On Her Side

What had once been an extremely happy household was falling apart slowly, piece by piece, and was gradually getting worse as the days and months went by. What had changed?  Was it the stress of having teenagers in the house? Or was it the constant financial struggles that burdened them ever since they built themselves a massive house to keep up with the standards of their friends?  What was it?

Their relationship had been so strong too.  It was so strong and seemingly so good that I even encouraged him to marry her.  My son couldn't have gotten a better wife, and they were so compatible before.  Tracey and Mike.  Wow.  To me, their names flowed together so naturally, like they were always meant for each other.  I think I almost loved Tracey more than my son. She was a gem, and it was such a shame to see their marriage failing.

            I remember the day so well...the day Mike came to me to tell me that it was all over.  He told me that they were getting a divorce.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, yet if I actually took the time to think about it, their marriage...well...sucked.  If I really thought about it, I had had a feeling that this would happen someday, yet the harsh reality of it struck me harder than I would have ever imagined.  This was the death of something.  The death of a relationship.  My grandchildren were now children of a broken family, and that alone made my heart ache for them.  As I collapsed on the couch thinking about my poor grandchildren and also my poor daughter-in-law, the answer came to me.  I knew exactly why the marriage didn’t work.  It was entirely his fault.  It was because of my own son that a perfectly nice family had been ripped apart.  He had never worked at being a good father when the girls needed him most.  He rarely helped out around the house, he didn’t treat Tracey the way she deserved anymore, and frankly, I knew in my heart that my son was...a bit of a failure.  Often I blame myself for how he turned out.  I’m not your typical mother and way back then, I believed in tough love.  Perhaps I went a little bit overboard.  Still, Mike could have turned out better than he did, and little did I know, but this situation was about to get a lot worse.  I was definitely on her side.

The Unknown

He had never been fond of Ron, and Ron hated Tom just the same.  So how did they get here?  They were stranded and alone in a boat in the middle of Harris Lake.  It was just another cottage weekend and fishing was Tom’s favourite thing to do.  But when his wife suggested he take Ron along, his heart sank. 

“So...ever been fished before?” , Tom reluctantly asked, desperately trying to fill the awkward silence.  There was an edge to his tone.

“Tom, I’m only here because my wife made me come.  You know that right?” Ron rudely replied, failing to answer Tom’s question.  “I hate these couples weekends.  Is it even necessary for us to come along?  Why don’t our wives come alone?”

“I often wonder the same thing.  You think I like it here with you?!  Fishing’s my alone time, and I don’t need a tag-along.” Tom was getting really annoyed by this point.

“Well, it’s unfortunate that I have to be joining you then.”

            They sat there in silence.  The lake was still at this time.  The sun was just setting, and it reflected off of the crystal clear water like a mirror. Suddenly, something bumped the bottom of the boat.  The two men were jolted. Once, twice...three times!  What was happening?  The boat was beginning to tip back and forth, and with the forth bump, the edge of the right side of the little fishing boat dipped into the lake and let some water in.

“Uhh...Tom?  Is this normal?  What was that?” By this time, Ron had forgotten about their argument and was starting to get nervous.

“I-I don’t know.  Don’t worry about it.  Anyway, we should start heading ho-” BAM.  Again the boat was struck from beneath, but this time with more force than ever.

3D movies...are they really that great?

There was a time where I thought that 3D movies were just the best thing out there.  I thought that they were so awesome...and also unique.  Well, let’s just say that my opinion has completely changed from ten years ago. 

Didn’t it used to be rare when a movie came out in 3D?  It seems like every single movie out in theatres is in 3D!  I’ve actually come to the point where I am tired of wearing the 3D glasses.  Almost every time I see a 3D movie, I end up touching the lenses accidentally with my greasy, popcorn hands and it leaves a smudge on there that I can’t get off for the rest of the movie.  How distracting.  And paying an extra $3.00?!  Most of the time, those inconveniences aren’t worth it because 3D movies just aren’t very special anymore...at least to me.

This could easily just be me, but when I’m watching a 3D movie, the temptation to put the glasses down and away from my eyes to see what the screen looks like without them is uncontrollable.  Multiple times during a movie, I can’t help but to lower the glasses to my nose just to see the blur of the screen (yet again).  I don’t know why I always do this, knowing full-well what it will look it. It definitely takes away from the enjoyment of a movie. 

Now, movies like Avatar are amazing to watch in 3D.  That movie was really enhanced and unique, and the effects of the movie were extremely impressive.  In that scenario, 3D effects made the movie an entirely better experience, but when Shrek 4 came out in 3D (of course, like almost every other movie nowadays), I was annoyed. 

I think that the craziest thing of all is the new 3D TVs that you can buy for your own house.  Who wants to be wearing special 3D glasses while lounging on the couch?  And what if more people are in the room wanting to watch TV too and there are more people than 3D glasses available?  Five people could be excluded, while a regular TV is available for everyone to watch and enjoy.  Really, I like things to be simple. I find that, for the most part, non-3D movies are often just as, and often even more enjoyable to watch. 

Over-all, I have to say that at this time of my life with 3D movies being so popular and over-done, they just aren’t my thing.  Maybe one day I’ll grow to love them, but for now, just give me a regular movie.

Craft Time at the Psych Ward

"She was trapped inside of her own body
 at craft time at the psych ward"

“Now Betty, calm down.  We are going to the cra—”

“AHH”, Betty screamed.  What she was really thinking was “I’m not mental!  I just can’t get the words out.  I don’t belong in this psych ward!”

As Betty tried to express herself, she got more and more frustrated and began kicking her feet.  These actions were definitely not helping her prove her case.

The caregiver and Betty proceeded, against Betty’s will, to craft time in the bleak and bare gymnasium, two halls down from Betty’s single square room.  The psych ward was newer.  It had been built in 2005, yet the floors remained unpolished day in and day out, and the drab atmosphere of the building made it seem fifty years old.  The cinderblock walls of the gymnasium kept it cold, dingy and unventilated.

As Betty entered the room she saw that, like every 4pm craft time, large, scratched wooden tables were placed in a semi-circle facing the dusty stage at the front of the room.  Faded blue flat mats were lying underneath the tables with footprints of the people sitting above in the chairs.  Every other chair had a desperate, hopeless, and seemingly non-existent soul inhabiting an unkempt body.  Three long florescent tube lights beamed down upon the group of people.  The higher part of the gym walls had a row of five windows which let in a limited amount of sunlight.  Even though the windows were so high up on the wall, they were barred with thick metal that had been painted white.  Sadness lingered in the air here.

 As Betty was guided past the three tall men who were guarding the two large wooden doors at the entrance, she saw that on every table in front of each individual was a row of an egg carton, two googly eyes and five brightly coloured pom poms.  “This craft again?!”, Betty thought, “Who do they think we are?  This is unbelievable.  I mean, homemade caterpillars...”.  But nothing came out but some jumbled noises and a few shrieks.  One tall guard from the entrance came to assist Betty’s caregiver, and firmly took hold of Betty’s shoulders, trying to calm her down.  “This is outrageous!”, Betty shrieked in her mind.  She was trapped inside of her own body at craft time at the psych ward.

Road Trips

There is nothing that I love more than going on road trips with my family.  It is the thing that I look forward to most, and I absolutely LOVE being in the car, having hours and hours of driving ahead.  A trip to Florida would be a letdown if my parents told my sister and I that we were flying there.  The trip would simply be ruined.   Well, not exactly ruined, but a major highlight would be lost.  I find that it is on road trips when I realize how much I love spending time with my family and how well we get along and have fun together.  One time, my grandparents took my sister and I on a road trip all the way to California.  It was a month long journey, and we stopped at so many memorable sites along the way, including a handful of National Parks and the Grand Canyon.  That trip was absolutely incredible.  I also grew up driving to the cottage, although that is only a 4 hour drive.  Still, I always remember being on long trips in the car with my family, and loving it. 

One may ask, how can you possibly love driving for 19 hours to Orlando, or anywhere else?  Wouldn't you get bored?  Well, there are many things you can do.  Here are a few:

-         * Listen to music and look out the window

-         *Just look out the window!

-         * Play the billboard, sign and license plate alphabet game

-         * Eat tons of snacks

-          *Talk in the car

-         * Play cards or mini-games

-          *Sleep

-          *Write in your trip journal, or any journal!

When I was younger, I would spend hours annoying my sister, asking her if she wanted to play rock, paper, scissors or hang-man, or to make up another handshake.  Needless to say, there have definitely been tense moments in the car.  To be honest, fights in the car with my sister were often started by me, as I believe that it is legitimately the role of a younger sibling to be a bugger.  Where would the fun be without it?  And sometimes my parents would be pushed to the point to say “it’s quiet time now”.  THAT is when we knew we had gone too far with the bickering.  Even the arguments in the car make for good memories and stories later on.  One time in particular stands out in my mind to be the scariest and most tense road trip experience.  It was the time when we drove to Siesta Key, Florida…

It was just the 4 of us in the van, like usual, and I was in grade 3 or 4.  We were almost there, and by that time, my parents were a bit stressed with finding the condo where we were headed.  Finally we found the little building where we had to stop to pick up the keys.  During the trip we had had many snacks in the car, including a tin box filled with the delicious home-made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that my mom had made.  The van was hot, the floor was gritty, and we were all irritable.  At this moment, I decided that it would be nice to eat a cookie…so I reached down to the floor, grabbed the tin of cookies, and began lifting the box upward.  It felt like slow motion when the flimsy lid flipped off, and I dropped the tin, watching it fall slowly to the floor of the dirty van.  The dozens of cookies that my mom had baked especially for our week in Florida were now scattered on the floor mixed with the dirt and grit that had accumulated over the 20 hour drive.  “Ohh no.”, I thought.  I knew that this was terrible timing, and a complete disaster.  We were all counting on those cookies to last us the week! As my dad heard the crash, he turned around, and the look on his face made my heart skip a beat.  I was in trouble, and I was terrified.  My dad rarely gets mad, but when he does, it sucks.  “Mom worked so hard baking those for us and now they’re EVERYWHERE Austin!! Look at this mess!”  The tone was what made it impossible for me to hold back tears. Him and I opened the van door and picked up the cookies one by one, salvaging the ones that didn’t look completely demolished.  As we were just calming down from the trauma that this cookie dropping incident had caused, and as my dad was apologizing for his over-reaction, I saw Ellery out of the corner of my eye.  She was sitting in the back seat.  There were still some cookies left in the tin, and as she reached for them…they spilt again.  It was over, and we both knew it.  We knew that mom and dad would not be happy, and we did not know what would be happening next.  A second cookie tin drop had pushed it far over the line.  It was unbelievable because we had lasted 19 hours with nothing going wrong, and on the last hour, everyone snapped.  “It’s quiet time now” did not need to be said this time.  We all knew that the van would remain silent until we reached our destination. 

When I think back to that time, it makes me remember all of the other road trips, and how they have all been fun, amazing, and memorable experiences.  The tense moments have created the funniest memories for all of us.  This March break, the 4 of us are driving to Charlotte for a few days, and then my sister is flying back for school.  After that, we are continuing on to Myrtle Beach for a few days.  I can’t wait for the drive.  

School- The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

School can be considered the highest stress-point for many people.  It is what our futures hinder on, and is a main priority for a lot of us.  If you take a look at high school, the pressure comes in grade 11 and 12 when you realize that you are soon going to have to make a major decision..."What am I going to do after high school?!".  To be honest, this is the question that has, in a way, tainted my grade 12 year.  It has been an awesome year, but thinking about the marks that are needed to get into university, wondering what it will be like to live away from home, imagining being separated from best friends, and actually applying to the program that I think, to the best of my knowledge, will give me the most options later on, has made me extremely scared of the future and what it holds. 

I have never been a person who likes change.  I feel most comfortable with routine, and always take a while to adjust in new situations.  However, despite my uncertainties about future education plans, I am so happy to have the opportunity to learn, and to expand my horizons.  Even though school is the thing that stresses me out most at the present time, I appreciate it because it is the reason I enjoy weekends, holidays, and other fun things.

 In my opinion, you can't enjoy the fun unless you've done the work before. If life was always a vacation, it wouldn't be!  Instead, it would turn into regular, boring, everyday life.