What a Day!

Monday. I took Meagan home last night and The Boy stayed here with me in Mimico. This morning, we left the renovators and their dusty ruckus, and went off to collect the necessary documents to obtain a passport. We had a VERY productive day!

We stopped at a local cafe for a quick breakfast (the kitchen at home is completely out of order!) then off we went to Kelly's home in Acton to get Dan's social insurance card. Then we drove to Georgetown, fifteen minutes east, to get a passport photo done. While we waited for the photo, we walked down the street and spent thirty minutes with my sister-in-law, Linda. It was nice to see her. We also popped by the post office to get a new passport application. The first one he'd done had a few errors.

The photos were soon ready and I paid for them. $20. for two little photographs. Colour. Nice though. Dan was wearing a black t-shirt emblazoned with the name of his favourite band: SLAYER. Lovely.

Sigh...

We went then to his bank (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) and asked for a statement of some sort that might offer proof of the fact that Dan has an account there and that he does indeed live at the address he would provide on the passport application. I snuck a peak at his balance:

99 cents.

It was just after noon when we arrived at his doctor's office not far from the bank. The door was locked. I could see the disappointment on Dan's face. Things had been going so smoothly. I knocked timidly on the door and in a moment, it opened.

"Oh. Are you closed for lunch?" I asked the young lady who answered.

"Yes," she said. "We are. The doctor will be back at 1:30. We'll be open then. Is there some emergency?"

"No," I smiled. "No emergency, really. We were hoping we might see Dr. Phipps to ask if he'd sign a passport application."

The lady looked relieved. She returned my smile and her eyebrows rose with her voice.

"As a guarantor, you mean?"

"Yeah," Dan said, holding his hand knee-high. "Dr. Phipps has known me since I was about this tall."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No. But it won't take long. He just has to sign his name. Twice. Once on the form here and then on the back of one of these little pictures."

Dan's tone was hopeful. And very polite. He held the application up. And the pics.

The lady smiled again and her features softened. She was pretty when she smiled. Isn't everybody more attractive when they smile, Ms J?

"There's an opening at 1:30. Come back promptly at 1:30 and I'll make sure you see the doctor."

Now it was The Boy's turn to smile.

"Thanks," he said. "We'll be here at 1:30. Precisely."

He took my arm.

"C'mon Dad. Let's get some lunch. I have to take my pills with food."

At the end of the day, we had a new passport application, properly filled out, and signed (illegibly) by Dr. Phipps. We had passport photos, signed as well. We had a letter from the bank attesting to the fact that Dan held a bank account and that his address was as shown on the passport application. We even had time to stop in at the office of the Ministry of Health in Toronto, where we both had our pictures taken and both applied for new health cards. An Ontario health card is an acceptable form of photo ID. While the cards won't be mailed to us for
4 - 6 weeks, the temporary card Dan was given can be used as further proof of his Canadian citizenship and residency.

We plan to rise earlier tomorrow and arrive at the passport office downtown just as they open at 9:00.

Dan is thrilled that we've achieved all our objectives today. I'm thrilled that Dan is thrilled. Hopefully, he has all the documentation required to obtain a passport so he can enter the U.S. and meet his dear Autumn Jones and see a real, live rock concert in Detroit. Cross your fingers for us.