Rites Of Passage

As we age in life there are many milestones we pass that make us feel older. When we are young there are significant things to look forward to.  At 16 we can get our drivers license.  Or, coincidentally the year I turn 16 they changed the driving program and we could only get our G2.  So that left looking forward to G1 at 17 and then G shortly thereafter. (Unless you're Matt K and you wait until you are 28 to do this...) Anyway, at 18 you can legally vote and at 19 you can drink.  Then you turn 21 and you can drink across the river....an added bonus when you live on a border town.   At 25 car insurance goes down (so they say, but mine never did). 

I went through all of these stages and also took on a mortgage and got into mutual funds - you can't get more grown up than that.  But somehow, none of these things made me feel like an adult.  To quote Miss Britney Spears; "I'm not a girl; not yet a woman".  LOL

Until last week.   Thanksgiving - 2008.  I became a grown up.  In my mind at least. 

How, you might ask?  My sister and my mom both asked me what I was going to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.  What? Suddenly I am responsible for contributing to a family meal? No more are the days I can just show up and eat. I am now part of the process.  Very weird to me. My mom and my sister were blessed with talents in the kitchen.  It's no secret that cooking is not my forte.  But I am learning and I am trying.  So the fact that they would WANT me to contribute is pretty big.  

So my mom calls, before Thanksgiving, to ask what I was going to bring.  I told her I didn't know but that I wanted to make either a salad or vegetable dish (I have to keep things basic here).  My mom says "Oh, remember in the summer when you made that strawberry/spinach salad?"  I told her I did and got excited thinking I could make that again, until she says "Yah - don't make that"  HA - Something only a mother could say.  

You know what else?  Food is not cheap.  Making a big meal for a big family is a lot of money. It's not something I would take on myself.  I am quite content at this point to bring a little side dish.  Kudos to my mom for the many, many amazing dinners she has cooked for all of us.  I have to give a little shout out to my sister too, as she often does this and her food is always amazing.  (Way to steal those genes you little sneak) 

Last Christmas was the first time I did contribute to a meal, but I think with the frenzy of Christmas I never really thought about it.  

So, as of last week, I am officially a grown up.  Green Beans with sesame seeds and bacon was all it took for me to figure that out.  

 

Priceless

Dress $1000.00

Shoes $50.00

Hair $40.00

________________

Picture of a bride dancing with a pumpkin on her head????

PRICELESS

This is reason #1433 why I love Emmilia.

Last Saturday I was honoured to stand beside Emmilia on her wedding day. Looking back it's been 14 years of friendship and 14 years of fun. The first day I met her, I thought she was crazy. In retrospect, I am sure that is why we are still friends. Anyway, it was during the winter of grade 8. Erin and I heard a new girl moved in down the road. We were excited to meet her and make a new friend. We were going tobogganning that day and thought we'd go to her house to introduce ourselves and invite her along. She said she wanted to come with us. As Erin and I stood there in our big snow suits and boots (for those who remember, yes, mine were the big purple Sorels - that I still have to this day) We waited while Emmilia went to get her snow stuff. Out she comes in jeans and duck boots!! Jeans and Duck Boots? Who was this girl?? Does she not know what playing in the snow entails? I am sure Erin and I exchanged skeptical glances and I was pretty confident this "friendship" just wasn't meant to be.

It's funny how when you're 13 you think Duck Boots are tell-tale indicators of the future.

Little did I know.

Throughout the next five years of highschool we had countless fits of laughter and adventures together. I have fond memories of riding around town in her gigantic old suburban, fishing trips with her dad, semi-formals, leadership conferences and so much more. In University we went separate ways, but we always stayed close. Road trips to her dorm, and all the other places she lived were always great times.

But really, it never mattered and still doesn't matter what city we are in or what we are doing. Even when we are sitting around doing nothing, Emmilia can always make me laugh. And that is what I love about her.

So, It's no surprise that 14 years after she wore jeans in the snow, I laughed right along side her while she danced with pumpkin on her head. I wouldn't have it any other way.

C'mon! You didn't think I wasn't going to do it too, did you?

Her brother did it too......And one of the groomsmen, but I didn't get a picture of him.