Monday, September 27, 2004
Gotta love it when you write a monstrous post and the screen freezes up. It never happens at the beginning of a post, but more often at the end of one, you know doing spell-check or inserting a link. Grief galore. I couldn't bare to attempt another post until today.
For some time, I have been considering a post about my Oma and Opa Balzer. They are quite a pair - Oma is 69 years young and Opa is 72 years younger. We got quite a distinct taste of their culture a month ago, when we drove out to the cabin at Sheridan Lake for a weekender. This cabin is older than me. Sheridan Lake is the Balzer family getaway, about 20 minutes away from 100 Mile House.
Try and picture these two folks with the following descriptors: Mennonites + Paraguayan + Canadian + savvy and successful business partners + parents + nature enthusiasts + grandparents (at the age of 39 and 42) + cowboy vacationers + fisherwoman and hunter + great-grandparents (for nearly a decade now) + charasmatic Christians and co-founders of Victory Christian Centre + retirees + cancer survivors + married for 51 years.
So, I hadn't spent a chunk of time with them - let's say anything over the three hour mark - for over 20 years. This trip was unique because it was just Angelo and I with the two of them. That's hasn't happened, ever. It was frightening and exciting, equally.
In the end, the weekender with them was not only a pleasant culture shock, but also a revelation of how rich life can be. I am not anything like my Oma and Opa, but I do have a lot to learn from them. Specifically, I need to learn the meanings of resilience and unconditional love. They are supremely proud of their life, heritage, beliefs and giant family tree. They blow my mind - how can they talk about the inevitability of death and yet chuckle at the overthrow of their spouse in a game of Tri-omino (triangular domino) coincidentally? Phenomenal.
For some time, I have been considering a post about my Oma and Opa Balzer. They are quite a pair - Oma is 69 years young and Opa is 72 years younger. We got quite a distinct taste of their culture a month ago, when we drove out to the cabin at Sheridan Lake for a weekender. This cabin is older than me. Sheridan Lake is the Balzer family getaway, about 20 minutes away from 100 Mile House.
Try and picture these two folks with the following descriptors: Mennonites + Paraguayan + Canadian + savvy and successful business partners + parents + nature enthusiasts + grandparents (at the age of 39 and 42) + cowboy vacationers + fisherwoman and hunter + great-grandparents (for nearly a decade now) + charasmatic Christians and co-founders of Victory Christian Centre + retirees + cancer survivors + married for 51 years.
So, I hadn't spent a chunk of time with them - let's say anything over the three hour mark - for over 20 years. This trip was unique because it was just Angelo and I with the two of them. That's hasn't happened, ever. It was frightening and exciting, equally.
In the end, the weekender with them was not only a pleasant culture shock, but also a revelation of how rich life can be. I am not anything like my Oma and Opa, but I do have a lot to learn from them. Specifically, I need to learn the meanings of resilience and unconditional love. They are supremely proud of their life, heritage, beliefs and giant family tree. They blow my mind - how can they talk about the inevitability of death and yet chuckle at the overthrow of their spouse in a game of Tri-omino (triangular domino) coincidentally? Phenomenal.
