Hey Al,

The memories came rushing back to me this morning and I'll do my best to capture what I was blessed by growing up with you and the Paul family. I'm proud to call you my friend. I'm proud to know what you did with your life and I'm proud of the family man you have become!

Where to start....how many pancake breakfasts with you, Eleanor and Frank, Nancy, Big Man, and Little Man were I part of....too many to count. Waking up early in a room made for 2, with 5 of us sleeping in it and tripping over Big Man's feet (as they hung off the end of the bed) as we headed out to the barn early to do the chores, and then either jumping on the beat up motorcycle or convincing Geoff to pull us on the ski's behind the 5000 pound "Sno Crusher" out in the fields. Thanks for teaching me how to work and hard and play harder.

What about heading to Mount Pakenham in the evenings and skiing until the chairs stopped turning..... comparing our butts to see who looked better in the new tight ski pants or even better....showing me how a flask of peppermint schnapps fits better in the jacket than in those pants.... and how you drove the Blue Impala like a rally car as soon as the lights of Mount Blow farms were in the rear view mirror. Thanks for giving me an early appreciation for seat belts!

As teenagers, to say we had fun would be an understatement.....fortunately for me you were a great teacher and were always first to try new things....now, most of these new things tended to somewhat drift in and out of the grey area of being legal or not but we are way beyond the statute of limitations so I almost feel empowered to list them here. But...... I won't. For Eleanor....it wasn't anything terrible and now that I am a parent of 3 I feel like you probably already know what they were. Thanks for being patient with us and always loving us despite of ourselves!

There was the time when we couldn't get U2 tickets so we went and saw The Kinks instead. We ended up sitting in the top 2 rows at the Civic Center.....there were 4 of us all 16-17 years old (Rob G. Jason D myself and you) and then everyone else there was 40 and above. I had to buy a cassette tape just so I would know a song or two when they played it. Let's just say it was "smoky" sitting up top which led to a rather laughable moment on who should drive, what route to take, and what story we needed to come up with to explain what was wrong with the Impala when we finally got home. Thanks for helping me spark my creativity!

A final memory that I still fondly look back on was going to Mont Tremblant for a week during school which was almost as good as getting out of a project for Ann Rashotte's grade 9 english class. The whole family went for a week and we stayed in a room that was strikingly similar to the bedroom at the farm.....small beds, cramped spaces, and an open dining room with a small jukebox that for that week must have played "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" by The Gap Band a hundred times......man we were cool...at least we thought we were. There was actually a Womens World Cup downhill race event that weekend that we were able to capture the practices for....it was awesome. Thanks for that!

As much as I referenced the small spaces and cramped quarters above, what I want to point out is that it didn't matter. The memories created by growing up in those tight spaces I still cherish today and promise to you that I will endeavor to pass that on to my kids. The love of the family in how you all worked hard and then played hard is evident still today in Geoff, Nancy, and Dave. Mostly I remember the "twinkle" in your eyes when you were excited about whatever you were about to embark on! That same twinkle I can see in Colt's eyes so I suspect Heather will have her hands full. Thanks for showing me the love of a family!

So thanks for everything Al....and even thanks for letting me write this...and thanks for the cleansing...I'm almost out of Kleenex. Love you bud.

Tony