Family, family

My brother Brian and his wife Wendy react to their Alberta grandson on FaceTime. When they asked what the big event of his day was, the answer was that he had peed in his red rubber boots. Brian and Wendy visited us in Vancouver last week en route home to Alberta from several months in Mexico. All photos by John Denniston.

Wendy and Brian catered to us during their stay because I was recovering from a cold that had turned into pneumonia. Here they are, busily turning out pizzas for dinner one night. They were delicious.

On Sunday, Brian and Wendy and John and I went to North Vancouver for dinner at my nephew Etienne's place. My sister Betty and her husband Bert from Gore, Quebec, were visiting Etienne, his wife Aya, and their daughter Emi for a week. Left to right, Bert, Brian, Wendy and Etienne. Notice the chopped-up veggies in the foreground. 

Pre-dinner conversation.  Left to right, Bert, Brian, Wendy, Betty, and Etienne. 

The hotpot meal. Lots of cut-up veggies at both ends of the table, along with rolled-up meats to dip into the pot of boiling water mid-table. Each setting had a helping of excellent brown rice, and there was a peanut dipping sauce for the cooked food. Aya gave us a lesson in using chopsticks, but most of us ended up using forks. Nice try, though! Left to right, Brian, Betty, Aya, Emi, Etienne. 

Emi presides with tongs, getting lots of advice from the adults. Left to right, Betty, Aya, Emi, Etienne, Bert.

Halfway through the hotpot, courtesy of my Japanese-ancestry niece Aya with her Mexican background, I thought of how strange this gathering would have seemed to my Alberta farm-folk parents. Three of their children, grey-haired now, were there, gamely stabbing with unfamiliar chopsticks at trays of Chinese cabbage, bok choy, various types of mushrooms and thinly sliced rolled meats, then dipping their prizes in boiling water at the centre of the table.

The conversation was of Mexico and Mazatlan, where my brother Brian and his wife Wendy had just spent several months to escape the Alberta winter, and of Japan, where my nephew Etienne, his wife Aya and their daughter Emi had just visited relatives. Earlier, on FaceTime with her two-year-old grandson in Alberta, Wendy had introduced him to the rare gathering of his great-aunts and uncles from Quebec, Alberta and B.C. “People, people,” he said, astounded at the collection of strangers, but especially intrigued by his four-year-old cousin Emi, sparkling in her party dress.

The food, the conversation, the technology would have bemused my parents, but I think they would have been pleased at the gathering. Three of their five children, surrounded by the amazing next generation, with the next generation coming up, are carrying on the family enterprise they launched more than 70 years ago.

Wendy used FaceTime to introduce her grandson to the crowd at Etienne and Aya's place. On the screen you can see him and his mother Michelle behind him. "Grumpa" Brian, who is a great favourite with his grandson, watches in the background. 

Emi shows me her special photo album, full of photos of herself as a baby. 

Wendy and Betty had some good conversations before dinner. 

After dinner, Aya brought out a stash of candy and treats she and Etienne had brought back from Japan. We each had a yam-flavoured cookie. It seems, hmmm, that KitKat makes a wide variety of different-flavoured chocolate bars. I look bemused, maybe a little worried about it all. 

Betty does her grandma thing with Emi. They seem to enjoy each other's company. At the end of the night, Emi presented me with her drawing -- a very great honour -- especially as it included both a unicorn and a ladybug.