I’m behind

By kate on May 24th, 2004

So much has happened lately, and I’ve been remiss in updating.

On Mother’s Day weekend, Steve and I had a little trouble with Canadian Customs at the border. We were bringing up some antique dishes and cups his mother had bought on eBay, and they turned out to be worth more than we thought. We brought them through the Nexus lane – big mistake. They gave us the pink slip and sent us inside, where we spent about an hour and a half. Result: our Nexus cards were taken away, and the dishes were “seized” (meaning we had to pay a fine to get them back).

Just this week, we each got a letter from the Nexus people. Steve’s said that his Nexus card was revoked (as we expected). To our surprise, though, my letter said that since I was not a principal agent in the incident, that I could get my card back by picking it up at the border. Hooray! This means, essentially, that we can still use the Nexus lane. I’ll drive through, and can drop off Steve to walk through the pedestrian lane.

Also that same weekend, I found out that I’m going to be an aunt – my brother and his wife are expecting in December. That was quite a surprise, too.

Skipping ahead to last weekend, I got another inkless tattoo. (Read about my previous ones here if you don’t know about them.) This one is in the shape of a hammer on the inside of my left wrist. I got it in honor of Jim Clowes, a professor and mentor of mine who died of cancer recently.

We had gotten back in touch in the year before his diagnosis, and the last thing we did together, alone, was to work on building a shed in his backyard. He was a knowledgeable carpenter, and was teaching me how to frame a building. The hammer refers to that, but more symbolically, is also to remind me to approach people the way he always did – with openness to what they have to offer and an eye for their potential. To look to build, rather than dismiss or tear down.


Filed under: body, life, relationships
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One Response to “I’m behind”

  1. biblioholic Says:
    May 24th, 2004 at 7:48 am

    I’m so sorry to hear that your professor passed away. I think a tattoo of a hammer is a wonderful way to remember and honor him.

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