Recap of 2025

 As we head into the holiday season I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season culminating with best wishes for a Happy New Year for 2026.

The year started off dreading the dull days of winter but quickly became exciting in anticipation of an Air Canada vacation to the Spice Island of Grenada to celebrate my 68th birthday and our 43rd Wedding Anniversary which fall 3 weeks apart so gives us a great excuse for a mid winter break.  However, before flying out, we made a short road trip to the US to celebrate Caliegh's Sweet Sixteen in New Jersey.

Cleo looking like the Holy Spirit with Caleigh's parents and Grandma

Grenada was an awesome island and the eco resort we stayed at was just enough off the beaten path but close enough to all amenities and the beach to be secluded but convenient in an area called The Lime.  While there a friend who noticed we were there on vacation posted a link to a longish YouTube video on the sordid tale of nutmeg, a popular spice grown on the island which earned it the nickname.  Having little else to do, I ended up watching the whole 100+ minute video which then led me to the source material for much of the research, interestingly written by an Indian author, Amitav Ghosh titled 'The Nutmeg Curse'.

Birthday lunch at St. Georges, Grenada

To celebrate our 43rd Wedding Anniversary we booked into a local Glen Erin Spa & Inn for the night with a romantic dinner after enjoying the facilities.  It was the perfect night out which didn't involve planes, trains or ships but a short automobile ride.  At the beginning of March, Arjun celebrated his 7th birthday with a Minecraft cake made by his Nama!  Jenny made a surprise trip from California at the end of April and celebrated her birthday here while in the area for a wedding in Michigan.

The highlight of our Cycling Without Age - Mississauga rides this year was doing an extended 100th Birthday Ride for Lori and the highlight of that ride was interrupting a bunch of construction workers from their lunch to serenade her with the birthday song!  It was such a hoot.  What they lacked in talent, they made up with enthusiasm.

Heading off on our special ride with Ray as co-pilot

The highlight of travel this year was a bucket-list trip to Europe, with another couple, for a 12 day river cruise on a CroisiEurope river boat from Bucharest to Vienna with a trip down to Constanta on the Black sea.  We had planned a few days in Prague prior to another few days in Bucharest before boarding the boat at Oltenita.  However, due to low water levels in the lower Danube, the initial section through the Danube Canal had to be cancelled and instead we were put up for a few days at the Bucharest Sheraton and toured around the city.  My photoblog of the three week trip will give you a fair idea of the route we took plotted on Google Maps and highlights of the cities we visited.  We got back in time to celebrate Lisette's birthday with friends and then with family again!  Had to postpone getting back on the weight loss bandwagon which had been going so well in the first 4 months of the year!

On the pedestrian only Charles Bridge in Prague

After getting back to our routine we felt something had shifted at the practice with our extended absence and crunching the numbers, we realized that it was probably coming to a point when we had to make the decision to retire.  I hadn't given it much thought in the past thinking that I would easily be able to practice into my 70s but I hadn't factored in how much my extracurricular activities were pulling me in a different direction and so we made the decision to put the practice up for sale.  Unfortunately we couldn't attract a veterinary buyer with deep enough pockets to satisfy the market value so made the hard decision to close the practice after concluding the sale to a dentist.  Creditview Animal & Bird Hospital would be closing its doors at the end of March 2026.  To comply with CVO guidelines on closing a practice, we were required to send out a 90 day notice to our clients to give them the opportunity to have their pets' records transferred to a new veterinarian.

While contemplating the shift in our lifestyle we managed to make a quick getaway to Aruba that had already been planned and reserved almost a year prior to get our choice of our Vacation Club value at the Marriott Surf Club where we have owned a vacation property for almost 20 years.  Aruba never disappoints and it was good to be able to get away for a week.

While we were busy with lawyers and accountants trying to make this life changing transition as smooth as possible we started noticing that Nana was not doing as well as she had been in the first half of the year.  We celebrated her 97th birthday in November with children, grand children and great-grand children around her but she was preoccupied with getting back to her room on time.  Her appetite was waning but loved to suck on the hard candy we offered her on our frequent visits.  More recently she complained of constant pain.  It is difficult seeing her like this.  She was always such a strong woman and took a lot of pain in her stride.  In the last few years she had undergone several major surgeries and come through like a trooper but she just doesn't have any fight left in her now.

Happy Birthday, Nana

While negotiating over acquiring a second trishaw for our Cycling Without Age - Mississauga chapter with a business man from Brantford over the fall, he eventually decided to donate it to our chapter.  We accepted with thanks in exchange for a tax-deductible receipt.  He even offered to bring it to Mississauga but technical problems with his trailer made it difficult.  Eventually I rented a motorcycle trailer and made the 90 minute trip to pick it up.  It is safely stored in my garage for the winter while I outfit it for our next riding season.  Thank you Ernie for your generous donation.  Mississauga seniors will benefit from Marybelle's legacy.

Marybelle on her way to her new home

As a fitting Christmas present, Google offered this capsule of information covering the images from the whole year in two minutes! Click on the video below to watch this short, entertaining recap...