Kamloops – September 18, 2026
To
the Boehm Family, Friends and Neighbours,
Freda
and I connected one Saturday in the early 1990’s when we were both visiting in
Surrey; Freda with her daughter Sharon and I with my sister Alanna. Freda was
tagging along with Sharon when Sharon stopped by Alanna’s home perhaps to see
some of my sister’s craft work. Both Sharon and Alanna worked for BC Bio Labs,
I think. We had tea, met, and ended up inviting each other to visit. I was
living on Saltspring Island at the time, Freda near Kamloops (Pinantan) where
my mother Ruby Westerman lived. I visited Mom several times a year . . . and so
began the many adventures and shared times of Freda and Val together.
Freda
made the ferry trip to check out my house on Saltspring with the sub-plot of
meeting my famous neighbour, artist Robert Bateman. We continued the trip with
a fun exploration of the road to Tofino on Vancouver Island. Freda was able to visit with her good friends
Whitey and Ruby in that ‘Storm Watching’ capital of the World and I got to
cross Tofino off my ‘Bucket’ list. It had become increasingly embarrassing to
admit I hadn’t been to the iconic spot. A few years later in Kamloops at my
Mom’s place, the house rang with Freda’s uproarious laughter as the 3 of us
perused a Christmas gift of a rather risqué calendar of well endowed Firemen.
Freda’s laughter was always contagious!
Freda
and I kept up a dance of moving locations; I left my island home for the
sagebrush hills of Kamloops to care for my mom; Freda gave up bi-weekly bus
trips to and fro Maple Ridge to share life with Andy full time. Later, in
Kamloops, I took wedding photos and checked out their new condo when she’d
convinced Andy to move up from the ‘Coast’ leaving Maple Ridge life behind.
We
shared Life – Births, Deaths and all between.
It’s called Friendship.
Bon
Voyage, My Friend Freda, till we meet again.
Valerie
Rampone
No comments:
Post a Comment