Life's a Stitch

I don’t remember if I listed this in my 59 Things About Me; although I never seem to be at a loss for words I have a deadly fear of public speaking. People talk about the adrenaline rush they get from presentations, but it is exactly that, that I hate. I have enough adrenaline rushing through my veins at any given moment that a milligram more makes me feel sick. I have a hard time figuring out the pleasures of cocaine and speed. This week was one of the only major fund raisers my non-profit agency has sponsored during my employment. It was a Ladies’ Only Golf Clinic and I was elected to speak about the good works of my program. I truly believe in the good that we do, but why do I have such a hard time speaking in front of crowds? I have a masters degree in counselling, I am well versed in the field of phobias, but I admit it – I HATE PUBLIC SPEAKING!

Complicating factor – we were informed of the untimely passing of a friend whose funeral took place at the same time as the golf clinic. Although Al was 83 he experienced an unfortunate accident (a fall) causing his unexpected but supposedly peaceful death. What makes it more incredulous is that we had dinner with him just last week. Al was a lifelong committed golfer, and as I was unable to attend his memorial, I tried to be brave in his honour while I spoke to a banquet room full of golfers.

Our friends from Seattle came up for the funeral and stayed with us. We did a lot in Al’s honour these past couple of days. We remembered his fondness of wine and drank a fair share; we talked of our conversation with him two weekends ago, about how on the night they met, Fran, his lovely wife of over 60 years, literally danced him under the table, and we danced; we reminisced about his love for good food and we ate lobster. (Hey Vancouverites – if you want a rare treat, try Lobsters Only, a supplier to restaurants, but they sell to the public on a cash basis – $11.75/lb).  We didn’t need an excuse to do any of the above, but it was fun remembering Al and the good times we had together.

Oh yeah, we knit. I’m 75% done with my flower basket bag: