A Trip With the Boy

As we grow older we, naturally, spend much less times with our children, which makes the stolen moments you get together all the more precious.  I've proposed before that if I were going to compile a list of my all-time favorite moments everyone of them would feature my son, including my favorite day of all time, 18 June 1993 (which I've discussed on this blog previously).  In fact, when I'm generally discussing favorite moments I always use the disclaimer "Non-Son Related Moments," because every other moment would be, by definition, less precious to me.  I guess I'm feeling all of this a little more right now because, well, it's the changing season and we're approaching Halloween, my favorite holiday, but also because my son will be 30 in March (unbelievable, but true) but also because he's getting ready to move.  It's only a couple hours away, and I'm so incredibly happy for him (and proud of him) because he's moving for a much better job and he's in such a great place right now (as much as I normally dislike it when people saying things like "he's in such a great place right now"), but I will miss him.  It's been such a blessing to have him living a couple minutes away for the last couple years, which allowed us to get together pretty regularly, even if it was only for wings and football at Smitty's or movies at the Palace 9 or late night dessert at Denny's.  Recently he flew home to visit his mother in Cincinnati, and it makes me happy whenever they get to spend time together.  Now, as is so often the case when your home airport is Burlington, we flew out of another airport, in this case Montreal (flying out of Burlington is pricey and the flights get routinely delayed if not cancelled; which is the reason why we never originate our student trips out of here).  If we had to drive up to the Montreal Airport all the time it would be a grind, but if you only do it every few months then it becomes an adventure.  It led to a discussion between us about which is the smallest border crossing - and which one has the saddest agents - which we plan to investigate by trying to cross every one in the course of one day (somehow we think that the border agents will not think this is as funny, or as necessary, as we do).  The trip up was an early morning run, which meant that we got to stop at our favorite Tim Horton's for breakfast sandwiches and TimBits.  On the way back we went out of our way to Chez Pepe.  Along the way we discussed movies and music and philosophy and travel plans (he's still fixated on going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and life.  I've now added another favorite moment.

Somehow Gary had never gone to Chez Pepe, and he, like all right-thinking individuals, loved it.  Naturally, he chose the smoked meat sandwich and poutine.  We were in Canada, after all.

And here's the utterly epic gift he gave me for chauffeuring back and forth to the airport.  Wooooooo!