While I was at work today 2 women pushing baggage carts full of luggage approached our check in counters, they stopped to organise themselves ^↩ and then one proceeded through the line while the other one waited.

I had over heard them talking and I could tell by their accent they were African but even though their accent sounded a little bit familiar I could not place it completely.

I had a few other passengers that needed help so I was busy with them and lost track of these 2 African women. Until I had a free moment and was just standing around and I noticed that the one woman that was waiting for the other to check in had reached into her bag and pulled out something. It was a foil wrapped chocolate bar.

As I walked by her I glanced at the package and just about fell over. It was a wrapper that I had not seen in 22 years. It was a MAMBO chocolate bar. I thought I was going to fall over.

I piped up and said to her ^↩ ↩, “I no go for see one like dat for 22 years!”

She looked up at me, almost choking on the bite she had just taken, her eyes got really wide and she said to me, “What did you just say?”

So I repeated myself.

She then said to me, “How you go know about dis?”

So I told her that I had been to Cameroon with my grandparents and how when I was in a little town called NDU I would go to the market every day after finishing my chores and buy myself a Mambo chocolate bar for 25 CAF ^{↩ ↩ ↩}, which at the time was about 10 cents CAD. ^{↩ ↩ ↩ ↩}

Just as a side note NDU is not far from LAKE NYOS which was the site of a natural disaster involving the volcanic gases and the deaths of many people and livestock in 1986. This story actually was featured in National Geographic.

So she started to inquire about why I was there and where I was and all that stuff because she had grown up in the same town.

We discovered that we were both the same age and that she had been born in the mission hospital in the next town.

I burst out laughing because I had visited that mission hospital and met the mission doctor that had been there, well um forever, so I was pretty sure I knew who had delivered here and in fact had even spent a day in the operating theatre one day and witnessed a lot of things other 13 year old guys couldn’t even imagine.

She had inquired as to why my grandparents had been there and I told her that they were teaching at the seminary there for a a number of years, and then she asked me who my grandparents were. I told her and she said to me “Oh that name sounds so familiar” and just at that moment the other woman that she was waiting for had finished checking in and walked over to meet up with the woman I was talking to.

The woman I had been talking to said to her friend ^{↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩}, ‘this man has lived in NDU.’”

Well I never seen that much white in a black woman’s eyes.  I thought she was going to pass out. Turns out that NDU was her home village.

I mean think about it.  A white boy in Toronto’s airport had lived in her village.

BANG – the world just got smaller.

But wait for it…

When she found out who my grandparents were, her face lit up and she stood so tall and told me that she had been one of my Grandmother’s students.

We talked about this and that, she even asked me which house I lived in and when I told her she joked about how far out it was from the rest of the compound.  ^{↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩}

This woman then asked me how my Grandmother was and asked me to “Greet Her” on her behalf.

I felt my heart stop.

I had to look at this woman, who was smiling from ear to ear, eyes all a bright and tell her that my Grandmother had passed away in December.

She looked right into my eyes, deep into my eyes and grabbed my hand and started shaking my hand ^{↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩} and as a tear rolled down her cheek she said to me, “She done walka fine, oh yes, she done walka fine.”

Here I am just thinking how cool is it that I was in this obscure little village and I ran across someone that lived there.  I mean, yes my job affords me some excellent opportunities but this was beyond anything imaginable.

Well a tear hit my cheek, after all there I was standing there, face to face, eye to eye and hand in hand with a stranger I had never met yet we had tread the same soil and my Grandmother had touched her life.

2 people from half way around the world from each other meeting now.

She had to leave to go catch her flight and as she gripped my hand tightly she said to me, “walka fine, walka strong and stay fine.”

I had to go and hide in the washroom for a bit, that was way more than I had ever expected when I went to work today.

1.  ↩ something a few people might want to consider when at the airport – just a thought
2.  ↩ ↩ slipping into a bit of the local vernacular
3.  ↩ ↩ ↩ Central African Francs
4.  ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ They are now 125 CAF
5.  ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ I should point out that this other woman was much older, probably closer to my Mother’s age or older
6.  ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ The picture you see above is pretty much what I saw out of my front door every day – surrounded by tea plantations. Oh and the house had been built by German Missionaries in the early to mid 1800s
7.  ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ Cameroonians are big on shaking hands and holding hands, it is a sign of friendship and companionship

I hope this one doesn’t get pulled from YouTube…

Since getting injured at work and losing the 100% use and strength in my arms I have broken a lot of glasses.  My arm will just give out on me when I move in a certain way and well ya smash and there is a mess for me to clean up with gimped up arms.

It had gotten to the point where I pretty much had to wash a glass out after using it so I could pour myself something else to drink.  There was no way I would be able to have people over and offer them even a glass of water.

Well I did have company come and visit me this last weekend and my partner ^↩ ↩ really helped me out and showed me how much he really loves me.

Not only did he completely take over cleaning up my apartment on his vacation time, he went out shopping while I was at work and bought me glasses.

Now here is the way I see it and why this hit me so hard tonight.

He loves me and that is always obvious but he loves me so much that he takes care of the little things, like making sure I have glasses in the cupboard so I can pour a soda ^{↩ ↩ ↩} for my company.

That is love.

I cannot pass by the fact that he turned my apartment into an actual home and made it a comfortable, clean and cozy living space and with just a little imagination he totally focused on my passion for travel.

My TV stand is made out of old suitcases, my coffee table is a trunk and my bedroom looks like a luxurious hotel room — it is like he was in my head.

But the glasses are the exclamation. That little bit extra that really showed me how much he cares, his dedication and his love and what puts that smile on my face in the morning — even when I am in excruciating pain doing the exercises my physiotherapist makes me do!

I gotta say – I love the shortBus!

1.  ↩ which is not an easy task for me right now, especially since my physiotherapist has been beating me up daily and has my shoulders taped up to pull them back where they should be — yes she is helping and yes this does feel better but leaning over a sink to wash dishes is hard
2.  ↩ ↩ affectionately known as shortBus
3.  ↩ ↩ ↩ that is for you Brad T

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That translates into them being picky perfectionists who are in direct control of what makes for an excellent shopping experience. There are no middle men there; if you have a problem with their Web site or a problem with your order? Simply contact them. Just got a question about your undies? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re oddly fanatical about underwear.

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If you’re looking for quality men’s underwear and service, Skiviez is here to aid in covering your best assets. They have the top brands at the price you’re looking for.

They have everything from Tommy Underwear with its classic American style to Hanro underwear with its high end fabric and price. If you’ve got a tight budget, they are still your store with our huge selection of discounts in our sale section. They even carry underwear that’s made in USA.

Features a removable and invisible contouring pad to create the perfectly shaped bulge.

Removable pad can be hand washed as needed.

A super comfortable and amazing looking brief. Make sure you grab yours today!

Take a look at the Andrew Christian Shock Jock Brief for yourself at Skiviez.com

Who is Skiviez.com?

Skiviez has been providing quality men’s underwear to the world for the past seven years. They rode the dot com boom and subsequent bust because they knew that a successful business runs on customer service and satisfaction, not gimmicks or venture capital. As always, they value your privacy. They also have a forgiving return policy.

Skiviez is a small company with less than 10 employees, they produce all of their own marketing materials and graphics, as well as design and host their website in house. They have written their own e-commerce software to ensure they deliver their high level of customer service. They even design and manage their own Skiviez underwear label.

That translates into them being picky perfectionists who are in direct control of what makes for an excellent shopping experience. There are no middle men there; if you have a problem with their Web site or a problem with your order? Simply contact them. Just got a question about your undies? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re oddly fanatical about underwear.

Skiviez is your men’s underwear headquarters for stylish and sexy underwear such as low rise briefs, mens thongs, jock straps. They carry all of the top brands including Diesel Underwear, 2xist Men’s Underwear, Calvin Klein Men’s Underwear and DKNY.

If you’re looking for quality men’s underwear and service, Skiviez is here to aid in covering your best assets. They have the top brands at the price you’re looking for.

They have everything from Tommy Underwear with its classic American style to Hanro underwear with its high end fabric and price. If you’ve got a tight budget, they are still your store with our huge selection of discounts in our sale section. They even carry underwear that’s made in USA.

Andrew Christian’s Shock Jock Jockstrap adds up to 2” onto your frontal measurement.

Features a removable and invisible contouring pad to create the perfectly shaped bulge.

Removable pad can be hand washed as needed.

A super comfortable and amazing looking jockstrap. Make sure you grab yours today!

Take a look at the Andrew Christian Shock Jock Jockstrap for yourself at Skiviez.com

Who is Skiviez.com?

Skiviez has been providing quality men’s underwear to the world for the past seven years. They rode the dot com boom and subsequent bust because they knew that a successful business runs on customer service and satisfaction, not gimmicks or venture capital. As always, they value your privacy. They also have a forgiving return policy.

Skiviez is a small company with less than 10 employees, they produce all of their own marketing materials and graphics, as well as design and host their website in house. They have written their own e-commerce software to ensure they deliver their high level of customer service. They even design and manage their own Skiviez underwear label.

That translates into them being picky perfectionists who are in direct control of what makes for an excellent shopping experience. There are no middle men there; if you have a problem with their Web site or a problem with your order? Simply contact them. Just got a question about your undies? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re oddly fanatical about underwear.

Skiviez is your men’s underwear headquarters for stylish and sexy underwear such as low rise briefs, mens thongs, jock straps. They carry all of the top brands including Diesel Underwear, 2xist Men’s Underwear, Calvin Klein Men’s Underwear and DKNY.

If you’re looking for quality men’s underwear and service, Skiviez is here to aid in covering your best assets. They have the top brands at the price you’re looking for.

They have everything from Tommy Underwear with its classic American style to Hanro underwear with its high end fabric and price. If you’ve got a tight budget, they are still your store with our huge selection of discounts in our sale section. They even carry underwear that’s made in USA.

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