THANK YOU I find it difficult to express the range and depth of my feelings after the incredible gifts of love, support, care and community I received during the evening organized for me at the Cottage Bistro by Bonnie Nish, (Happy Birthday Bonnie!), and Dennis E. Bolen. Thank you Bonnie and Dennis. I want to thank my many compatriots and friends who worked hard behind the scenes to make this unforgettable evening a reality. Thank you Kyla Bourgh and Lara Varesi for the exciting raffle and prizes. Thanks to Chelsea Comeau and her Mom for their work on the door and set-up. Thanks to door volunteers, Lilija Valis, Mary Duffy, Amanda Wardrop, Lindsay Glauser Kwan, and Natasha Boskic. Thank you Duncan Shields for filming the entire evening, (6-11PM), and now putting it together for sharing. Thanks to Ken Ader for posting his videos and photos of the event. Thanks to RC Weslowski for his inimitable skills and warmth as host for the evening. I appreciated the many exceptional presentations. Each reading and musical performance was unique, diverse, and special. The artists brought a great and healing gift for me and for all. They wove the evening into an egalitarian and powerful embrace of community. Jess Hill, Evelyn Lau, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Billeh Nickerson, Rebel Bass (Clint Wilson), Jamie Reid, Heather Haley, Catherine Owen, John Lent, Geoff Berner: I love you all and each of your great gifts will always live in my heart. At one point the owner of the Cottage Bistro counted 86 in attendance. Adrian Dix told me he counted 100 at 8PM. Friends, fellow writers, two of my daughters, great mentors, co-conspirators, artists and musicians came together for six hours. I have never felt as loved or cared for by a community before. In a CBC lecture David Suzuki said that he’d lived in the same neighbourhood in Vancouver for 25 years, had his car and house broken into, and only knew ten people in his well-populated district yet he’d attended a community feast in a First Nations village where everyone knew and cared about all in attendance. He indicated that we seem to have lost the spontaneous sense of community that many First Nations are blessed with. I thought of this after the evening held to support and benefit me. I thought of Vancouver’s open network of events from Pandora’s, Hogans, Under the Bed, Chicken Sessions, academics, slammers, page poets, spoken word artists, musicians and lyricists and I realized the magic of the evening was the coming together of these and more, producing the deep sense of community, care, and camaraderie evidenced by the palpable love, talent and energy of the night. In Vancouver and BC, our writers, musicians, and artists are blessed with vibrant and robust talent, and big heart, which as demonstrated on Wednesday night are key to the rare experience of real community. So, “thank-you” is a weak expression for something that is so good and big a more powerful word seems needed. Perhaps, letting you all know that I deeply love you and am overwhelmed with the strength of your manifest love, is all I can do, other than endeavor to honour your care and great generosity of both substance and spirit. I will heal because of my community and for my community. My love and thanks. –Timothy Shay
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 23:37:37 +0000
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