Endings become Beginnings

I'm a visual person.
I think in pictures. I remember in pictures. I feel in pictures.

In the past couple of months, there were a few milestones to be marked. Two endings and I beginning.
Which I tried to capture in pictures.

The first was a family event on Vancouver Island. A sad occasion, but with much laughter and love (and Mai Tais!)

On the Celebration - seemed fitting. 

Began with a beautiful ferry ride under sunny skis (orcas included).
Then an adventure on local transit through lovely areas (one extra-helpful driver, one not so much!) and final arrival at an awesome location at the edge of the Victoria International Airport.

Super-retro spot, literally by the edge of the runway. There was a double-wide band of small private planes between all of us on the lawn and commercial planes taxiing in, up close and personal. Almost thought I could see the bored looks on the faces of the United Airlines attendants through the windows!

Skies turned a bit moody while we were there. Probably fitting, as our generation said good-bye to the last of our parents' generation. They had been a large group - 12 siblings, plus their spouses. With even just a fraction of our cousins able to attend, there was much to think about, to remember, to feel.

The second was a sweet good-bye to the Pink Palace in West Vancouver. An icon on the North Shore shoreline with forever views (so you can forgive the tired interiors.) Martin's mom had moved into a residential home and it was time to say good-bye to the Palace.

It was an awesome, bright evening. The apartment was empty, the colours were sharp, the shadows were crisp. The breeze through the window slats was teasing the sheer curtain and made me wish I'd worn a hat and gloves to the farewell.

Post-pizza. Basking in the glorious light

Admittedly, Martin and I went a little more low-brow than that. Pizza from a box on the deck. Paper napkins to wipe off the sauce. Water from the tap.

Nonetheless, we considered ourselves lucky. We were able to enjoy the clarity and the sparkle, just one day before a haze descended upon Vancouver and choked it for a week with smoke from the many wildfires in the vicinity.

Those were the endings.

But from endings come beginnings...

As an offshoot of a collective good-bye to one of the original 12, a plot was hatched to hold a family reunion. It had been many years (too many years) since the last one. The memorial services for the 12 had been our proxies for the real thing, but they were always a bit too sad. It was time to stake a claim, to go with happiness and light and family.

One cousin family stepped up to organize, another quickly offered to host us on their farm on Vancouver Island. The plan was in play. In their capable hands, execution was assured.

And so we - the next-gen, plus offspring, plus offspring of offspring - spent a wonderful weekend at Maple Bay Farm on the August long weekend. Remembering, reminiscing, reconnecting (and yes, some drinking was involved.  We are Stevens', after all)

The weather was spectacular - the company even more so. There was an Amazing Race, a Softball Game, an impromptu water-balloon toss.

There's a turkey in there somewhere

Plus the food - deep-fried turkey, Chilliwack corn, burgers and dogs, excellent coffee ("Serious Coffee" courtesy of our hosts, Jeannette and Rob Humphreys) and home-baked treats.

We had about 60 or so people there (including our Saskatchewan voyagers, who always make the trek.) Amazingly,  that's only a fraction of our total reach.  I'm the youngest of the 50 cousins and we are all 'of an age' where our Next Gen Plus must total 170 or more, on a conservative estimate.

Dinner gathering under the canopies

It was wonderful, it was beautiful, it was family. And we plan to do it again in a few years. I can hardly wait!

Beautiful sky in a beautiful place. Maple Bay Farm, near Duncan BC.