Trip to the Great, not so Great North

It's 10:00 P. M. I'm sitting in a motel in Michigan, somewhere, and feeling sad. (More about the sadness in a moment.) I managed to visit everyone I planned to visit in Northern Ontario. I wish I had had more time. I would have visited Andre and Line, but time ran out.

The meetings in the Soo were very well rec'd. I enjoyed all the people there. I don't know if the meetings made a difference insofar as the division among them, but I hope so. I spent four days with Champy and his family. His girls are adorable--very affectionate. They come by their cuddliness honestly. Their mother, Bonnie; their grandmother, Linda; their great-granny, oh, I forgot her name, and their aunt Noel are all affectionate huggers. I took a shine to all of them.

I spent five or six days with Nelson and Anne. We had a great time and they came to all the meetings, even though I did not do the meetings in their church. They are quite the couple: I love them to death. Nobody is more spiritual than Nelson. We teased Anne-Marie too much as usual, but I think she likes it. In speaking, they punctuate every point with the phrase, "you know what I mean?" Very interesting. I think they were made for each other, you know what I mean?

I really surprised Hermel and Sue. Hermel says he was thinking of me at breakfast time and presto, I'm standing in his house a couple of hours later. We really had a great visit. Sue has had a knee replacement and needs the other done next. I saw a lot of signs of aging in my old friends. Not so with Hermel. He still plays hockey at 64. He was telling me of going fishing with a "vieux bonhomme de soisante" (old man of sixty.) He had to spend most of one night rescuing the old man off of a foggy lake, and then the guy tipped his canoe and Hermel had to jump in the lake up to his neck to save him from drowning.

I visited with Monique, Sarah and Sarah's little girl. Sarah is back, without two of her children, from the Philippines. I found her to be mature and looking very good. (I wouldn't want her to sit on me, but looking good, nonetheless.) Monique continues to beat the odds with her heart condition.

I stayed at Roger and Maggie's that night. The biggest change in anyone is in Roger. He brought his Bible out and showed me how much he studies that book. He told me he has a lot to do to redeem himself. I told him he didn't have to do that, the Lord did it for him already. I've never been better treated than on this visit. All is well, if you discount old age. Roger has diabetes, heart trouble and a back so bad that he can't work anymore. They are now Mennonites and loving it.

Then I visited Buck. Some people don't change, except that he too was very happy for my company. (Buck was baptized into the Adventist church a year ago.) He made lunch for me and we had a good talk.

The last visit in the Sudbury area was to Eddy Charrette. The guy is doing good. He is the oldest in a family of a dozen and he remains the strongest. He does a lot of fishing now that he is retired. His house if real clean and organized. I"m impressed. His wife died four years ago.

In North Bay, my cousin, Madeleine and I stayed up till midnight talking. That's what happens when you don't see one of your favorite people for thirty years. She really is a sweetheart. We reminisced a lot about times gone by. She had many pictures of old relatives when they were young. I really have a soft spot for that family member.

In the end, all of these visits warmed my heart. Wish I lived closer to these dear people. Ah well, if that is what God wanted, that is where I would be. The only negatives I can point to is the weather. Oh my goodness, I haven't seen the sun since I left EVI. Rain, sleet, snow, ice and storm after storm. Through it all, however, I didn't miss an appointment. Even today, I drove through a snow squall. The other thing I can't appreciate is the scenery up north. Outside of Southern Ontario, everything looks poverty stricken. There are so many shacks up north, it's amazing. On that good note, I'll say, aurevoir!

PS: About being sad: I just got a phone call. My secretary's grandson, Shawn, was killed today. A road accident. Frances, my secretary, has a daughter in Boulder. The daughter adopted to problem children. Shawn was autistic and the girl, Becka, is Bipolar. That is the third person connected with EVI killed this year. What is the deal?