Whirlwind trip

I headed to Toronto just before the long weekend, and spent a few days visiting the sites and taking in the atmosphere of the large city; visited good friends and just rested a little.  Once I arrived in Vancouver life was full of the wonderful feeling of places and people remembered and and also the small, and sometimes not so small, changes in once familiar neighbourhoods. Although I haven't been able to see and speak to all I had hoped to, the visit has been tremendously fulfilling.
On Tuesday I was escorted from the airport by my youngest daughter, and settled in at a friend's place. A peaceful stroll in her gardens, a relaxing swim in the pool and then dinner out with all three daughters later, brought the luxurious day to a close.  After being awake for about 18 hours, I crashed happily into a billowy dressed bed and slept peacefully until morning.

On Wednesday, my friend, Karen, and I dropped her son off at the bus top en route to his work and then she and I walked her delightful Labradoodle, Bella, through the dog park at Park Royal, past the duck pond and out to a spit that stretched into the ocean facing Stanley Park. We began to get caught up on ten months of missed chatter and then I returned to get ready to attend a late morning funeral service for the brother of my friend, Christine.
The service was beautiful and the reception provided the family with the chance to meet some of the people he knew that they had never met.  I feel as if it was a serendipitous occasion that I was able to attend the event in the short window that I was here.