15 years later - I wish you the best!

Yesterday I met for dinner with a bunch of women who I had not seen for at least 15 years. I occasionally run into a few of them at the grocery store or Tim Horton's or the Second Cup or even in the halls of British Columbia's Children's Hospital where most of us work.

Unfortunately, those quick meetings are always at the expense of having to go somewhere else, pick up children somewhere, need to get to a meeting somewhere or to see a patient somewhere. Nonetheless, we make time to exchange the quickest of hugs and hellos and a very heartfelt "I'm so glad to see you. I miss you". Needless to say these stolen few seconds of every day life are never enough to bring ourselves up to date.

So yesterday we met. We met!!!! We had 15 years of catchup to do. When we were together 15 years ago some of us were struggling with major life decisions and now those decisions have been made and I am proud to say they led us down a good path.  Some of us were beginning new careers now we are old farts who know what we are doing. 15 years ago a few of us were pregnant now those kids are adolescents!!!

Last night, we shared happy and sad moments. We remembered patients lost and we thanked them for the learning they provided. We remembered colleagues. We reminisced about the past.  I thanked them for the shower they threw me when I was pregnant with Sebastian and I also thanked them for looking in on Benjamin when he was intubated in the special care nursery, a task that they did willingly (sometimes in the middle of the night) when I was not there. I thanked them for all of the things they taught me when I began my career as a doctor in Canada. I thanked them for their friendship and company, EVEN if we have not seen each other in a very long time.

We gossiped too, a lot!!!! Really, what reunion is a good reunion without it's good share of gossip?  We laughed and laughed.

I am glad to say that 15 years later we are mostly healthy and mostly happy. Last night we looked back but we also looked forward. Forward to new adventures, to new challenges, to the joy of grandchildren (really Joan, a grandmother? IMPOSSIBLE to believe as my kids said when I showed them the pictures because Joan you should know, looks like a teenager).

I look forward to the next 15 years. I look forward to seeing you all again in the halls at Children's, or the neighbourhood, or the coffee shop or the grocery store and catching a quick glance of each other while on our hurried way to something else and quietly thinking "We did well didn't well? I can't talk right now but you know, I WISH YOU THE BEST!".

Super Bowl Sunday.

In case you didn't know Mexicans are HUGE American Football fans. I would venture to say they are just as fanatical about football as they are about soccer. Maybe more?

Thus I grew up with it at home. All season long my father and brothers would watch all and any football  game available on TV. Yep, every Saturday, Sunday AND Monday night. And by osmosis so would I. This is how I learned about football just by being around. When it wasn't yet cool or expected for girls to know about football I KNEW about football. I was not only aware, I was knowledgeable!

Yes, knowledgeable. I know how the game is played, how to keep score, the difference between a touch down and a field goal, what being hit behind the line of scrimmage is and how many yards they need to advance with each down. I know about offensive units, defensive units and special team units. I know the difference between a lineman and a receiver. I know the difference between a fullback and a halfback and yes I also know what a tight end is and NO it has nothing to do with how tight their butt is!

By age 16 I could spew off names and had opinions about quarterbacks like Dan Marino, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Joe Montana, even Joe Namath (jeez this dates me huh?). I even knew who OJ Simpson was before he began behaving badly.

I remember the team of choice at home was of course the Dallas Cowboys. FYI - this is possibly "Mexico's team" in the sense that A LOT of Mexicans like the Dallas Cowboys. One of my brothers however, has always been partial to the Seahawks and I hope that this is their and also HIS and his kids' year.

We were such fans that on my 15th birthday we took a trip to Dallas and my Dad bought tickets for us to watch a game while there. I don't think it was specially for my birthday, at 15 I was probably much more interested in clothes but I remember the game. I remember it being very cold and us having a discussion with the people behind us who were supporting the other team.

Over time I have come to realize how much this fascination with American football has become part of the fabric of my life. You have probably already noticed but different sport games have different sounds. I can distinguish (without looking at the TV) the stadium sound of a soccer game, a football game and/or a hockey game. They are distinct in the noise the fans make, the music they play and the noise from the game itself.

That very recognizable sound, the sound of an football game on TV is part of the ever present soundtrack of my life so much so that when I first arrived in Canada and was feeling homesick and lonely I would turn the TV on to a football game and INSTANTLY feel at home. I still do it once in a while, turn the TV on while I cook and BANG back home!!! Flood of memories.

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and there will not be a party and a bacchanalian feast like there was at my house when I was growing up but I will be watching and more importantly I will be .... FEELING AT HOME!!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!