Life Lessons from the lesbian, lovers and.....the sisterhood!

I am grateful for this crazy life I live. There are days when I am not. However, I am quick to turn to gratitude when I consider the "adventures" I experience with the people/family God allows me to cross paths with on a daily basis.

Take for instance the evening last weekend I invited my parents to join me at Isabellas coffee bar for a night of live jazz music. One thing I love about my parents is how hospitable there are towards friends and strangers. ( Let's not forget this or this as well, but I digress!) That night, they decided to invite a lady in their seniors building who is dying of cancer to join us - well, it was more like a kidnapping! They knew she needed a distraction.

As it turns out, there was no soft, jazz music conducive to 75 year old seniors. No, it happened to be a BAD country band. I, who is a country music lover - yes I do admit to that, did not like this band. Of all the times I have been to these live music nights at Isabella's, I ALWAYS hear wonderful musicians. Not that night. We left early. Thankfully, my parents were good sports about the whole thing.

In true Whalen fashion, we couldn't end the night without some kind of embarrassment. Remember, seniors have no inhibitions! Our cars were parked in front of this men's clothing store, which happened to be beside an apartment filled with "druggies"(excuse my lack of political correctness). As you see in the photo below, my parents wanted a picture of this sign. Someone once said, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." So...I decided to join in and be creative with the photo op! Good "craic" (pronounced "crack") was had by all that night.

Gratitude. Remember.

Yesterday...

The day began when I picked up a community care client to take to her doctors appointment. Usually they are seniors but not this woman, so it caught me off guard. Immediately as she entered my car I knew she had a rough life. In the span of the 10 minute drive to her appointment, she shared openly her entire life story. My assumptions were correct. I learned she was a widowed lesbian who recently had a one night stand with a woman who had a questionable sexual history so needed to get tested to make sure she didn't contract a STD. In addition, I was told she grew up in foster care, then lived on the streets, and finally came out of the closet. There was a part of me that was afraid she was going to "hit" on me because the conversation leaned that way until I quickly changed topics! I admit I was uncomfortable. No, I am not "homophobic." I think part of my discomfort was the heaviness of our conversation. I was trying to process everything while listening to her talk. She was lonely, in pain and scared out of her mind. I could see it in her eyes. I realized that I needed to put aside my uneasiness and just listen. I don't believe it was coincidence I was her driver. God allowed me to cross her path for some reason. One of which was to remind me that I have every reason to be thankful for my life.

Gratitude. Remember.

By the way, apparently she had a yeast infection, not an STD! Yes, that may be too much information, but she was SOOOOOO relieved. I shook my head and chuckled. I needed the laughter....

Which I found later on in the day.

My best friend and her daughter had driven up on the weekend from Kingston to visit family. The night before yesterday, we had an adventure, including loads of laughter, at the movies. Shari, her daughter Mady, sister Sandra and I went to see "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants part 2." Shari and I have a history of bringing in food illegally to the movies. One time when we were in high school, we brought in a whole meal deal from Dairy Queen, including the ice cream sundae! My large handbag does come in handy after all!

We decided to keep the tradition going but this time we brought in "turkey bites" and cheese! Can you imagine. Turkey bites? What were we thinking? Where were the M&M's? As part of the "sisterhood", we wanted to support San on her protein day. We were EXCITED! So, with the smell of the turkey bites wafting throughout the theatre, we chowed down and enjoyed every DELICIOUS, low fat, low calorie, illegal morsel, while laughing our guts out and tearing up during this great movie about the bond of friendship.

Gratitude. Remember.

Back to the day at hand... After I drove my client home, I met up with Shari and Mady to visit our friend's mom in the hospital. She had a major stroke in July. She was like a second mom to us. We needed to be there. That is what the "sisterhood" is all about!

Gratitude. Remember.

After the visit, we headed on over to the Salvation Army Thrift Store to see what treasures we could find. Shari is the queen of thrift store shopping. Interrupting our mission, my cell phone rang. It was my mom. I could tell another adventure was about to ensue.

My instincts were correct again. Apparently my parents got their car towed while at a doctors appointment in downtown Toronto. I couldn't believe it. Parking was suppose to be free for people who have a disabled sticker on their car. No one told my parents about the "fine print." It is free except between the hours of 3 and 7 pm!

So, I had to go rescue their car out of the pound. I quickly said goodbye to my "sista" and frantically drove to catch the Go Train into Toronto. I was praying the whole time none of us would panic and that we would make the most out of the situation.

I wasn't sure what state my parents would be in when I met them at Union Station. I should not have had any doubts - it was Mabel and Wyman after all!! When I arrived at our meeting place, my gregarious parents were chatting it up with the people sitting beside them on the bench. Of course!

Armed with the address of the pound, we began our trek to find the car. No problem. After paying the crazy fee of $175, we were allowed to take the car. Whew!

Mabel and Wyman ( yes, those are my parents real names!) were not defeated and wanted to make the best of the situation. So, while in Toronto, we decided to have a late dinner at this amazing fish & chip restaurant called, Duckworths.

After dinner, we safely made it home. What an adventure making the most out of a bad situation!

Gratitude. Remember.

I am thankful for my crazy life!

Shari and Mady on a mission at the Thrift Store.

Here I am on the Go Train...

The view of the Toronto skyline from the train...

Meeting up with my parents at Union Station ( I forgot to take a pic of the car in the pound!)...
Driving through The Beach...
Ready for our dinner...
Delicious!