Wizard of Ads - Monday Morning Memo
Dear Mr. Williams,
I had to respond to your latest MMM, as I've been a faithful reader since I saw you speak March 2000 at the University of Hartford (Conn.)
I visited Canada (Barry's Bay, Ontario, to be exact) in August 1995. My friend Megann's grandparents had a log cabin on Lake Kamineskeg (which I've probably mispelled) where we spent days waterskiing and snorkeling, and nights roasting marshmellows and skinny-dipping under the trillions of stars. It was year before Megann and I both went off to college.
The event that is most impressed on my mind, though, is visiting Edmund's Tea Room. Driving down the woody driveway, a modest house appeared through the pines. Inside, card tables covered in plastic table cloths were set up under a high ceiling. Framed photos crawled up and down the walls.
Edmund was just saying "goodbye" to the group who was leaving just as we entered. Edmund was a thin, white-haired man. Most likely, he was in his 70s physically, but mentally and spiritually he was ageless. He bound around the room like a rabbit.
Our crowd consisted of Nana, Grandad, Megann's mom and pop, Megann and I. This place was his house and his business. He made fresh carrot muffins and grew his own herbs for the tea we were served in unmatching tea cups.
As we ate our tea and gazed around at the photos, Edmund told us his secret of youth: running, loving and eating well. His girlfriend, Karen, stood beside Edmund with definite love in her eyes. She was in her 40s. (I wish I could remember the story of how they met) After telling us his regimen of waking in the cold morning, running uphill for a few miles, and eating nothing that was "toxic" to his body, he took down one of the photos from his wall. There, in the snow, was a thin, white-haired man wearing nothing but a red Speedo! It was Edmund! To me, at 18-years-old, he personified happiness and peace.
Canada was a place of metamorphosis that summer. I overcame my fear of water, settled into who I was becoming, and met some amazing people. I still dream of Canada and the wonderful, welcoming people I met there.
Thanks for your Memo that brought me back to Barry's Bay on a chilly Massachusetts Monday.
Sincerely,
Katie
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