July 19 & 20: 219 Osland Close

I can't believe it. My parents finally sold and moved out of their house. It wasn't my home for as long as 10448-33rd ave was (I there from the time I was 4 until I was 13 1/2, and was at 219 from 13 1/2 until 22 not including the 8 months I was in Toronto). When we moved into 219 Christina would have been 1 or 2 years ago, so our family was set. We moved to Riverbend, which I had perceived to be the rich end of town into a house that at the time was new and gigantic compared to other houses.

When I hit high school (and Austin and I were determined to be the coolest guys at OSA, hahaha... hilarious but true) the house became THE place for the parties. My first party was a transition party (I think it was the last time I remember seeing Abi), the grade 10 Plan Z inspired party was the one I'll always remember (Jeff Litchfield making out with Lorraine on the couch in the basement with Lorraine and Christina at 5 years old sneaking downstairs and staring at them... thankfully Carrie Stinson jumped up and down on the couch to break them up). That was the first party that Geneva met my parents... haha... even now they still remember that day and say that she was incredibly cute. Countless universal pontification sessions, and pre-Gateway bowling alley get togethers with Ben/ Austin/ Thomas. How many potlucks did we have there? After I moved away, it was like an annual opportunity to come home for Christmas and see everyone. We've done that for 10 years and we're all at the point where a bunch of us now bring our kids.

Of course, the Eggo Days were some of the happiest days of my life. Mulan and always having Ashley sitting on my left sending out fake hand pumps, Natasha getting duck-duck-goosed into the bushes, watching Brazil World Cup highlights and having the girls do the Bebeto babyrocking celebration after our provincial semi-final win... i still love those little sisters.

But it's all the small things you remember that make this a special hour.
- Geneva comforting me after a car accident on 170th st late at night when I almost died. She's forever my rock and my savior.
- Playing Super Tecmo Bowl with Ian at late nights, and battling with Ian for the phone late at night (he still gives Geneva grief for us sleeping on the phone before the days of speaker phone and call-waiting).
- Hockey floor in the basement with Vince, Tyler, Jade, Miki, Chris, etc.
- Playing basketball with Uncle Huy in the backyard and stuffing him and having the ball bounce off the porch stairs and hitting him in the head and accidently cutting him... :) oops.
- Heather havig a temper tantrum after a karoke party with Christina and running into my room and slamming the door so that the door trim fell off (my door never worked the same after that).
- Waking up to mom's pho or bun bo hue.
- Decorating my room with SI cut outs of Magic Johnson, the 49ers, the Fab Five; Batman flags, and later on soccer medals, artwork from University and my sketches, and Nintendo posters.
- Friday Night movies where it was guarenteed that dad would fall asleep 30 mins in to the movie regardless of genre.
- Babysitting Christina with Geneva and knowing that Geneva would be an amazing mom when I saw her with Christina (OMG, she treats Josh so much like Geve treats me... WHICH IS TERRIBLE!!!)
- Making tapes for Geneva or for the guys in high school to exchange music
- Running in for hot chocolate after winter mornings on the frozen rinks in Terwilligar

It was so conforting having one of my best friends in the world in the room beside me, knowing that if I ever needed to chat about something and toss a mini-football around that he was always there.

I loved sneaking into Christina's room in the morning and surprise attacking her into waking up.

I'll always be amazed that mom and dad still have the same bedframe that they have had forever in their room.

I'll miss the house for sure. It was a big part of my life growing up, and it always kept us safe (even on those late nights when Ba Noi would sneak into our rooms and say "wook-nigh" = good night). Our house was an extension of our family and became a part of my identity. I'm glad that Sydney and Caden got to spend some time in the house before the grandparents moved out.

P.S. Love the shades that we found in the basement Geve!