“Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, may looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow.” — Unknown
We managed to get away for a week to Florid in the summer of 1977. Lynda spotted an advertisement in the local newspaper about renting a condo in Pompano Beach, Florida. This condo was owned by a Canadian couple who used to live in Scarborough. She set up a meeting with them to discuss the details and everything sounded nice and reasonable so we decided to go for it. However, we didn’t know anything about Pompano Beach.
It didn’t take too long for us to find out that Pompano Beach was only 1,500 miles from where we were living and we figured it should take around 20 hours to drive to Pompano Beach if we decided not to rush. Accordingly, we only stopped for breakfast and lunch on the first day of our travel before we had driven enough miles to stop for supper and spend a night in a motel. Next morning we had early breakfast and stopped for lunch in the middle of the day yet reach Pompano Beach in the late afternoon around 5:00PM.
We were delighted to learn that Pompano Beach was centrally located between Palm Beach and Miami with nice restaurants and terrific shopping malls. It had anglers and family flock to the 1,000-foot-long municipal fishing pier, beachside playgrounds, grills, and picnic tables. There were more than 50 local parks for sports enthusiasts or those who have a penchant for outdoor relaxation. Local attractions and shopping in Pompano Beach provide us with myriad entertainment options. Annual special events included a holiday boat parade in December, seafood festival in April, and a fishing rodeo in May and it so happened that we were there in the month of April to enjoy the Seafood Festival.
We had no problem in finding the condo. It was located close to the shops and other facilities. The building was reasonably new and the condo was nice and clean with lovely bright furniture. It had a reserved parking spot for our car. The swimming pool was very big and clean. Even though Lynda didn’t swim, she spent a great deal of time in the pool with Adam. The people working for the property management company were very friendly and helpful.
Lynda bought grocery and started cooking in the condo. We only went out to eat lunch almost every day and we enjoyed every minute we spent there in the afternoon. Once we realized that Miami was only 35 miles away from Pompano Beach, we decided to visit Miami on one day. We left early in the morning after breakfast it took less than 40 minutes to drive to Miami. We really enjoyed going around and browsing in the downtown of Miami. Went to a few malls in Miami and Lynda was delighted to spend some money there before we came back to Pompano Beach.
Before we knew it, our week was over on Saturday and we had to start driving again. Driving back home wasn’t a problem as we were familiar with the route and directions. However, we were tired when we got home.
As soon as we got back, Lynda got involved with the annual tradition of having a Sidewalk party at the condominium where we used to live. Everybody seemed to be getting excited about the party and we were looking forward to it.
The Homeowner Committee used to allocate space for each townhome inside the subdivision on the sidewalk and the owners used to decorate that part and bring their barbeque out to cook hamburgers and hot dogs. Lynda volunteered to participate on the committee for the party and as a member of the party she used to go around and help other folks with their setups, too. Kids used to play all kind of games during the afternoon and in the evening we used to play laud music and dance. Lynda loved dancing and I had two left foot to dance. It didn’t bother her but she danced with everybody and his brother. She just wanted to have a nice time.
Lynda had a friend, Joyce. When Lynda started working for a cosmetics distribution company in London, Joyce used to be there in a senior position. Joyce used to be helpful to Lynda and Lynda never forgot that. She kept in touch with Joyce. One day she said to me that she would like to invite Joyce to come to Canada and spend a couple of weeks with us. I didn’t have any problem with that so Lynda sent her a returned ticket and Joyce accepted the invitation graciously. It was a pleasure to meet Joyce and we really enjoyed her company for a couple of weeks.
One night when we were watching TV after putting Adam to bed, Lynda said to me, do you know that Maxine has been calling me. I said, no, I didn’t know. So I asked her, how is she? Lynda said, well, she’s not happy. I said what’s wrong. She said this is the third foster home where she is and the guy’s a dentist but he is creepy. I said let me guess – The foster father who’s a dentist, he is “touching” her or saying something revolting. She said something like that but I know my daughter. I told Lynda, please understand this, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through but please give her some more time. She didn’t say a word.
