Anne, Glenn, Samantha, and Phillip

Rob and I took a break away from our redecorating the den to visit with “The Chongs”. They were in Ontario for work and took some time out of their very busy schedule to ‘slum it’ in the big, bad city.

It’s always nice to seem them when they’re in town. We see them only every 4-6 months – whenever they’re in the area for work. Glenn cracks me up a bit because he never really remembers what was happening the last time he was here. This visit, he swore that the last time we were here we were thinking of moving to a new city. And we haven’t considered leaving town since before Rob got his job here, which was at least 2 1/2 years ago. On the other hand, I am equally if not worse in recalling some of the events of their past few months. I know the kids’ birthdays and the names of their dogs but I can never really remember where they’re living now (45 minutes outside of Red Deer?) or how big their house is (a 1 ½ story bungalow; and very large) or how many properties they own for business (at least 1 but I think they’re up to 2 or 3 at least now). What I realize though, that’s one of the comforting things when you’ve known someone for over 10 years is that the reason we can never remember these details is because they don’t matter. I know that he’s loving being a dad and that he work is doing well and that he’s more relaxed now than I’ve seen him in years. I know that Anne is a confident and calm mom, that she still can’t hear well out of her right ear but that she speaks softly now anyway, and that she enjoys the independence they have living where they live. I can see Samantha’s stubbornness, that she misses her puppy, and likes drawing with purple pencils. I know that Phillip is the first redheaded Chinese kid I’ve ever seen, that he’s plump and likes to smile, and that he’ll have even more personality the next time I see him. And I know that they can see that Rob and I love our house, our cats, our city, and each other. The rest don’t matter.

Talk to you soon,

B.