I would like to pay tribute to my husband, who tried many hard things this year and accomplished them. One hard thing was running for office. Another hard thing was reclaiming our backyard.
He toiled for much of August to prepare the yard for his grand vision, which he mostly kept secret. He rebuilt the fence, got the out-of-control lilac pruned and created a badminton court. Badminton is a big deal in his family.
Then he hauled a bunch of dirt in to level the yard out before it snowed. This I questioned, for he had just won the election and suddenly had so much more work to do. But he had a vision, and that vision was the skating rink you see above in the blurry picture I took with my BlackBerry. He used to build a rink every year with his cousins, but this was the first one all his own. The kids love it. I love it. He should be very proud.
2010 has been a challenging year for our family, with lots of turmoil and tears. But we have also seen joy and triumph, and we count ourselves fortunate. The rink is just a little thing, but it feels like victory. It gives me hope for 2011.
Seen and Heard in Edmonton 