Forgotten Anniversaries

The weeks are coming and going so fast I'm getting dizzy. So fast that two important anniversaries went by this week, both on the 7th, without me giving them a second thought. First overlooked was my mom and dad's wedding anniversary. My folks met in their early teens, living a few a blocks from one another, not far from the fabled "Main," in the Montreal neighbourhood made famous by the likes of Mordecai Richler and Leonard Cohen. Barely into their 20s when they wed in 1948, they managed to buy their own post-war home in a newer, working class district of the city, St. MIchel, where they raised my three sisters and me, providing us with a warm, happy, structured but fun environment in which we all grew up.

I think that knowing how well my folks did for themselves and their growing family over the years, even though they married so young, gave my wife Aurora and I some added confidence when we decided to take the plunge in 1978, at the age of 19 and 20 respectively. Wow, time does indeed fly by. Our kids are fully grown, and my parents have long since passed on... so, I guess they really won't mind my oversight too much; still, I can't believe I forgot about their anniversary.

And as Aurora just reminded me last night, February 7th was also the first anniversary of the death of our family dog, Maggie. Hard to believe that a full year has passed by since we had Maggie put to rest. She essentially collapsed of old age during the night and we comforted her as best we could until morning. Realizing her time had come, and not wanting to cause her more distress, we called a vet into the house and had Maggie put down where she lay, surrounded by her family and wrapped in her own "blankie." Emotional doesn't even begin to describe those final hours... It's amazing what can slip your mind as you're going about your daily business at warp speed.

Note to self: stop every now and then, and savour the memories.