Ron and Ruthann’s first-born, Amy, is up for the long weekend from Toronto and the four of us drive to the Craigleith General Store for breakfast.
Later, I phone friends Jim and Gay in nearby Owen Sound and make arrangements to drop by. Jim and I know one another from Burns Brothers and Denton days in the 70s, in Toronto. I was Personnel Manager at the time, he was and is an Investment Manager, now with TD Bank in Owen Sound. In the early 80s, a girlfriend and I introduced him to Gay and they’ve been together ever since. Gay is an interior decorator and, for fun, whips up 5-star meals on a moment’s notice. Their home, inside and out, is centre-spread beautiful. Happily for all involved, Gay has recently renewed contact with a son given up for adoption many years ago. Their daughter, Caleigh, is studying at McGill. They are gardening when I arrive and looking as happy as I’ve ever seen them.
Amy
Ruthann
A couple of mornings later, following a sound sleep in luxurious guest quarters and a breakfast fit for a king, I take a few pictures, we bid our adieus, and, by noon, I’m enjoying a leisurely drive through the lush farmlands northeast of Leamington, which seem to go on forever, but which lead, eventually, to the 401 Eastbound, where, with all the others, I’m soon hurtling toward Toronto, my time away almost at an end.
It has worked out perfectly—I’ve just enough left of my tax rebate to order in a pizza when I get home.
Leaving Meaford on the Tuesday after the long weekend, I drive over to Lake Huron, then follow its coast toward Leamington, where my friend Jeanne now lives. We’ve been friends for 30 or more years, during most of which time she was a partner with two other friends in a property dev/management firm. She is retired now and golfs at every opportunity. We haven’t visited for a some years, so have lots to catch up on and some rounds of golf to play. She’s a much better golfer than I—in her day, a Women’s Club Champion.