There were many highlights for me. It was a pleasure bumping into the many Chinese-Trinidadian relatives that are on the other side of the family. The open bar was very nice. The five course meal still has me full. But there was one special highlight that was generally unnoticed but made my day.
I have played many jobs where I meet people I respect and admire. The range from local musicians to some of the top politicians in our country. But this one was so spontaneous it caught me by surprise. Let's rewind.
In July of 2008 I was asked to play a set with the girl-pop trio Sincere. It was at a community fair and I was in line to get a hot dog with Chantel. And who gets in line behind us? Probably the greatest mayor who's ever lived. But people were always talking to her so we just got our grub and left.
In December of 2008 I played the Hakim Optical Christmas party and she was one of the main speakers at this party. The keyboard player and I could not believe the lack of respect shown to this great lady as people were just talking through her speech as if she wasn't even there.
There was one other time where I missed seeing her but for the life of me I can't remember, so fast forward back to Saturday. I was at my cousin's wedding and my wife goes "Hey Randall, look who it is." I don't know why the greatest mayor ever is attending my cousin's wedding but I don't ask, or care.
So I got to finally meet Hazel McCallion after years of brushing by her, in the most unlikely of all places. She looks great doesn't she.
Hazel is AWESOME. I have a Hazel story too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was living in Mississauga, I used to car pool with my friends to work. We were at a stop light and I see this old lady talking to herself in her car. She was having a very animated conversation. I thought to myself, why do they continue to let seniors drive on the road? It's obvious this lady is senile and talking to herself. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the old wonman in the car was Hazel McCallion! She was driving herself to work and I guess she was having a conference call with the hands free device. We honked at her and waved and she smiled and waved back. She then went through the intersection and all I saw was her license plate 'Mayor1'. She's awesome!