Chris M. Manuel’s funeral was beautiful, and she wished she had already known his and Sami’s story—she can understand why Sami fell in love with him. It was an emotional day as she went from the funeral in the rain to take an old sewing machine in for repair, present a cheque for The Shoebox Project, leave food for a friend whose daughter is in the hospital, and look after the neighbor’s 18-year-old cat. Thankfully, she also had precious time with her granddaughter.
Bobby is busy with business and doing yoga. Thanks for the running advice from Debbie S. He’s registered for a half marathon in May.
Gordon stood up and declared that was his exercise for the day.
Debby T. is catching up on work after too many holidays.
Dalbir finds Brian’s situation heartbreaking and can’t describe the feelings.
Michael thanks everyone for their support in being president. Debbie S. called him and asked if it was okay to nominate him. He thanks everyone for having faith in him. He was in Whistler last week with family and will be busy with work for the next six weeks.
Bozhena lived in China for over four years and understands the situation there. She passed her first English course and bought tickets to China to pick up her five-year-old daughter; her husband is Chinese. She’s decided to bring her daughter here for school. She has helped people find jobs here in Canada and has only been here nine months.
Jeannette mentioned the Christmas gala on Dec. 7. She met Rotarians from other clubs at the vaccination event. Supporting their Christmas gala with the Richmond Rotary Club would give us a chance to present our Paul Harris award and promote our club.
Elena, although retired, spends her entire week on Rotary activities and attending events. She attended the vaccination event, met Rotarians she’s known for years, and received more invitations. She will be going to Las Vegas and will miss the pancake breakfast and Christmas lunch.
Susan thanks everyone for supporting her as next year’s secretary. She attended the vaccine clinic, which was lovely. Every night has been a Rotary event this week. She’s trying to get sponsorships for the district conference.
Melinda is leaving for Mexico next Wednesday for 17 days. She had her granddaughter Willow on her own this week and is exhausted. She caught a cold from the grandkids.
Garth thanks Pat for the AGM agenda. He’ll be away next week in Florida to get on a ship to the Turks and Caicos. He read an article this morning about an elderly gentleman who left his entire fortune to the Rotary Foundation, leaving his wife penniless. The family is fighting it, and a social media campaign is making the Rotary Foundation look bad.
John noted that people here were in tears and silent listening to Brian. They’ve had speakers who quit their jobs to do work like Brian’s and they deserve our admiration and gratitude..
Debbie S. thanks the new board. Michael gave great consideration to the position and took time to think about it before saying yes. She’s super confident he will be great. She’s back from Palm Springs and went to Victory Square for the 100th Remembrance Day celebration which was attended by 20,000 and very moving.
Joyce found Brian’s story impactful, adding depth and heartfelt appreciation for what he is doing. She was in Sechelt last weekend and is getting ready for a trip to Tahiti and Bora Bora.
Sam is happy to be here and enjoyed the wonderful presentation.
Marg recounted a memory from years ago in a motel, shocked to see a truck pull up with 30 women from Montreal in it. She went to the cenotaph in Richmond and laid a wreath on behalf of her church; her father used to play the trumpet. She attended a Remembrance Day concert with Chor Leoni and has two hockey games coming up.
Judy is overwhelmed by Brian’s presentation; she has two granddaughters the same age as the girls he mentioned. Her younger granddaughter is turning 11, and they’ll go shopping and out for dinner. Her four grandsons are coming over for the weekend, which will be fun but different. Debbie M. thanks everyone for attending the service. She knew Manuel more than most and was glad his story was shared.
Kal thanks Gordon for noticing his tan after his 10-day cruise. Many Americans were on the cruise because they didn’t know what would happen in the election, and the day after, everyone was talking about Trump.
Blair remarked on Brian’s remarkable work. His two brothers are flying in today for the Grey Cup celebration, which begins today, so he took Monday off.
Pat mentioned attending “Tea and Trumpets” today. She had a virus for two weeks and even went to the emergency room. The virus affected her eyes and throat. The doctor checked her eyes for other issues, but it’s just a virus he’s seen before. It’s been two weeks, and she’s slowly getting better.
Peter’s knee surgery was canceled because of heart and kidney issues; the cardiologist and nephrologist decided that the stress on his organs wasn’t worth the knee repair. He’s in line for a knee injection. Otherwise, he’ll be like Kal and need a special chair. He thanks Brian for his talk. He has a 13-year-old granddaughter whose biggest concern is which shopping center to go to. He feels we’ve won the lottery to be born here. He mentioned body rub establishments in Richmond, and there are efforts to address the situation.
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