When my girlfriend, Dolores, met and married Michael Todd many years ago, she would come back from his family homestead in Victoria raving about British Columbia. In preparation for their permanent move to BC in 1992, they would spend many holidays at their Victoria home and often invited Jim and I to join them. Finally in the fall of '92, Jim and I drove Michael's Porsche out to BC for them and enjoyed staying with them for a few days. It was in October and for the most part, it rained. When Jim died in 1993, Dolores and Michael invited my children and me to spend Christmas with them. We decided to take them up on their generous offer in order to help us to face our first holiday without Jim by doing something different and we had a wonderful time, despite the rain.

When Rick and I were married we stayed with the Todd's again on our way to Hawaii for our honeymoon. Dolores would always give me the virtues of BC living and would often encourage my children to move here. I could never foresee myself living here as I had convinced myself that I couldn't handle the grey days and rain here and that I would miss the snow in Ontario.

Imagine my surprise to find that I love the rain, love the grey days, don't miss the snow on the ground or the double digit numbers in the minus zero zone. Our temporary residence here this winter has given me the experience I needed to realize that I can indeed live here permanently one day. If I miss the snow, I can drive up to it and ski on it at a resort with runs that last longer than a minute. After spending three weeks in Ontario (more specifically Toronto), I came to appreciate Vancouver even more. I love the architecture here, the white-capped mountains in the distance, the rolling hills, the rivers and the ocean. I am grateful to Dolores for planting the seed and to Karley for being brave enough to venture out here alone first. It's funny how things happen!