Ippssy

today sucks... argh.... i'm so numb and emotional at the same time. i just need to write to ... get things out.

damn it. we're one day away from going home for christmas and six days from being at the farm. geneva just got a call from her mom that ippssy passed away today. no warning, no anything. she ate normally and played normally with ding yesterday at the farm. good grief... i can't even open the friggin fridge without crying when i look at all the doggie snacks that we picked up for her at 3 dog bakery.

i just wish that i had one more afternoon with her in the sun on the farm where we could toss the stick around, i could laugh as she crawled up to me and flopped on her back and begged for a belly rub, and we'd just lay around watching the horse or the sunset.

god we miss you already girl.

ippssy, our incredible love. geneva brought you into our lives when she had just finished university and i was completing my fifth year. mom wasn't on campus a lot and i was, and she had just started work so our schedules were a little out of sync. however, we would always get together for flag football practice and games, and hang out at the old house on the weekends. i remember the first time that i saw you. you were so tiny (i think you were 4 weeks old).

there was one time when you came out to one of our flag football games. we were undefeated after you entered our lives, so you were our good luck charm right off the bat. anyways, after one of the games you were racing around and i didn't see where you went. you snuck up behind me and i backed up and accidentally stepped on your paw. you let out a tiny "yelp" and then walked up to mommy and stuck your paw out like it was broken. your mom hit me numerous times and she cuddled you like crazy. it's crazy how much that seems like something that could now happen with sydney.

you were and probably will be the only dog that i ever really fall in love with. when i was 5 years old, my "best friend" at the time, named ian, and my brother ian and his best friend, corey, were all hanging out at corey's place. we were in the backyard where they had a golden lab. anyhow, we were playing with hot wheels cars, pushing them on the pavement back and forth, when my friend ian gets the idea to throw his car at the dog. the dog jumped and attacked me. he bit both of my arms and my right ear, and i was bleeding badly. i still have the scars.

i ended up growing up with a fear... a phobia of dogs. one time in grade five, i was walking home from school with ian (my brother, not the stupid friend) and auntie mimi. there was a little black mutt on the opposite side of the street that was barking loudly but not walking towards us. i had a massive panic attack and screamed and tried to hide because i thought the dog was going to attack me. auntie mimi laughed because she didn't understand. when you have a phobia, whatever you are afraid of is the absolute embodiment of your worst nightmare come to life and amplified 100 fold.

ipps, if it wasn't for you, i would have never gotten over my phobia of dogs. you taught me to conquer my one major achilles heel. i never had a dog growing up or any kind of real pet, so you are really the first one that i've ever had and ever fallen in love with. They say that owning a pet is the one of the only chances in life to choose a family member. even though you were geneva's choice, you brought so much into my life and our lives. in many ways, you are the symbol for everything good that geneva and the chans have brought to my life. our afternoons on the farms are some of the happiest and simplist moments of my existence.

i wish you could have held on for a few more days. we were so close to being home. i feel so bad because the last time we came home, we were so busy with sydney and travelling that it was the first time that i forgot to bring something home for you. i feel so terrible now. i hope that you know that we love you so much.

our little baby puppy, i can't even explain how i feel right now. there's a big part of my heart that's been ripped out. your mom is more introverted than i am and i know that she's hurting much more inside. she's strong and she'll get through but you should know that i've never seen her love a dog (and she's had a lot) to even a fraction of the degree that she loves you.

even though we moved to vancouver, there isn't a day that we didn't think about you. everyone always asks us why so many of our email addresses, blogs, etc are named ipppsy and ippssyeggos. literally everyday you are in our thoughts and hearts.

we miss you more than you can imagine. we hope that you passed away in peace, and that we'll see you again in heaven. good grief, we miss you so much. we're so grateful to have had the chance to love you as much as we did, and grateful that you loved us in return.

we miss you. we love you forever. we hope a part of us is with you. we'll take the beauty of your being with us everywhere we go for the rest of our lives, now and beyond this lifetime.

love you ippssy. xoxoxoxo

Dec: Random pics from Nov/ Dec

Mommy and daddy's 4th anniversary and celebrating at the Cannery, hanging out with the Tanakas and Christmas shopping in Coquitlam, and your first Santa picture (a bit of a disaster)...

A nice email from Ba Noi

Just for you Syd:

Hi Dave,
Haven't talked to you for the last few days because of so much thing going on with the new house & the Xmas party at work. I just finished a technician potluck, then work on the house, answer, look up info for your Dad. Now I have time to write you a short note before I go home.
I love to read your blog everyday even though it's the old stuff but I love to see Sydney & your writing. It's such a great way to record the life even for Sydney. I now regret that I didn't do it for any of you. Memory fades away with time but some thing in writing is always there. Make sure every thing on the blog is duplicated on disk in case the web site got wiped out.
What are you doing this weekend? I will go for a hair cut tomorrow then will start cooking for Xmas. I will cook bun bo & pho, freeze them for Calgary trip. Hope that it will be cold enough so I can use the natural freezer outside. It's warming up here.
What is Sydney up to now? Does she walk? I long to see her next week.
I am going home now so don't bother to reply. I will call you tonight if I am home before 8pm.
You, Geneva & Sydney have a good weekend. Finish shopping for Momma Le yet?
Give my princess a big hug & kisses please.
Love,
Mom

Videos

Welcome Aiden!

Sydney, another brother from another grandmother... or more specifically a cousin!

Congrats to Uncle Hodge (hahahaha... that sounds perfect) and Auntie Cindy on the birth of Aiden! Can't wait to see you guys next year. Hopefully I can swing Raptor tickets for all of us.

Dec 8: Spice Up Your Life

Hey Syd,

Last weekend we had some visitors in town. I'd like to say that they came exclusively to see you, but you were the 2nd highest ranked performer of the weekend. Auntie Christina & Jade, Big Sister Jess, and their buddy Grant (a girl) all came to town to catch the Spice Girls concert.

Their initial plan was to "hardcore study" (well, except for Jess because she's maxed out at a 3.5 GPA in business... good grief, getting a 3.9 should be a lay-up) and go to the concert. However, I think it's safe to say that you were happy to play the role of "who-wants-to-study-let''s-play-with-my-pianofrombanoi-and-drumsfrompopo"-major distraction hostess. You easily cut their study time in half.

We had a good time taking Jade and Christina to sushi (Jade's first time and she liked it... yummy, makes a difference when you find a place run by Japanese people vs Chinese people re: authenticity). There was also the not-meant-to-be-aprank-call call from Jess on my Blackberry to Uncle Lam at 3:00 a.m. (years from now we'll be able to laugh about that... but Unc was pissed... hahaha). A fun weekend, I hope that you can go with all of them to the Spice Girls Reunion Concert in 2017... it will be sweet. Mommy was a gracious hostess, hopefully the girls will make it up to mommy at some point (hint-hint losers).

Oh and just a Sydney status
- Hoorah, you haven't been sick for a month. Your immune system is definitely building up. You're really liking daycare in terms of hanging out with other kids. I cry more than you do when I drop you off in the morning... I'm such a mush.
- You're SOOOO close to walking. You can take a few steps on your own, but not full walking yet.
- Considering how much you love your piano and drum set, I think you'll end up loving music. But as you love laptops even more, a future in game development may be right up your alley.
- Your current morning nap-in-the-car playlist includes "Bubbly", Hayley Sales, and Viva Forever.

I'll separately post your "boogie" video. You have this new head-shake, full-body-bobbing dance... it's so cute.

Love you,
Daddy