One of my earliest memories of you Al was on the farm. I was a new transplant to the area from the city and Geoff asked me out pretty much the first week of school. It was all quite a blur to me as I had no idea what to expect living in the country. You would have been 14 and I remember those freckles and your mischeveous grin. Mount Blow Farm was the first farm I had ever visited. I didn’t know anything about milking cows, bedding cows or the fact that you had to carefully navigate your way around the barn when the cows were being milked. If you were standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, you risked being in the line of fire when a cow was pooping. It wasn’t the safest place for the barn cats either. I never actually saw it happen, but I learned that sometimes barn cats met their demise when getting too close to a cow. During one of my visits one of the barn cats got too close. All I remember from that day, was seeing you on a bike Al over near the barn. The bike had a basket on the front and in the basket was a cat that got too close. You were riding away with the cat and heading to the bush. That day you taught me about the circle of life on the farm.
I guess it didn’t shock the city girl in me too much because I married your big brother! I have been lucky to be part of your family for over 30 years now.
A farm boy from Almonte who started out on the hills of Mt. Pakenham made his way west and never looked back. We’ve had many amazing ski days together with family and friends and sometimes the posse got quite big. If we were skiing Whistler/Blackcomb you were always leading the pack. I really liked having you out front because you were the one who knew where the best snow was and the shortest lines were and I always trusted you never to take us anywhere we couldn't handle.
The posse got bigger after you got married to your lovely lady Heather and even bigger when you two had Colt. Colt’s a little ripper on skis. He’s grown up following you around the mountain and now it’s hard to keep up with him! You’ve given him a gift. The love of skiing. What an amazing gift to give your son.
Love you Al,
Ann
