February 13, 2012

It's Monday night and after work I headed out to the ski club.  There are first aid competitions coming up and many of the patrollers were practising, so I spent most of the night skiing by myself.  I didn't mind, it gave me some time to think and reflect.  I think of my Dad alot on these Monday nights of skiing because he would sometimes come out with me.  Dad would be in all his glory as we skiied down the short runs of Boler Mountain.  He loved the sport and just being outside in the fresh air seemed to rejuvinate him.  In October, just after we received the news that treatments had stopped working for him and he was placed on Dexamethazone, he dug out a flyer that he had been sent from Boler announcing the upcoming opening of their new hill.  When he showed me the flyer, we talked about how nice it would be to have the new hill open and how much better it would be.  This new drug is a "feel good" kind of drug and he was flying high that weekend making all kinds of plans and trips and wanting to try to ski again.  I remember him looking at me and saying "you don't think that's too much do you?"  Of course I didn't want to ruin his spirit and I replied "No, I don't think so, you may not be able to do what you once could, but we can get you out there again."

So tonight as I ski on this new hill, with it's steeper runs and added vertical, I think of my Dad and how much he would have loved this new hill and how much fun we would have had exploring the new terrain together.

This photo was taken from the top of "Wayne's Run"  named after the pioneer of Boler's Ski School who also had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had lost the battle last year.  I stand at the top looking out onto the runs that Dad and I would ski together and the lights of the city and it's a beautiful picture.