It's overcast and there is no promise that we can see the sunset. But it is pleasantly cool this evening. The other houses in this neighbourhood are bigger, more elegant and more imposing, and Dad would sometimes remind us both that we must be grateful that we can live in this beautiful neighbourhood. I think he was battling with his own incipient chateau envy. Some houses have been replaced by tacky mcMansions, or monster homes and they are concrete behemoths housing for the most part wealthy Chinese immigrants. I don't think they have done much to integrate into the neighbourhood, but to be fair, on these streets, all the householders have generally tended to keep to themselves. Dad always tried to fight this, with little response. We have always felt like strangers in a strange land.
"We met an old flame of Christopher's" says Carl to Francois.
"Where?"
"Downtown. He is now a Christian minister and takes care of the local homeless. He gave Chris his card. Gonna call him, Chris?"
"What should I do, invite him for dinner?"
"For starts, sure", says Francois. "How did you meet him?"
"At Wreck Beach, almost a quarter century ago."
"He means how did we meet him today, smartass!"
"He was feeding a group of homeless people with a bunch of food he bought them at Mcdonald's."
"If you could call that food", says Francois, "Or kindness."
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