Father and Daughter

After fifty years, Roy still looks handsome to me. It must be the three weeks he needs to recover from a hangover. Julie, on the other hand, only needs five or six minutes, tops. It must be a Miller thing because I myself need at least a day, although I can sometimes have a beer the next day with 19 hours sleep under my belt.

Although Julie looks very beguiling and cute in this picture, don't be fooled. Under that precocious exterier dwells a caring person. I don't know why this incident has stayed with me all these years, but I remember my first experience with downhill skiing at Sunshine Village. I was so bad that everyone finally left me to my own devices except Julie and Gail. They got me down the Strawberry run somehow. I think there is a picture somewhere that shows me wiping out Roy and Leo getting off the lift. After that day, how I ever kept on skiing I'll never know.

And one day at a ski hill that I can't now remember the name of, I achieved perfection (in my mind). I did the moguls and I was good, Kev and Jim saw me come down that run and even they were impressed. Gawd did I have a good time with Jim and Kev in the lounge after. And the ride back to Calgary in Jim's white van was so nice. Jim driving, Kev in the middle nodding off and me in the passenger seat telling Jim that the day had been the greatest day of my life. And I remember Switzer, watching Ger, Kev, Robin and Neil hot dogging it and skiing with Marlene (she was a better skiier than me by far at the time).



One good thing though is that it takes Roy six weeks to get over his hangover