into this house I had been reading nonstop Jennifer’s green copy of Nop’s Trials at home, in Upper Cape, in the car, during trips, and with Molly with me, and even after I lost her at age 6.  See the whole story in a separate story which I may send to this Blog.  Now I had BOTH books!  I already had a copy of the sequel, but Blake and Kansas Cameron’s Shepherd/Husky Mix Oskar had chewed it, so there were dog tooth marks on the book.  Now I had mint condish copies of each book!  At the time I am writing this story, they look as rickety as the screaming restricted book from the Restricted Section in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when Harry sneaks to the restricted section to find info on Nicholas Flamel and almost gets caught by Filch and Snape.  Then came my second Epiphany mime concert.  My birthday came up again, and then a young Acadian man, named Stephane Bastarache, who was a faithful Catholic and went to the local French Catholic church, moved in and he had a guitar.  Then I attended a course at the City Market which lasted until May.  One weekend during that Gray and I went to Antigonish for a Community Exchange and we had fun, staying at Yeshua House, visited other houses, shopped at Superstore’s DVD/CD section, and attended mass at St. Ninian’s Cathedral.  This spring we went to Cape Breton for a Regional Gathering at St. Anne’s Gaelic College.  Later we went back to Cape Breton to celebrate L’Arche Cape Breton’s 25th Anniversary.  This involved concerts and a dance.  Then I went home...to celebrate Erin’s wedding, where a friend of Erin’s and I were impersonating Jake and Elwood Blues from The Blues Brothers, all guys were wearing rented tuxes and there was catering and a rented electric piano and sound system.  Then we went on my second L’Arche Saint John Vacation, this time on P.E.I., going to a musical, shopping at Confederation Court Mall, went to Confederation Festival with covers of the top 40 music from that year, and explored P.E.I.  After this we said goodbye to Paul Martin, said goodbye to Dan Kirkegaard as our Community Leader, said welcome to Rosaire Blais, said welcome to a Chinese Assistant named Trevor...and later said goodbye to Rosaire and welcomed Jocelyn Worster as our Community Leader.  I started working with Krista at a sheltered workplace which used to be a school on the East Side called United Catena Training Centre.  John Pike, passed away at his nursing home and we attended his funeral service at Forest Hills Baptist Church with a touching rendition of Beautiful.  I joined the Assumption Church’s Senior Choir as a tenor.  Rosaire had me stay at his place in Wolfville for a weekend.  During this time we went to 2 movies, a hockey game, a basketball game, meals out, and Rosaire told me McKim House was being donated a piano!    Our family, including Granddad and Bill, all took a trip to Halifax, staying at Cambridge Suites, shopping at HMV Spring Garden Road, shopping at Park Lane Mall, watching Christmas with the Kranks at Stephanie and Glen’s apartment, attending the 1st Sunday of Advent Mass at St. Mary’s Basilica, and having breakfast at the Lord Nelson Hotel’s restaurant. 

    Chapter 3:  Year 3

    My 2 Year Anniversary came up.

McKim-Mas came up too.    This Christmas Mom gave me a stuffed Border Collie which I named Shadow, and when I first brought it down the stairs that Christmas, Lisa, our Coton de Tulear, thought Shadow was a real dog, and got frightened and started barking.  On New Year’s Eve we watched the DVD of the movie Mamma Mia!, based on the musical.  And I loved it so much I bought a Mamma Mia DVD of my own.  Then the Epiphany Concert came up with the mime.  Then my Birthday came up.  The March that followed Mom and I went to Halifax for the Atlantic University Basketball tournament, again staying at Cambridge Suites, shopping at HMV, and visiting Stephanie and Glen.  Then I saw the movie Marley & Me, and I was touched by the fact that it was story about a family’s dog who gets into trouble but loves the family nonetheless and dies in the end, so I bought the movie myself.  Then our basement underwent a facelift with a bathroom on my floor, new flooring...and our new piano, a Heintzman upright donated by the Sisters of Charity.  Then Jocelyn, Trevor, and I, all went to Halifax...to run/walk in the Bluenose Marathon in which most of L’Arche Atlantic was involved.  We took the 5k.  Then we met Stephanie and Glen at their apartment, went out for supper, shopped at HMV, and attended a Sunday mass at St. Mary’s Basilica.  This summer we started watching Family Channel a lot.  On Vacation we went to Halifax for half a week...and then to Wolfville for half a week.  In Halifax we went to Mic Mac Mall, went on the Harbour Hopper, went on the Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry, went out for supper, and went to Toy Story 3.  In Wolfville we visited Rosaire, went to Applewicks, and visited L’Arche houses.  Stay-Cation came up and we went to Baptist Book Room, went to Moncton where we went mini-golfing, to St. Hubert, Costco and lots of fun things, and came home with one of Baptist Book Room’s listening stations for me.  Shortly after this, I got a saddening e-mail to call Jennifer.  I called her...and she told me that Dillon, who for some time had been getting elderly and developing arthritis, had passed away at age 14.  The summer after Grade 8 when Dillon and I first met he was a playful puppy who loved being serenaded by my guitar playing that summer.  So when we went to Faith and Sharing, I took a picture I had taken during high school of Dillon with me.  Later Jennifer got another playful Border Collie puppy...from Saint John, named Danny.  I met and he was sweet and playful.  We welcomed an Indian Assistant named Janet Christy...and later our second German Assistant, named Christian.  The Winter Olympics were coming up in Vancouver and now the torch relay was happening and we watched the flame go up our street. 

    Chapter 4: Year 4

    My Anniversary came up, as did McKim-Mas.  This Christmas I got the book Imminent Dogs, Dangerous Men... and a DVD of a movie I had seen at Zellers, called Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy.  The book and the movie were touching.  The movie was like Homeward Bound, as each animal had a voice but their mouths don’t move like humans’ mouths do, and no CGI effects, and it was all a real and touching story.  Later Janet left...and later Gray left, and an Assistant from The Philippines named Nova moved in.  This St. Patrick’s week we did something different:  we went to O’Leary’s, a local Irish pub, for breakfast with music that supported our house.  Here traditional Irish folk songs came up.  This continued every St. Patrick’s week after this year.  Some of us got a tour of the new Marco Polo Cruise Terminal and I loved it.  Janet came back to stay with us for some time.  Jocelyn, Christian, and I went to Halifax to walk the 5K Bluenose Marathon and met Stephanie and Glen and did the usual Halifax things.  This summer we went to Halifax...again.  This time we stayed in L’Arche Halifax.  We shopped and explored and ate out.  Then we went to Cape Breton and stayed in one of their houses.  This house had a piano and I played it, and we watched my Mighty Ducks movies and the house’s copy of Sister Act and we loved the Motown hits that come up in that movie.  We also visited the other houses and their day programs.  Later we welcomed a 5th Core Member: a young blind speechless but communicating and loving lady named Kristina Cooper, from a nursing home called Mill Cove, and so the sitting room became her bedroom.  She had her ways of communicating:  when we asked her a question, when her eyebrows went up, that meant “yes.”  A humorous, pun-loving, music loving Assistant named Britney Shaw came with us.  In October a local theatre company, a local symphony orchestra, and 2 high school choirs, all joined forces to bring together a musical about the world’s fastest ship (sorry Pirates of the Caribbean fans, not The Black Pearl) The Marco Polo, called Marco Polo: The Musical.  In November Mom and I flew to Toronto for the Autism Symposium for our 2nd time, meeting Temple Grandin, and this time getting a Home Alone 2 style luxury suite at the Royal York with a view of the CN Tower, and at night the Tower looked like a giant Christmas tree with multi-colored twinkle lights.  Here we went to 2 HMVs and met a couple of friends of ours.  Shortly after I got back I got my bottom wisdom teeth pulled out, which was nerve-racking. 

    Chapter 5: Year 5

    This Anniversary marked my 4th year here.  This was my last full year at United Catena.  McKim-Mas, of course, came up, as did Christmas.  The Epiphany concert with the mime came up too.  On July 4th of this year Krista and I started work at Key Industries.  I started folding shirts for events and organizations and joined their choir, which performs at nursing homes once a month and attends the Summer Sounds concert at the nearby United Church.  I also started volunteering at the local SPCA, walking the dogs there and at a local nursing home playing the piano for the residents there.  Our family took me to Upper Cape, where now we had a cottage washed to our beach by a winter storm surge, which was now ours, where our trailer used to be.  We stayed there then too.  Marilyn retired as House Leader and moved to Yarmouth and Janet took over the role of House Leader.  I was later chosen to go to Mobile Alabama with ex-Regional Coordinator John O’Donnell, Jocelyn, and board president Don Dickson for a weekend and to Atlanta for an International Assembly at a local college. 

    Chapter 6: Year 6

    My Anniversary marked a big year: my 5th year in L’Arche.  Our 3rd German Assistant, named Anna Bingel, who spoke German, moved in and I started doing Zumba every Wednesday with Anna and Krista.  Another female Assistant then moved in, named Andreanne from Quebec, who spoke French.    This Christmas I got a Toshiba 19” flat screen LED TV to replace my Citizen 19” TV/VCR and Jen got a huge Samsung LCD TV too.  The Boxing Day after I saw my first Mission Impossible movie and it was gripping and I jumped.  The Epiphany concert and mime, of course, came up.  This spring, as planned, Mom and I went to Halifax, met Stephanie for supper, and met John O’Donnell...and he and I went to the Quality Inn Halifax Airport hotel, so my first hotel with a flat screen and a pool since I got my own flat screen, and since we had a pool, I used it.  The next morning, bright and early, we checked out of the hotel and the airport shuttle picked us up and took us to Stanfield Airport.  We bought our ticket, went through security, and awaited our first of 3 planes.  The first took us to Toronto.  Then we went through customs and took the 2nd plane to Atlanta Airport...and took the 3rd plane to Mobile Alabama.  We went to a house with a pool and stayed 2 nights there.  We went to shops and a nearby house with a pool and a beach nearby.  Then our whole group, a 3 Chevy Impala convoy, all took off for Atlanta, stopping at the Cracker Barrel for lunch.  Then we proceeded to Atlanta for the International Assembly.  We went to speeches, services and mass at local churches, exploring the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Site where I heard about the racist stuff that was going on before King’s famous speech which I already knew from watching Forrest Gump, My Dog Skip, and The Help, night-after-night pub crawls, shopping at local stores, and I got to share my gift of music and humor with lots of L’Arche people from across the globe.  There were also catchy songs sung for this event in all kinds of languages.  Since this event I played the songs on piano and guitar from then.  This summer we went on vacation to Cape Breton and I played the guitar at a Cape Breton fudge shop with a stage and listening posts and was the first to play Beatles songs there and bought a CD from a local rap artist. 

    Chapter 7: Year 7

    The Anniversary marked my 6th year.  This Christmas was spent in Halifax with Stephanie and Glen in their house with a musical at Neptune Theatre based on the movie Elf. 

   Then came my birthday.  The St. Patrick’s Breakfast came too.  This summer we went to Antigonish for summer vacation. 

The fall that came after summer I went on an exchange to Antigonish with an Assistant from Kenya named Justine, and they had a Halloween dance. 

 Chapter 8: Year 8 

    This Anniversary marked my 7th year.  McKim-Mas came, as did Christmas. 

This Christmas I got a Sony CD player and a BlackBerry cell phone and since then I was texting a lot. 

Of course my Birthday came up, my 33rd Birthday.  And on this day it was announced that we had won the Kia Canada Drive Change contest and we were to get a 2014 Kia Sedona for one year...and then a 2015 Kia Sedona for another year! 

Then again we had the St. Patrick’s Breakfast at O’Leary’s. 

Easter came and before then our new van arrived:  A titanium gray Kia Sedona, with automatic almost everything. 

This summer my group had a stay-cation in which, my idea, we went to Fundy Park to walk a trail and to other local New Brunswick attractions, including St. Andrew’s for whale watching and to see Eleanor Roosevelt’s place for Tea with Eleanor. 

Then I got a call from Stephanie, Glen, and Mom in the form of a conference call and they said the next Christmas would be spent in New York City where we would go to a musical, go to a play, have meals out, enjoy the sights from Christmas movies, and stay the nights at the Smyth Tribeca with our own hotel rooms! 

Then fall came and with that 50 Fest!  We went to Citadel High in Halifax for a speech and concerts where we met lots of people from different communities, a local church service and breakfast at an Anglican Church, and we stayed at the Best Western Chocolate Lake hotel, my idea, so we used the pool there, watched the flat screens, and enjoyed the continental breakfast. 

2 days after we went back Gray and I traveled together to Toronto for the Autism Symposium, meeting Temple Grandin, shopping at local shops, and staying at L’Arche Toronto!  I give that trip an A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++! 

    Then the weekend came and L’Arche Saint John, also part of 50 Fest, put on a concert with show tunes, and Gray and I performed I’d Do Anything from Oliver, dedicating to my new nephew, Erin and Christopher’s new son Oliver.  Then the rest of the house went onstage and did Hakuna Matata from Disney’s The Lion King, and did the final chorus with the whole ensemble joining in. 

   Then Gray and I did a presentation for the Assistants and House Leader about what we heard and learned at the Symposium. 

    Chapter 9: Year 9...so far

    My 8th Anniversary was touching.  When they passed the candle around at prayer the peoples’ comments about me were beautiful. 

   Then I went home for a weekend.  Shortly after I went back to Saint John I came home again to see Bill.  This weekend is the time I have finished this story.