A Family Christmas

Usually when I travel to the west coast I spend as much time with friends as with family.  But this Christmas I decided to spend most of my time with family, and this for a variety of reasons, the most significant of which is that family's been there for me in the most trying times of my life.

This happened in 1996-7, 2001-2, and again this year, 2012-3.  Each of these years were filled with loneliness and despair for me, but even though I was physically separate from family, particularly parents, it was they who checked in with me on a regular basis, listening to my stories, encouraging me to get up again after falling.  And my goodness, the number of hours they've prayed for me, it's simply astonishing...

This is not a knock on my friends, many of whom have been there for me at various points when I needed them: Nathan in 1996-7, Rudy in 2001-2, and more recently, David.  And my response to these friends has not always been in kind, either.  I'm pretty sure I've let all 3 of these fine friends just listed down when they perhaps needed me.  No, this is not a criticism against friends - they have their own battles to fight - it's just an acknowledgment that family is important, because when it matters, they're there for me.

Another reason is that friendships seem to be in transition at the moment.  Nathan, Rudy, and David are now all married, and have their own priorities.  On the other hand, my Latin American friends are either no longer living in Vancouver, are vacationing elsewhere, have married, or have moved on to other social circles.  Sadly, I don't even have any friends at my church.  I shot myself in the foot the past 7 years by attending a 7:30am service I guess (who else attends liturgy at such an outrageously early time?), but that was the only service I felt at home in.

Finally, even though 杨 静 怡's no longer in the picture of my life, she still presents a significant challenge to me being in Vancouver.  Some of my friends are also hers, and that makes getting together tricky.  So many memories of Vancouver involve her, too, that it's hard to even get close to city limits without her image looming largely in the eye of my mind.  Perhaps Gingersnaps can help change this, but this is yet to be seen.

This afternoon I went to my cousin Richie's wedding.  The reception was held at the Sutton Place hotel, but before going to it I went to Canada Place with mom and dad, and Ted and Karin.  I took these pictures there.