She thought about the Crolows, Jenn with her mischievous smile, Carsten, with his earnest eyes. Gracie, with her irresistible white-blonde curls and sparkling blue eyes and the way she sits so comfortably in your arms. Evan, with his shy smile inviting you to his house on 5555 20th St. She thought about the luxurious Haagen Dazs bars they shared laying by the fireside after a scrumptious sushi meal, hand-rolled by Carsten himself--well, she and Jenn shared while Carsten put the kids to bed. She remembered them coming to her farewell party after Eastside Story Guild, first Gracie and Jenn; Carsten came along shortly thereafter with Evan. When Carsten asked, Why are you doing this to us?, regarding leaving, of course, she wondered why. Why was she leaving? She remembered when she first met them, or at least the two kids, when they came over to her house so Nancy could baby-sit them, and Jason somehow ended up hanging out with them for most of the time. She remembered a hula hoop in the mix, along with the ginormous exercise ball Nancy sat on at her desk, that the kids played with on the stairs. It got a little out of hand, and the ball had to be put away. She remembered learning about Evan’s middle name at another time—Jayber, of course, after Jayber Crow, one of Carsten’s favorite books, if she remembers correctly. She remembers them considering moving to the Sunshine Coast with two other families, the Wuests and the Neufelds, and Jenn’s excitement at a new/different life.
She wonders if it’s possible for Vancouver to get old to someone. If the glitz and the glamour fades because you are the one living the story, the one so close to the surface, the dull sheen is all you see. If you need someone else’s eyes to see. Or perhaps just some time, and some distance removed.
She wonders all this because she saw a box of Haagen-Dazs on sale at her local Stater Bros. store for only $3.49! And it wasn’t like the original price was something extravagant--$4.29, in fact, just a savings of $0.80. She remembers this because she pondered for a while whether to purchase this or Breyers ice cream, also on sale for the same price. She finally decided on the latter because she got more ice cream for her buck, quantity-wise. Quality-wise, is still yet to be determined. The box she bought in Vancouver was a lot more. But worth every penny.
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