085 DARK DAYS

Sunday, July 9th was just a blur of images, voices and I was barely aware of my surroundings.  I kept slipping in and out of consciousness although I prefer to think I was sleeping.  I do remember an overwhelming thirst for water as I had gone almost 16 hours without.  This despite being hooked up to an IV.  I wanted ice water and in some cases just ice.  Apparently, my daughter Caitlin drove all the way up from Burnaby to be by my side.  I was told she was there, but I have no independent memory of it.  I’m also told that good friends Glenda and Ron Miles came to the hospital as well, but again, I don’t remember.

I vaguely remember intense, excruciating pain in my left shoulder, but I did not know what I did to hurt it.  I still don’t for that matter.  I was receiving injections of Hydromorphone every four hours to control the pain.  Funnily enough, my feet were not hurting at all.  Had I been fully conscious I likely would have refused the heavy-duty pain killers, although, maybe not as the pain was almost unbearable.  Monday, I don’t remember at all.

Apparently during the time, I was out of it, there was discussion about amputating my foot.  I have no idea which one and I assume the discussion was between the Doctors, Renee and Caitlin.  At this point, other than the ankle injury to my right foot, there were no signs that I could perceive of what was to come with it.  Again, I was barely semi-conscious, so I had no idea what was going on.

Renee had driven my truck in from the cabin, following the ambulance.  Toby was with her.  She spent time in the emergency ward waiting for some indication of what was happening and then finally went back out to the truck.  She slept in the truck in the parking lot that night.  But it was not going to be an option for Toby to stay in the truck during the day with the Kamloops heat and the severe smoke.

Because of all the wildfires, a refugee center had been set up in Kamloops and they welcomed her with open arms and provided her a place to sleep.  There was also a kennel available with Veterinarians to take care of Toby.  He did not handle the separation from me well at all, and became very sick from the anxiety.  He chewed a hole in his own leg and was in such rough shape, it became touch and go for him as well.  Things were mighty stressful for Renee at that point with both Toby and I in life threatening situations.  Renee was now missing work, and nobody could tell her or me for that matter how long I would be in hospital.

When I finally became more fully conscious I still wanted lots of water and was drinking 4 or 5 liter jugs a day.  Finally, the Doctors who admitted me in Emergency[TG1]  came to see me.  This was Tuesday or Wednesday, I’m not sure.  They told me that I was brought into the hospital in full sepsis and bordering on septic shock, in fact sitting right on the edge of septic shock.  If had slipped over that edge, they told me I would have not survived and that there was nothing they would have been able to do about it.  My internal organs would have quickly begun shutting down in a cascade effect.  As it was, they did not expect me to survive the night.  They were happy to see that I did.  That was the first indication and realization of just how sick I really was.  All from a cut foot.

Now to begin the long slow process of recovery.  I was hooked up to an IV, 24/7 and getting massive doses of antibiotics 3 or 4 times a day.  My left shoulder was giving me extreme agony and I don’t know why.  It was so bad that I was getting regular injections of hydromorphone to keep the pain tolerable.  My left arm was useless, and I could not bend the fingers of my left hand.

I was also receiving injections of Insulin 3 times a day because my blood sugar was so extremely high.  I was told that I was now diabetic.  Although, they say I was probably diabetic for several months but didn’t know it as I had no symptoms at all.  I had been tested a year previously and was not diabetic then.

I became aware of some members of my care team at that point, and everyone was wonderful.  Nurse Tim really stood out for me.  A male nurse, who I insisted looked like the actor, Vince Vaughn and in fact I called him that several times.  He said he preferred to think he looked like Mr. Big from Sex and The City.  Having never watched the show I couldn’t say.  Tim was amazing and took such great care of me.

---

 [TG1]

084 THE BEGINNING OF, ALMOST THE END (PART 2)

Over the next couple of days, everything was fine.  My right ankle was still sore, but there were no symptoms or pain from my left foot.  I still had no idea of the extent of the injury to my left foot.  The next day we took the boat out for a cruise around the lake and I am still walking around in bare feet, except when we did our walks down the logging road and then I would wear my runners.  This is also significant as I later learned, that running shoes are breeding grounds for bacteria.

July 8^th rolls around and we didn’t get to take the boat out yesterday or today because there is a major wildfire burning in Ashcroft and the smoke is pouring into the lake area and reducing visibility to near zero.  This is the first time Renee has experienced the smoke at the lake, but for me it is eerily like the McClure/Barriere wildfire in 2003.

Renee is due to leave tomorrow and I’ll be driving her into Kamloops to meet the Greyhound.  She must be back to work on Monday.  We were trying to time it so that Renee would be in Kamloops for her departure, while at the same time my daughter Tamara and her boyfriend Stephen would be arriving.  This would save me making two trips into Kamloops in two days. My son Karl and his girlfriend Lizeth would be arriving by car later in the week and hi old friend Mat and his girlfriend would be arriving a day after them.  We had a fun week planned.  Little did I know that we would be going to Kamloops far earlier than that and for a far different reason.

In the morning my left foot had been hurting, so a put a large Band-Aid over it and taped it with adhesive tape to keep it on.  We continued with our normal routine.  Late in the afternoon, I decided to take some photos of the Humming Birds at the feeder.  They had been swarming it, but were very skittish this year.  I took the screen out of the front window and laid down inside on my recliner holding the camera.  I was ready.  The humming birds weren’t.  I use a Nikon D4s with a 600-mm lens and the whole combination is heavy, around 20 pounds.  I sat like that for two hours and didn’t get a shot.

Suddenly my left shoulder and mid back went into severe spasm and from there I went into full on hypothermia and could not stop shivering.  It was 31C out and I had 4 blankets on me but could not get warm.  My head was pounding, and I felt like puking.  I was in bad shape and I knew I was in real trouble.

My left foot was now hurting as was my right ankle.  Renee looked at my foot and was shocked to see what it looked like.  So much so, that she took a photo of it.  During the day the tape and Band-Aid had slipped further down my foot and you can see the tape in the photo.  I begged Renee to call 9-1-1 and get an ambulance.

MY FOOT MINUTES BEFORE AMBULANCE ARRIVED

They finally arrived 45 minutes to an hour later, having come all the way from Clearwater.  They loaded me up and we headed for Kamloops Royal Inland Hospital.  When we hit the highway in Barriere and they flipped on the lights and siren, I really knew I was in trouble.  From there, I don’t remember too much.  I don’t remember the trip from Barriere to Kamloops or even arriving in hospital.

After arriving at emergency, I was fading in and out of consciousness, but I distinctly remember spinning around and around in a large black basin like a toilet.  I was literally going down the drain.  I remember reaching out and grabbing something and holding on for dear life.  It may have been someone’s hand, but I don’t know.  I do remember my Mom coming to me again.  It wasn’t as long a meeting this time, but she delivered the same message, “it’s not your time you have to go back”.  Mom had passed away in 1992 and so the visit with her was significant.  I had been visited by her once before in 1996 when I was almost killed after crashing my patrol car during a chase.  I’m told that I woke up for a short time, which was right after her visit, although I do not remember that at all.

083 THE BEGINNING OF, ALMOST THE END

First off it has been a long time since I wrote in this blog and it’s just because I got busy and there was not a lot to write about.  That is until this summer, when a life altering, and life-threatening event occurred.  No, it wasn’t a heart attack, like what happened to Russ, which I detailed in a previous article.  This involves a massive infection, caused by a cut foot.  Who would have thought that a cut, or in this case a large abrasion, could result in killing someone?  But first a little background on events leading up to the main event. 

Writing for me is cathartic, and I have posted bits ad pieces of what happened, in Facebook updates, but they don’t begin to tell the whole story.  In fact, when I thought about doing this “tell all” article, I did a post on Facebook first.  I was encouraged to write it by several responses on Facebook, in private messages and in person.  So, as they say, “here goes”.  Hold onto your hats as we begin this harrowing tale.

I’m not going to pull any punches as it were.  This will be the whole story, in full unadulterated detail.  There will be gross things mentioned and one or two gross photos.  This is compiled from memory, from stories I have been told by Renee and my kids.  There will be information I received from Doctors, nurses and all my care team, as well as notes I kept on my iPhone and iPad.  So, without further ado, we begin.  The whole story will necessarily be broken into segments.

In early June, I was out walking Toby and on the back path, when I stepped on a loose rock and rolled my right ankle.  Man did it hurt.  I did the usual things involving ice, tape and anti-inflammatory and it was healing quickly.  I had gotten to the point of being almost pain free, when I took the truck in to have the brakes done before heading up to the lake.  It was a nice day and I decided we would walk home.  It turned out to be 6.5 km, which is normally no big deal, but by the time I got 5 km into the walk, I was in agony and not sure if I could make it home.  I eventually did, and resumed my treatment of the ankle.

On June 22, I finished loading the truck, limping all the while and Toby and I headed for the lake.  The normally 5-hour drive, only took 4 this year, as I thought, after moving to Maple Ridge.  This was the first chance I had to test my theory though.  We made it safely, and began our usual lake ritual, waiting for Renee’s arrival on July 4^th.  We couldn’t launch the boat as it’s a 2-person operation.  One to drive the boat and one to drive the truck.

On July 4^th, we drove in to Kamloops and picked Renee up at the Greyhound.  She doesn’t own a car but has her license and can drive.  This becomes important later.  We spend the day relaxing and doing our normal morning and evening walk.  In the past, these walks have stretched out to, at their peak, 14 km.  But, Toby this year, is getting old and flat out refused to do more than 2 km.  This was fine with my ankle, which was still hurting.

On July 5^th we took the boat down to get it into the water and here is where the story really takes off.  I backed the trailer down into the water.  Normally when doing this I would wear some type of water shoes, or in my case the diving boots from my wet suit.  However, because on my ankle injury, it and my foot were still too swollen to get them on, so I went barefoot.

As I stepped out of the truck and into the water, I slipped and skidded a few feet down the concrete ramp.  As anyone who has launched a boat knows, the concrete boat ramp is very gritty, to help vehicles with traction.  I didn’t think anything of it and I couldn’t feel anything wrong.  This stems from a long ago back injury and I haven’t really been able to feel my toes for many years.

Boat in the water, I jumped in and the engine fired up right away.  A very good sign after sitting unused for almost two years.  I drove the boat up to the cabin, reveling in the warm sunshine and the return to the water after missing last summer.  I had no idea the shape my foot was in.  It wasn’t hurting so I didn’t think about it.  I docked the boat, got out and walked across, the dock, across the beach and up the dirt path to the cabin.  All in bare feet.  This was driving, dirt and crud and bacteria, deep into my foot.

082 THE LONGEST WINTER

This has literally been the longest winter that I can recall.  It started getting cold in the last couple of days of November 2016 and has essentially remained cold right up to the writing of this article on Feb 6, 2017.  There has been lots of snow, not so much in overall accumulation, but more in the number of snow days.  Up until yesterday there had been 8 snow events overall and it has started snowing again today.

FIRST SNOW IN DECEMBER

FIRST FOOTPRINT IN SNOW

 Previous snow days in December produced a couple of inches of snow at best, at least out here in Maple Ridge.  Vancouver got considerably more, which is unusual.  Usually Vancouver will get a dusting of snow, while the valley gets the big dump.

This past weekend though, it started snowing at 8:30 AM on Friday morning and kept snowing all day and all night.  It continued to snow most of Saturday and finally stopped in the afternoon.  It did snow some more on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, but stopped for several hours before starting up again Sunday night. 

SIGNS OF SPRING IN JANUARY?

The snow stopped Monday morning after I dropped Renee off at the Westcoast Express.  It remained snow free and the sun even came out during our morning walk.  It started again about 2:30 PM and is now snowing heavily again.  So far, we have a measured 14 inches of snow at my place and it is building quickly.

This is the longest winter, I am sure, but it is by no means the biggest snowfall.  Way back in 1996, December 29 (My Dad’s birthday), it started snowing heavily and kept right on going.  It produced a record amount of snow over a couple of days, almost 32 inches.  I was supposed to be working, but had been badly injured in a car accident at work on December 6.

THE MIGHTY FRASER RIVER FROZEN

It was a blessing that I couldn’t work though, as the city was essentially shut down.  A Canucks game was cancelled, buses couldn’t move, other traffic was snarled.  I couldn’t really enjoy it because of a wicked concussion, although I did have my kids for a week during that time and we were able to trek over to the park so they could slide down the same hill that I did as a kid.

Here is a link to the great snowmaggedon story of 1996:

http://globalnews.ca/news/3146344/a-look-back-1996-snow-storm-of-the-century-hits-vancouver-and-victoria/

It has been an amazing winter.  It’s like living on the prairies, like my Mom.  We have had extreme cold days -12C (extreme for our area), there has been Chinook type weather were the temperature climbed above freezing and allowing it to rain and melt all the snow, only to have the cold return a few days later.

BARBECUING IN THE SNOW IN FEBRUARY

It has played hell with the electric bill as I have only electric baseboard heating.  I thought the $300 bill during the summer was bad because of the air conditioning, but the $450 bill put that one to shame.  It also convinced me to switch to a monthly equalization plan so now I pay a manageable $136 per month.

The strata corporation has been good about salting, sanding and even plowing our roads when needed.  The first night though was a bit of a rude awakening when the snow plow came through at 1:30 AM and woke us from a dead sleep.  It’s funny though, I talked to numerous neighbours and nobody else heard him.

BUILDUP ON TABLE

TOBY THE SNOWDOG

 It seems we are responsible for shoveling our own driveways, but it’s such a short one it doesn’t really matter.  Add in the fact that I don’t even use the driveway because I still can’t get the truck in the garage because of boxes from the move.  Imagine my surprise though when after being out, we came home and one of my wonderful neighbours had taken it upon themselves to shovel my driveway for me.  I have no idea who did it, but it was greatly appreciated.

SURPRISE, SHOVELED DRIVEWAY

 Anyway, I write this because truly one of my decision points for moving out here was because it gets more snow than Vancouver.  I certainly have not been disappointed.  I do love the snow, have no problem driving in it and I just think it makes everything look so beautiful.  So as the song says, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”.

081 DELIVERIES

My, how time flies.  It’s been almost a year now since I moved here and the time has flashed by so quickly.  I love it out here, as I’m sure I have mentioned a time or two before.  I’ve got my first summer under my belt, the first Halloween, the first Christmas, the first New Year and the first winter and all the snow, ice and cold temperatures that has entailed.

I really don’t miss the old place, not really, but I will admit to having the odd pang or two.  This was brought home by a series of events in the past week.  First off, I discovered quite by accident that the old house is back up for sale again.  This is surprising because the young couple that bought it were so enthusiastic about the location.

They had all these plans of buying the location, tearing down the house and building the first “passive” home in Vancouver.  I’m not quite sure what that is, but I assume it’s to do with the “green movement”.  In any case, for some reason, it gave me a funny feeling, but they are not having a great deal of success in selling so far.  It’s apparently been on the market for 90 days, for $1.78 million.  A substantial increase over what they bought it for.  When I sold, it had 18 offers the first day and was sold that evening.

One thing I do miss from the old place is that when I ordered something from Amazon, I had the option in a lot of cases of “same day delivery”.  That would be order in the morning and have it by evening.  That isn’t the case out here.  The best I can order is one day delivery, but that sometimes stretches out to two days.

The other day, I had three different deliveries scheduled to arrive, all from different sources.  One from Best Buy, one from Amazon and one from Epson.  So, the Epson one, which was printer ink cartridges was scheduled to arrive Friday by Purolator.  At 10:00 AM, I took Toby out for his walk and discovered a tag on my front door saying Purolator had missed me.

I was home and nobody knocked on the door or rang the doorbell.  I know this because, I didn’t hear it and when Toby hears someone knock or the doorbell ring, he goes mental.  He didn’t.  The tag said I would have to pick up the package on Monday at their holding center in Langley.  That’s a 40-minute drive and a toll bridge away, both ways.  So, I phoned Purolator to complain and they rescheduled the delivery for Monday.

Usually, the package gets left on the front porch, so I don’t know what was the problem this time.  In any case, they arrived on Monday, rang the doorbell and left the package on the porch.  By the time, I went down one flight of stairs, there was no sign of the driver or his truck.  Wow, talk about speedy delivery.

My Amazon delivery, scheduled for a guaranteed Friday delivery was sent by Canada Post but when I checked the Super box, it wasn’t there.  I waited until after 8:00 PM to complain to Amazon, which would have meant a refund of shipping charges, when the doorbell rang.  There was my neighbour.  The package had been put in their mail slot by mistake.

The only one that made it on time was the order from Best Buy, but this one has me confused.  They normally have their own trucks to make the delivery and yet, I found the package in my mail slot in the Super box.  They must have mailed it because only Canada Post has access to those boxes.

On the plus side, I eventually got all three packages, but I never had these problems in Vancouver.  Well, except for the printer ink from Epson.  Every time I got a delivery from them by Purolator I ended up having to pick it up from their drop off center, but that one was only 5 minutes away.

One thing that has been as dependable as clockwork has been my newspaper delivery.  In Vancouver, I was lucky to get the paper by 9:00 AM every day.  Here the guy arrives at 4:30 AM every day.  It included the snowiest, iciest or rainiest days, it has arrived on time.  The only day that was missed was when the production plant was shut down by technical difficulties and no papers got out anywhere.

The only other difficulties I have had with deliveries is that if it is a new driver for a regular delivery, like my groceries from Save-On and they can’t figure out how to get into the complex.  The address says one street, but the only entrance is on another street around the corner.  Once the complex is finished, there will be a main entrance on the correct street.

080 LIFE IS SHORT

Life is short and I had that brought home to me with a vengeance at hockey on Sunday morning.  Now before I get into the details of what brought me to this conclusion, I’d like to fill in a little bit of background, to bring everything into context.

RUSS CARRYING THE PUCK

I have been playing hockey since I was a kid and in 1971, I was 16, when 4 Rinks opened, I have been playing hockey every Sunday morning since.  4 Rinks has since become 8 Rinks, but now only 6 of the rinks are dedicated to hockey.  There is one rink for Skate Canada figure skating and one is an indoor soccer arena.  So, this year marks my 45^th season of Sunday hockey.

It is pickup hockey, but for the first 42 years or so, we had set teams.  One wearing white jerseys and one wearing dark.  Teams would get changed around occasionally in the off-season or at Christmas break.  Now, the teams are re-arranged each week, to defray the natural competitiveness that builds up between hockey players.  This way you are playing with different guys each week.

We are also a “superstitious” lot and each of us have our own rituals.  One thing is that there is a group that changes in one dressing room and a different group in the other.  The regulars are the ones that do this, the only change is when new guys or spares join us and then they go to the room with the most space.

You become close friends in the dressing room, swapping stories, talking about TV games, the news or off-color jokes.  Yet, with all the closeness that builds, sometimes you don’t even know the last name of the guy who has sat across from you, or next to you for 20 years.  Other rituals in the dressing room are that certain players sit in “their” spot.  For instance, I always sit on the end of the bench closest to the door.  My son sits next to me, next to him is Russ, and the goalie across the room from us.

I always put on my left shin pad and sock first, then the left skate, then I do the right side.  After my skates are on, I defog my helmet visor and tape my stick.  I tape the stick every single game with white tape.  The on go the shoulder pads, left elbow pad which gets taped down because the Velcro doesn’t work anymore.  Finally, the jersey and then the helmet and I’m ready to go.  The whole time, I’m yacking it up with my dressing room brothers.  It isn’t just one team either, there is a mix of white and dark jerseys.

Having said that though, the only time we see the other guys on our rink is when they are in full gear with helmets and visors and in most cases, it’s hard to recognize guys after the game in street clothes.  Despite all this closeness and bonding and true friendship, most of us know little about the other guys we play with.  Only a few hang out together as friends when not at the rink.  Lately there has been quite a bit of family involved.  Karl and I were the first father/son combo, now there are several and even a father/daughter/son trio.

EVERY RINK HAS THEM
LOOK FOR A SIGN SIMILAR

Sunday morning January 8, 2017 was our first game back from Christmas break.  All the usual banter took place and the game started.  Russ, who is 56 and is one of the better skaters out there was playing on a line with my son, against my line to start.  Karl skates like the wind as well and I don’t, so keeping up with those two is a chore.  Then again, speed has never been a part of my game.

Karl set Russ up for a nice goal and later Russ returned the favour and set Karl up with a very similar pass.  Both our lines were on the bench, but they went out first.  Later Russ told me he was confused on the bench and his winger had to ask him if he was coming on the ice.  He went out and back into his own zone and then started out.  Nothing looked out of place.

Russ crossed his blue line and was sort of angling towards the bench.  I was looking right at him, when he suddenly dropped to the ice like he’d been shot.  I thought he was screwing around and I was about to call him out for “taking a dive”.  That was when I realized something was very wrong, because he didn’t move.  He was so close to the bench that I could see he was having trouble breathing.  I yelled and then everyone sprang into action.

One goalie is trained in Industrial First Aid and another player up to date on CPR.  By this time, Russ was turning purple and had stopped breathing and his heart had also stopped.  For all intents and purposes, he was dead.  They peeled his gear off and someone ran onto the ice with an AED (Defibrillator).  9-1-1 had been called and they were instructing us how to use the AED.

NOT RUSS.  DEMO TO SHOW AED IN USE

Russ was shocked one time and his heart restarted and he took a deep breath.  By the time the paramedics got there, Russ was conscious and lucid.  He knew his name and where he was, but not why he was lying on the ice.  He wanted to get up and resume playing, even though at this point the only thing he was wearing was hockey pants.  He was loaded on a stretcher and wheeled off the ice.  What seemed like forever was 15 minutes from the time Russ hit the ice to the time he left on a stretcher.

None of us could think about resuming the game at that point and as I looked around there had to be 100—150 people gathered behind the glass.  All from other rinks who came to watch the unfolding drama.

I had brought up the point of not really knowing each other earlier, because in this case none of us knew who to call, except my son Karl.  Russ is the uncle of my son’s best buddy in the whole world.  They have been friends since pre-school, so Karl called Mat and managed to relay the information to all of Russ family members.

Updates throughout the day kept us informed on Russ progress and early Monday afternoon I took a drive to the hospital for a visit.  Russ was not only looking great, but able to walk around the room.  It turned out he had suffered a heart attack which stopped his heart.  As soon as he arrived at the hospital he was taken in, assessed and then given an angioplasty where 2 stents were put in.  He expects to be released from hospital Tuesday, but, he cannot play hockey anymore because it would be too much of a risk of killing him.

So, we can be thankful that Russ survived and that we all played a part in saving him.  We will be sad to lose him from our hockey brotherhood, but he gets to continue and enjoy life in ways away from the rink.  You just never know, so enjoy it while you can, because it can all be over in that proverbial heartbeat.  Good luck to you Russ, glad you are feeling better and we will miss you at the rink.

****Update from Russ himself:

hey guys at home now just resting up,,,,,,,,,,

really hard to sleep in a hospital,,,,,,,,

a big thanks to everyone one the ice that s/morning,,,,,,,,

all you guys acted in a professional way and saved my life

high 5's to everybody,,,,,

dont think i'll play for the rest of the year,,we'll see who knows

i'll see how i feel come sept,,,,,,,,will probably feel great

and ready to go but mind yu at a slower pace

once again guys thanks a whole lot for doing what yu did

and the amount of emails that followed that,,,,,,,,,,,

glad to see Bruce F, & Tom G, who dropped bye for a visit,,,

Funny thing was that when i was revived I felt great

and ready to go,LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED,,,,,,,,,

Saw the cat scan of my heart,it was blockage in the artery

which caused the breakdown,,,,,,,,,,

I feel good rite now just sum good shuteye and would probably go/out

but i think i need the heart to rest a little bit,now,,

KEEP ME IN MIND COME SEPT/17

THANKS

079 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017

As we start a brand-new year, 2017, I must look back on the year that has just passed.  It was a sad year and a happy year, but more sadness than is usual.  There were an awful lot of celebrities who left us far too soon, but other than a few, I have no personal connection to.  They are celebrities and nothing more.  They have no direct impact in my life other than to entertain.

DAWNING ON A NEW YEAR

I am sadder for the numerous law enforcement officers that were lost across North America last year.  The trend across the United States especially is the targeted murder of those officers.  The hatred towards them perpetuated by those misguided individuals who blame the police for their own faults and mistakes.

I am more saddened again by the list of former colleagues that have passed on.  They are the ones who had a direct impact on my life and that I feel the connection to.  They are the ones who will be missed the most and remembered most fondly.  All we can do is hope that we lose far less in 2017.

We spent a very quiet evening at home and got a chance to get to know a couple of our new neighbours.  The evening allowed us to get to know each other better and to advance our growing friendships.  It was even better because at the end of the evening it was just a short walk across the street to get home.

We closed the old year with a huge dump of snow that started very gently yesterday morning and was off and on until about 1:30 PM when it began in earnest and did not let up all night, in fact at 5:00 AM, as I write this, it is still snowing.  It is probably the largest accumulation of snow we have gotten, of the number of snowfalls we have had.  There looks to be 3-4 inches of snow out there.

Normally, we spend New Year’s Eve with friends in Vancouver, with a group of friends in Vancouver, where we get together for a feast of crab.  This year it has been postponed until next weekend due to conflicting work schedules.  As it turns out, with the snowfall, it was probably a good thing.  The less people on the road, the better.

Our neighbour Geri arrived first.  She is retired like me, but still works part time at a local big box retailer.  She just does it for fun and to keep busy.  Marie came over as well.  She is employed in the television sports industry and works for a major network, although she is in the process of branching out into her own production company.  Her partner Sarah, who is a serving RCMP officer was out on the street, protecting us all and could not make it this time.

SANTA STILL HERE

That could change though as we learned she has been promoted and will be moving into a position that won’t require her to work shifts now.  Everyone had such amazing stories and life experiences to share and it was a very entertaining and pleasant evening.  I look forward to the next time we can get together.

So here we are, into a brand-new year.  It has all the hopes and dreams of previous years, but hopefully will produce a greater percentage of good memories this time, than all the bad ones that we had last year.  Wishing all my readers, family and friends a Happy, Prosperous and Safe 2017.

I will close with a partial listing of those we lost far too soon.  I was originally going to list the names of all law enforcement officers killed in 2016, but just in the United States alone there were 135.  More than half of those were by gunfire.  It was a tragic year in that respect.

There were 60 celebrities as well, the most notable of whom, for me, were Gordie Howe, Muhammed Ali, Arnold Palmer, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and John Glenn.  Yes, there are other big names who are now gone, but these are the ones who had the biggest impact on me personally.

The list of mostly retired and serving members of the Vancouver Police who died in 2016 is as follows.  Most of these members, I served with and will remember fondly:  Ed Leask, Bill Warwick, Rudi Sturm, Tommy Lloyd, Art Chinn, Art Fairbank, Dicky Pugh, Malcolm Fish, Bill Smith, Ray MacNeny, Randy Peterson, Simon Tanner, Cliff Weeks, Ward Rowan, Al Ens, Beth Martlew, John Leary, Ian Young, Don Bullough, John Keen and Al Huff.