Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Well, the big announcement for the Men’s Olympic Team happened this morning in Saskatoon. I don’t think there were too many surprises…but, that said, there were a few. Patrice Bergeron was added to the roster after not being invited to the camp. And no Calgary Flames D-men were chosen. Drew Doughty made it and he has just turned 20. Amazing. How proud are his parents right about now? The goalies were easy. A few good guys left off the forward line too: Martin St. Louis and Vincent LeCavalier. And a few true veterans: Shane Doan and Ryan Smyth. But all in all, Canada will have a great team. The Olympics are not far off now!!! Can’t wait. I’m there from beginning to end.
So…I’m all ears for your opinions on the Men’s Hockey Olypmic roster……..

Okay, one more weekend to shop! This is my last plug for my book HOME ICE. It’s a great book for those hockey lovers in your family. Okay, so I sound like a used car salesman. Ha ha. But I figure this is my blog so I can write what I want???? Available at all Chapters stores and Amazon. Okay, okay, so that’s a bit much and doesn’t fit my personality.
Have a great weekend shopping everyone, if you’re not done yet.

I was getting my teeth cleaned yesterday and my hygenist asked me if I was going to take part in Christmas. Of course, I could barely answer because my mouth was stretched open so she could get at my teeth, (I can never answer the hygenist questions), but I did manage to mumble a “Yes!” Then she went on to say she has met so many people who just won’t do Christmas any more and are basically on strike when it comes to the holiday because it is too commercial and too phoney and too over the top. That’s okay. I’m happy for them and their choices. Right after that appointment I met someone who started to tell me how horrible Christmas was. I had to disagree because I love Christmas and I get excited at this time every year. It’s a time for family and friends and, for me, a time to give gifts. I know I buy too much but I don’t care and I don’t want to be told that because I’m buying gifts for people I’m commercial and shallow. I respect everyone’s opinion of Christmas and for those who don’t celebrate I would hope that they would respect how I feel about the holidays. My kids are all away at school and are soooo excited to come home. They have put in their orders for their favourite baked goods, they’ve gone out and bought gifts, and they want to see family and friends. My eldest daughter is flying home today and, at the age of 19, has been counting the sleeps. My second daughter is already home, and is anxiously waiting for her sister and brother to come home. Tomorrow my son comes home and we all go to the airport to meet him. They have all purchased gifts, which they put some time and thought into, wrapped them and are carting them in their suitcases from wherever they are coming from. I can’t wait to see the look on thier faces when they open what I have bought them. And this year, a good friend of ours is joining us for Christmas Eve, morning, day, Boxing Day and however long she wants to stay because her boyfriend is out of town for Christmas. And we’ve also invited many people for dinner. Now, I do understand how people might feel that this holiday can be commercial and as I said earlier, I totally respect that. Let’s all just enjoy the holiday in the way that we want!! This world would be a mighty boring place if everyone did everything the same way.

I avoided watching the movie, The Notebook, for a year or so. Everyone around me had seen it, my daughters included. They told me I would like it, that is was my kind of chick flick. But I didn’t want to see it because it is about a woman who has Alzheimer’s. And my mother also has Alzheimer’s. I’ve watched her go from this insanely independent woman to someone who asks the same question over and over. Recently, I was in St. Catharines (I already wrote about my friends and my visit home so this is part two), and the reason I was there was to do Christmas Cards with my mother. We sit down and I draft a letter for her then we proceed to get her cards ready to send off. She signs them all and I tell her they are going to. Although, I know she won’t remember doing the cards the next day we still do them and I get joy from my afternoon with her. Most people she remembers, which is wonderful. Over the years I’ve learned so much about how to deal with my mother and I think the most important thing is to live in the moment. Or as spiritual gurus would say, “Live in the Now.” It took us an afternoon to do the cards and we rewarded ourselves by getting our her fine china and having a tea party. My daughter was there as was my niece. We had a lovely tea party, which was forgotten the minute the tea cups were back int the cupboard. The next evening, I took my mom to see my sister perform in a play. Having moved from Vancouver to St. Catharines to help take care of Mom, Brenda has continued her love of the theatre and become a thespian in St. Catharines. For this show she was performing with the Thorald Community Center in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” At the intermission, my mother couldn’t remember seeing Brenda on stage. I tried to jog her memory to tell her when she was on and what she was wearing. At the end of the play, Brenda walked down the aisle to head off stage. We were close to the end of the aisle and my mother stood up and waved to her. This almost childlike gesture made me cry. Mom knew who Brenda was and wanted to reach out and touch her. Later, after we had dropped Mom off at her home, Brenda and I talked about that moment. I will never forget it. And I will never underestimate the power of the moment. Because with Mom, that is all we have.
Yes, she forgot about the play the next day. And she forgot that I had been there to do cards with her. But I have all the moments left to cherish.
And by the way, I have seen The Notebook and, yes, I cried during the movie as I am crying now just writing about Mom.

So, I was in Toronto and St. Catharines since Tuesday and I just arrived home.  I’m still thinking about my visit.  I have so much to tell and I will do this in two stages.  Tonight I’m going to talk about my friends!  Recently, five friends from the St. Catharines area visited me in warm Salchi Bay, Mexico.  What a feat to get five women to commit to a trip, book a ticket and get on a plane, especially when they are all really busy with families and work.  But they did it.  What you need to know is that I went to elementary school with four of those women, and three of us started kindergarten together.  I will use maiden names because that is how we remember each other. Maxine Giffin and J’neene Morris and myself started at Grapeview Public School forty-six years ago.   Michelle Romak and Karen Vine were two years behind us and I played a lot of sports with those two lovely ladies.  Our trip to Mexico was fantastic and I am so thankful for such good friends that have been in my life for such a long time.  Our bond is incredible.  Following our trip I ended up in St. Catharines to visit my mother (I will talk about her tomorrow in part two of this blog), and we women got together to reminisce about what fun we had in Mexico but we also talked about aging parents, our children, menopause and, of course, other friends from our elementary school and high school.  You know: Where did he/she end up?  And did you know that so and so was doing this?  That night of our dinner we were joined by another “Grapeview” girl, Brenda Patterson, who couldn’t join us in Mexico because she needed to stay home to help her parents out.  I feel so blessed to have these amazing friendships.   How many people have the chance to stay friends with kids they went to kindergarten with?