Dear Diary

January 22, 1978.

Dear Diary, I'm moving to a new city today. My mom and dad said that it costs too much to live here in the big city, so we need to move away where it is cheaper to live. 

I'm really sad though because I won't be able to play with my friends anymore. I just think we should stay here and my mom and dad could find better jobs that pay more. I don't want to start at a new school in a new city. It scares me.

February 18, 1978.

Dear Diary, I have lived in this new house for almost a month now, and it is a lot better than the apartment building that we used to live in. I even get my own room and don't need to share one with my brother anymore. I could hardly sleep in the room with him because he snores. 

The new school is pretty good too. It has different smells than my old school. I mean, it smells much better. At the old school, there was always the smell of curry and turnips. This new school is called St. Michael and is only small, but the teachers are all nice, that is except for Mr. Gilford. He gets mad at the students a lot and slaps their heads when they act up or make mistakes. Nobody seems to like him.

I made a few new friends at school that live near my house, so we go out and play at night after we get our homework finished. My mom says that I can stay outside until the street lights come on and I need to stay close to home where she can see me or where my friend's parents can see us. I think I might like it here after all.

December 8, 1978.

Dear Diary, my neighbourhood is covered in snow and I am having so much fun tobogganing and building snowmen and snow forts with my friends. My birthday is coming soon too, so I'm really excited. I will be having a party here at home and 6 of my friends already said they are coming. My best friend Lawrence, said he has a really cool gift for me. The school will my out for Christmas break in a couple of weeks, so the teachers have been giving us less homework and more crafts and games to work on. I think they are just doing that so they don't have to work as much either.

There is a girl named Lisa in my class that someone said likes me. I kind of like her too, but I'm too shy to talk to her. I hope that I get the courage one day. I just hope she doesn't try to kiss me! I don't know how to do that stuff.

April 12, 1983.

Dear diary, it's hard to believe that I'm in high school already. I'm a little nervous though. My grades at my other schools weren't all that great and high school is supposed to be harder, so I'm scared I might fail and get held back. The older kids are calling me a minor niner and try playing tricks on me all of the time. I pretend to be cool, but I don't think I am fooling anyone.

Some of the students here look like adults with full beards and developed bodies and I'm just this geeky little kid with feathered-back hair and clothes that were bought off of the discount shelf. How am I supposed to fit in here?

There is a girl here that I like though. Her name is Lori. I doubt that she will give me the time of day though since she is so beautiful and popular. At least she talks to me and doesn't treat me like others do.

This high school has a lot of clubs to join too. I wanted to join the photography club, but they are full already and so is the yearbook club. I have been learning to play the trumpet in music class though, and my teacher said I should think about joining the concert band. 

My dad tried teaching me a few repairs on the car today. That was pretty cool. He has so many talents. I only hope I can learn to have as many skills as he does one day.

June 26, 1987.

Dear diary, it is my last day of high school, and I am so excited. I have already completed a lot of my credits, so I only have 3 classes to attend all day today. I have to say though, that high school has been a blast! I learned so much and made so many new friends. 

Looking back over the last 4 years, I have so many awesome memories of the multiple concerts we played across the country with the various school bands. We travelled as far west as Vancouver and as far east as Ottawa competing in festivals and competitions. I also had a great time working backstage on the school musicals over the last 3 years. It was a great experience seeing how the shows came together and how much work went into them. Maybe I can continue with that field after high school. 

My best friend, Tom and I are supposed to go celebrate later after school. We are planning to cruise around town in his parent's Oldsmobile and then maybe stop at a fast food place for a bite to eat after. It's always fun cruising with him, because we go looking for girls to try and pick up.

August 18, 1987.

Dear Diary, I just got a letter in the mail stating that the course I wanted to take on film production had been cancelled due to low enrolment. I guess I will need to go look for a job instead. My parents keep telling me to go to school for computers, but when will I ever need to use a computer?

October 15, 1988.

Dear Diary, I started a new job today at a sign company here in town. My job is to roll the reflective vinyl backing onto the metal signs. It is a fast-paced job, but I kind of like it. I get a good workout too lifting all of the metal all day too. My boss is friendly, but he dresses in clothes from ten years ago. The guys that I work with are pretty cool with the exception of this big Hungarian dude that we call Mongo (From the movie Blazing Saddles). He is always in a pissy mood and yells at everyone. My foreman, Dave is cool. He tells me stories of how he goes out into the woods near his home and calls wolves. He told me that once I am there for a while, that my boss might let me learn other jobs in the shop too.

July 10, 2000

Dear diary, work has been pretty intense lately. I am the only employee left working in the shipping and receiving department and the demand is almost more than I can handle at times. Between the inventory checks daily, the packaging of all of the signs, the loading of trucks and customer vehicles and unloading of materials needed for all of the signage and accessories, as well as helping out the other employees as they fall behind in their work, I have no time to rest! My boss is being so tight with his money, that I can't even get a computer to help me organize the inventory better.

Running this department is a lot of work, but I am happy to have this job over some of the other jobs. At least I can get some sunshine and fresh air sometimes. Other guys are stuck deep inside the shop with no air circulation except for slow moving ceiling fans and the occasional box fan. The air in the shop can get pretty nasty too with all of the cuttings from the metal posts as well as paint and chemical fumes. 

November 18, 2011.

Dear diary, my job at the sign company is over, but I am lucky to have found another job already. The pay is less than what I was making, but once I get on full time, I will have great benefits, and that is something I really need now that my wife is pregnant with our first child. She is due in April. We don't want to know the sex though. At least I don't want to know. I would rather be surprised, and I'm looking forward to being in there for the delivery. My wife's cravings are so odd though. Yesterday, she asked me to make her pancakes with Ritz crackers crushed into the batter. Surprisingly, they were actually pretty good. Once however, she craved Tootsie Rolls and I drove to 8 stores in 4 different cities to find them. I knew that I wouldn't hear the end of it if I couldn't find any. 

My family has been so helpful with ideas and pointers on how to prepare for the coming of our new baby. I'm lucky to have them around.

March 4, 2012

Dear Diary, I got a call this morning while I was at work. My wife had gone into labour and I had to leave work so I could meet her and my mom at the hospital. I was worried because the baby wasn't due for almost another month.

When I arrived at the hospital, I had gotten there before them (My wife wanted to shower first), so I went to the admitting department and checked her in. The hospital said that her OB/GYN was on vacation, so there would be another doctor taking his place. By the time Erica had arrived with my mother, we were all ready to go. They brought her upstairs and measured her contractions. When they did the Ultrasound however, they saw that the baby was breach and seemed to be struggling due to an excessive amount of amniotic fluid. Our baby was drowning. 

The nurses prepped the operating room, and I was told that I couldn't come in due to the complications. I was happy to find out though that the doctor who was doing the surgery was one that we had wanted in the first place. ,

Dr. Jamieson performed an emergency Caesarean Section on my wife and after about 45 minutes, I saw the nurses rush an incubator out of the O.R. and down the hall. I managed to find out that they were moving the baby to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

I was told that my wife would be in recovery while the anesthesia wore off, so I made my way over to NICU for the first look at my baby. This was when I first found out that we had a girl. Even though she was 4 weeks early, she was so much bigger than the other babies in the room with her. I was told that I could come in a take a look, but the incubator had to stay closed. I put on a mask and gown and went inside. One of the nurses asked if we had decided on a name, and although my wife and I had narrowed it down to 2 choices, I took one look at her and said that her name is Katie.

May 7, 2019.

Dear Diary, I am feeling so depressed today. I spent last night in the hospital saying goodbye to my dad. He passed away after a massive heart attack while on his way to the hospital. 

The paramedics had revived him, but he died soon after my mother had arrived. I'm just glad that my daughter was able to spend some quality time with him before he passed on. Katie is having a hard time accepting that he is not coming back though, and frankly, so am I.

December 25, 2019.

Dear Diary, it is the first Christmas without my dad, so the mood is rather sombre. It is nice to have my family around though, especially since Katie's mom and I have now separated. If it wasn't for Katie, I don't think I would be able to keep it together.

I see so much of my dad in her. They have the same personalities; so full of joy. I guess if I want to remember my dad, I just need to look at her.

April 5, 2020

Dear Diary, the world seems to be falling apart with this virus that has spread across the entire planet. I sometimes feel like it is all part of a Hollywood movie or I am just having a bad dream. Families are unable to get together due to self-isolation and getting food from the grocery stores takes 3 times as long because of the long lines and limited access. If you are lucky enough, you might be able to find what you need. Some governments are doing their best to keep order among the chaos and have presented various allowances and deferments to help with the financial burden with so many out of work. Other country's leaders however, have waited too long to start preventative measures and now have an outbreak that has engulfed the entire country. I'm confident that my family and friends will get through this, but it won't be easy.

I just need to have faith that every one of them will follow the guidelines set out by our leaders and health officials and stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out.