Feeling Happier Now. Lots, Actually.

Thursday. It was a pretty good day, Ms J, for a change.

I ran into an old friend at Union Station last night. It was Kathy. Remember her, Ms J? I don’t guess I’ll ever forget her. Kathy was a woman I was crazy about in 2002. She was married, though, and lacked the courage to leave her husband.

We didn’t have long to talk. I had a train to catch and she was meeting a friend to see a show downtown. Kathy told me she and her husband had separated and asked if I still had her email address. I had forgotten it long ago so she reminded me and invited me to send her a note.

I will, tomorrow.

I wonder where this will lead?

---

And I got two pieces of good news today.

I spoke with Joe this morning at work. Joe’s our union representative. He told me CN has agreed to stop testing and planning for one-man GO train operations. December 30th was the date they had chosen to begin operating GO trains with only one engineer. It was to spell the end of about thirty jobs, mine included. But Joe said CN has agreed to bring the entire matter before an independent arbitrator. Both sides will be bound by his/her decision.

This is really encouraging. Although I still believe CN will be successful in their bid to cut more jobs, at least this buys us a little more time. It offers us a respite from the worry and fear so pervasive at work now, and invites the possibility that we might get a better deal than the ‘like it or lump it’ the company originally proposed.

The second bit of news came just a minute ago. Meagan phoned.

“Dad,” she said, “I have the most amazingly good news. I can’t wait to tell you. I spoke to Dan today. He says he’ll come and spend Christmas Day in Mimico with us. So it’ll be just the three of us, Dad. Just like old times. Isn’t that amazing?”

I grinned like the Cheshire cat, Ms J.

“Yes, Meagan! Yes! That IS good news! Oh Scout, that really makes me happy. I’ll make a ham and mashed potatoes. And peas, honey, ‘cause I know you like peas. And I’ll bake a pie for Dan. He likes apple, doesn’t he? Oh poo! I might not have time to bake a pie. I was supposed to help out at ----“

But Meagan stopped me.

“Dad. Dad. You don’t have to do all that. All you have to do is give him a hug and tell him you love him.”

I nodded my head slowly and took a breath. She was right.

“He’s nervous about seeing you, though. He looks all strung out and stuff and his hair’s really long and he has this beard and stuff. But whatever you do, Dad, don’t start giving him grief about where he’s been or what he’s done. OK? Promise me, Dad. You have to keep it light and not get into any heavy heaviness with him. I told him you wouldn’t judge him or try to fix him. I promised him you’d be good. So you hafta be good, OK Dad? Please?”

Poor Dan’s not even allowed to see his son at Christmas. He must be disappointed. I know how he must feel.

I’ll be good, Ms J. I don’t know what on earth we’ll talk about, but Meagan will be there. She’ll help me if I get into trouble.

She’s planning to spend Friday night here with me. I’ll collect her after work and on Saturday, the 23rd, we’ll journey together to Flesherton, Ontario. My sister, Helen, has a boyfriend who owns a Bed and Breakfast style inn near there. Bob has offered it to us for our annual Pringle Christmas gathering. He’s even promised to cook the turkey! I hope my old car survives the trip.

“You and me will have lots of time together,” said Meagan. “You’re still coming to get me on Friday night, right?”

I told her that was my plan, yes.

“I’ll stay at your place on Friday, then we’ll do the Pringle family Christmas thing on Saturday. We’ll come home on Saturday night so you can go to church on Sunday. Then, there’s no point in driving me home on Sunday just to come fetch me again on Monday, so I might as well just stay with you on Sunday night. We can go and get Dan on Monday, come back to your place and open our presents! Light a fire in the fireplace and just hang out together. Sound like a plan?”

Yes, my sweet Love. Yes, that sounds like a plan. A wonderful, joyous, I-feel-like-laughing-out-loud plan.

My plan. Our plan. God’s plan.

It’s awesome!

***