When I was given the short timeline for life I did what I’ve done all my life, I started gathering important people around me. One of those gatherings was to bring all my long time eastern grade school, high school and university friends together for an event I affectionately called ‘Going Nowhere.'
Some of these lads I have known for 44 years and the majority of us have been friends for at least 35 years. These are the guys that you really know, the guys that have been through so many good and bad times that you know they will have your back regardless of geography.
Our first trip was a kayak adventure out of Nanaimo, and the trip was beyond epic. The mood at that event was certainly one of acceptance that this was our last adventure together.
Well, imagine our surprise and delight when a group of us were able to organize the second assembly of this group of goons. I just got back on Monday from the Going Nowhere 2019 trip to the Silverstar Ski Resort. 16 lads assembled, coming from Ohio, Michigan, Cayman Island, Ontario, BC and of course Alberta.
As you can imagine having 16 irresponsible kids running loose in a single home can be quite noisy, stinky yet really, really fun.
I worked hard at not eating poorly or drinking much, I tried so very hard to nap each day and to get to bed early. Actually I am proud that I napped each day, and I was in bed at midnight at the latest, but the eating wasn’t the best and I may be paying for that today as I have a very sore gut. As my friend Greg says ‘one chip is too much and a thousand chips are not enough!’ At home I rarely eat chips but in Silverstar there always bowls everywhere and impossible to ignore.
I am meeting the oncologist tomorrow with results of a blood test I took today so we will soon find out if it’s a pancreatic inflammation or me simply being tired from 12 hours of skiing, bowling and of course the late night walk up the hill. With a bit of airplane travel thrown in for good measure.
In my condition these days are a bit like a spastic marathon.
Either way you shake it, the trip was so worth it and connecting with the lads will always be a highlight memory.
Am already thinking of what we will do next year!