On the second day
of the trip, Josh and I started the most grueling leg. Not including stops and overnight stays, we
had a 20 hour drive ahead of us just to reach the
Aside from
fueling up the Jeep and ourselves, there was a
Had we not been
so anxious to head west, we probably would have spent time exploring both
exhibits. Given our tight schedule, we
had to limit ourselves to visiting and photographing the giant nickel.
“You know, I
never realized just how big
“I know what you
mean. To make matters worse, as we head
west, we’re pretty much crossing
“Sure dad,” Josh
said as he cracked open the cooler and dug around for a nice frosty can of
Coke. He finally produced two cans,
cracked one and handed it to me and then cracked one for himself.
“Cheers,” I said
as I held out my can to him. “To my
son,”
“To my dad,” Josh
replied as he clinked my can with his own and then drank deeply.
“By around this
time tomorrow, we’ll get our first glimpse of
“I can just
imagine how big it’ll be. I’ll bet it’ll
be like looking at the ocean,” Josh said thoughtfully.
“You’ve never
seen the ocean before, have you?” I asked.
“Nope, I’ve never
seen it,” he replied.
“Well, on this
trip, you’re going to see two of them.
If we had more time, you’d get to see three! I guess we’ll have to save the
“That would be
cool,” Josh replied.
“I guess this is
giant day,” I said with a grin. “First
we see the giant nickel is
“Oh yeah, the 28
foot tall goose! Just don’t park under
it or we’ll have a hell of a time cleaning the Jeep,” Josh said in a deadpan
voice.
I just looked at
him and then cracked up. “Now who’s the
dweeb?”
“We’re both
dweebs, but we love each other,” Josh replied.
It was a play on my standard answer whenever he kidded me and called me
some sort of name.
“Of course, more
than anyone or anything else in the world.”
We reached
“There it is,”
Josh said excitedly. “I see the giant
nickel!”
Sure enough, the
giant nickel was just ahead of us. We
pulled up and parked the Jeep. Josh
grabbed the video and digital cameras and ran off while I picked up our food
and followed closely behind him.
It really was quite
a sight. It was enormous and it had the
flattened edges of the old nickels that often turned up in pocket change. There were quite a few people standing around
looking at it and taking photos. Sure
enough, Josh was chatting up all of them and getting them to talk on
camera. He also got a man to take a
picture of the two of us standing arm-in-arm in front of it. We also had some fun. I had Josh pose for some trick picture which
made it appear as if he was holding the giant nickel over his head.
With the pictures
taken and the video shot, we sat down and enjoyed our lunch. There weren’t any available picnic tables so
we sat on the grass. We sat back-to-back
and leaned against each other. It was
quite comfortable and it gave us both some of the physical contact which we
enjoyed so much.
With our lunch
finished, it was time to push on. We had
a six hour haul to reach Wawa and that’s where we intended to have dinner and
spend the night. I had booked a room in
a small motel just off the highway which would make it easy for us to get back
on the road the next morning. The next
day was going to be another long haul day, but it was going to feature of the
more memorable sights along the way. The
first was
Terry Fox had run
his Marathon of Hope for cancer research along the very route that we were
traveling and had ended his cross-country attempt just east of
As I drove, Josh
played the role of deejay and played a continuous selection of my favorite
songs on CD. He also spent a lot of time
filming with the video camera and playing with his Gameboy. Best of all, we spent hours just talking and
enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes
we chatted about trivial matters and at other times, we had pretty intimate
conversations about serious topics.
“Dad, what
happens if my mom decides to marry Bob?”
Josh asked as we neared Wawa.
“What do you mean
Josh?” I asked.
“I mean, if my
mom marries Bob, won’t that make him my step-father?”
“I guess it would
legally make him your step-father. Why
do you ask?”
“I don’t want him
to be my step-father; I want you as my Dad.”
“Joshy, I am your
Dad and that won’t ever change. No
matter what happens. I don’t know much
about Bob, but he seems to be a decent kind of guy. If he’s smart, he won’t try to be anything
more than your friend and he won’t try to get between you and me.”
“But what if he
isn’t smart?” Josh asked seriously.
“Well then I
doubt your mom would marry him. You mom
knows how close we are and how much we care about each other. Do you think she’d allow anyone to come between
that?”
“No, I guess
not. If they do get married, I’ll still
call him Bob,” Josh replied firmly.
“Josh, I have no
doubt that he wouldn’t object to that.
You really don’t need to worry,” I said firmly. “Here, put your fingers on my wrist,” I
instructed Josh as I held out my hand and Josh complied. “Do you feel anything?”
“Yeah, I can feel
your pulse,” Josh replied.
“Good. Do you know how you can tell that I’m still
your Dad?” I asked. “If my heart is beating, if I have a pulse, I
will still love you and I will still be your Dad. Nobody could ever, or will ever, change
that.”
Josh placed a
gentle kiss on my wrist. “I love you too
and I owe you a big hug next time we stop,” Josh said with a smile.
“Josh, has this
been bugging you for a while?” I asked gently.
“Yeah, kind of,”
Josh replied.
“Is that why
you’re kind of cool towards Bob?”
Josh looked at
his feet for a moment. “Yeah, he’s an ok
guy, I guess. I was just worried that if
he and mom got together, it would split us up again.”
“Josh, you never
have to worry about that. When I say
forever, I mean forever. Nothing is ever
going to come between us. We will live
the rest of our lives as Dad and son and you can take that to the bank. Why don’t you try to be a little nicer to
Bob?”
“I’ll try,” Josh
said skeptically. “I want mom to be
happy, but I won’t let anyone try to replace you.”
I knew that Susan
was seeing a lot of Bob, but I didn’t think it was quite as serious as Josh
thought. In any case, I had no doubt
that Susan would never allow anything to break up or hinder the relationship
that Josh and I shared. She knew, better
than anyone else, just how deep our bond was, and how much we truly loved each
other. I had no doubt that if she did
wind up marrying Bob, she would make him well aware that Josh already had a Dad
in the picture, and that was not going to change. I was pretty certain that she knew that Josh
would not accept anything different.
Both of us were
starting to get hungry by the time we reached Wawa. The plan was to find and photograph the giant
goose and then get checked into our motel and get something to eat. Having spent the better part of the day
driving, my neck and shoulders were pretty stiff and I had a desperate need to
stretch out my legs. Josh spotted the
giant goose just before the GPS announced our arrival. I pulled the Jeep into the parking lot and
parked it.
“Why do they have
a giant goose?” Josh asked with a quizzical look on his face.
“I think Wawa is
a play on an Indian word which means goose,” I replied.
The goose was
about 30 feet tall and perched on a concrete block. It was posed with its neck stretched out and
with its wings partially extended. I
took some digital photos from various angles while Josh video taped it.
“Don’t get too
close to it’s rear-end!” Josh chided.
“Oh, wise guy,
eh? Whoop whoop whoop whoop” I said in
my ‘Curly’ voice which always cracked Josh up.
He laughed and filmed the whole thing.
“Didn’t you say that you owed me a hug?” I asked.
“Oh yeah!” Josh replied as he ran over and pulled me
into one of his famous octopus-like hugs.
He slung the video camera over his back and it wasn’t until later that
we discovered that he had set it to keep filming without him having to push the
button and he had forgotten to turn it off.
Later, when we viewed the video, we were treated to about 20 minutes of
grass, gravel and the left cheek of Josh’s rear-end!
After spending
half an hour admiring the goose and stretching our legs, our grumbling stomachs
motivated us to head to the motel. I had
booked us into a small motel on the west side of Wawa just off the Trans-Canada
highway. It would give us an easy start
the next morning on what would be another grueling day of driving.
We pulled into
the motel and I got us checked in. We
were given room 8, which was about half-way down the length of the motel. It was a typical motel and the room was cozy
and the beds were comfortable. Josh and
I grabbed our overnight bags and piled into the room. I took the bed nearest to the door while Josh
took the one nearest to the bathroom. We
set our bags down on the dresser and I flopped down on my bed while Josh turned
on the TV.
“Are you ok?”
Josh asked me. I could hear concern in
his voice.
“Yeah I’m ok,
bud. I’m just a little tired and a
little stiff,” I replied wanly.
“Why didn’t you
say so?” Josh replied as he climbed off
his bed and joined me on mine. “Take off
your shirt and roll over so I can give you a massage,” he instructed.
“You don’t have
to that,” I said knowing that Josh was probably pretty tired too.
“I WANT to do
that,” Josh replied firmly and began to pull my shirt off.
I rolled over and
Josh went to work. Before long, the
tightness and tension was leaving my neck and shoulders. I don’t know how he did it, but Josh always
managed to use just the right amount of pressure and find just the right
spots. I lay there as he worked his
loving magic and felt myself enter a deeply relaxed state. The last thing that I remembered before
falling asleep, was Josh wrapping his arms around me and whispering, “I love
you Dad” in my ear.
I awoke about an
hour later with Josh gently shaking my shoulder and with the wonderful smell of
pizza filling my nostrils.
“Dad, wake
up. I ordered some pizza for dinner,”
Josh said gently as he shook my shoulder.
“Hey bud, that
smells great,” I replied as I slowly regained consciousness. “Thanks for the massage, my neck and
shoulders feel great,” I said as I hugged Josh firmly.
“Anytime
Dad. I love you so much. I’m not old enough to drive, but I can sure
do my part to make it easier for you to do the driving.”
I gently kissed
his forehead. “I love you too kiddo,” I
said as I gave him a final squeeze and released him. Even as a budding teenager, Josh thrived on
physical contact. He loved to hug and
snuggle with people he loved. Josh could
no more thrive without loving physical contact, than he could survive without
food or water.
“Let’s eat, I’m
starving,” Josh chuckled as he grabbed the pizza box and then sat it down on my
bed. He snagged the remote for the TV
and then climbed up beside me. I propped
myself up against the head board and Josh snuggled up to me in his favorite
television viewing position.
Josh had ordered
an extra large pizza with all of our favorite toppings. Josh and I were both carnivores and the pizza
was loaded with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, and ground beef with green
peppers, mushrooms and double cheese thrown in almost as an afterthought. It was a dietician’s worst nightmare but for
us, it was a dream come true after a long day on the road.
“This looks
fantastic,” I said. “Where did you get
it?”
“I found a flyer
for a pizza place over on the dresser and I phoned in an order. I would have let you sleep longer, but I was
hungry and I didn’t want to let it get cold.”
“Good thinking.”
Amazingly, we
managed to down the entire pizza and chased it down with a couple of cans of
Coke. It was only about
By
“Josh! Are you ok son?” I asked.
Josh was writhing in pain in the next leg.
“MY LEG HURTS
LIKE HELL,” Josh yelled.
I went to him and
threw back his covered. He was clutching
his left calf and his face as a mask of pain.
“Josh, just relax. You have a charley
horse, straighten out your leg and let me help you,” I instructed. Having had more than my fair share of charley
horses, I knew the poor guy was in a lot of pain.
I gently rolled
Josh onto his stomach and stretched out his leg. I began to massage his calf and the back of
his knee. I started gently and gradually
got more firm. I felt Josh begin to
relax. “Is this helping?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s
helping a lot,” he replied in a half-sleepy, half-relieved tone of voice.
I expanded my
efforts to both of his calves and then his thighs and the backs of his
knees. After about 15 minutes, I rolled
him over again to do the front of his legs and I discovered that he was fast
asleep and snoring softly. I spent 10
minutes massaging the front of his legs as he slept soundly. When I was finally done, I stood up, grabbed
his covers and leaned down to kiss his forehead and tuck him in. As I did it, he wrapped his arms around my
neck and shoulders and it became clear that I wasn’t going back to my own bed
that night.
I climbed in with
Josh and pulled the covers around us. I
lay on my side and Josh rolled over and snuggled up against me. I folded my arms around him, pulled him
tightly against my chest and drifted back off to sleep.
We woke up bright
and early the next morning in pretty much the same position. We lay on our sides with Josh’s back against
my chest. My arms were wrapped around
him and he was clutching my hands against his chest. I stretched my arms and gently rubbed Josh’s
side to wake him up. “Joshy, it’s time
to get up,” I said gently.
Without saying a
word, he stretched his arms and then rolled over to face me. With his eyes still tightly closed, he yawned
and then gave me my morning hug.
“Morning Dad,” he said in a sleepy voice and then opened his eyes. “Thanks for taking care of me last
night. That hurt like hell,” he said.
“I know. I hate it when I get those. Anyway, what are dads for?” I kissed his forehead and then climbed out of
bed and headed for the bathroom.
The two of us
shared the bathroom sink as we washed up and shaved, before dressing for the
day. It was a bright and sunny June
morning without as much as a cloud in the sky.
The day ahead was filled with promise.
We would get our first look at the world’s largest freshwater lake,
After filling up
the Jeep’s gas tank at the local gas station and filling up ourselves at the
local McDonalds, we hit the road. For
the next hundred kilometers, the Trans-Canada highway looped north and west
around
“It’ feels like
we’re driving in the Deathstar trench,” Josh said on during one particularly
long span of road.
I laughed. “It does kind of feel like that. Are you getting it on film?” I asked
“Oh yeah!” Josh replied with his trademark grin as he
fiddled with the collection of CDs which we had brought along and selected a
disc. A moment later, the “Star Wars”
theme began blasting from the stereo system causing us both to burst out
laughing like a pair of loons.
Just after
“My God, it’s
huge,” Josh said. “I’ve seen it on maps
but I never knew just how big it really is,” he continued.
“I know what you
mean, the ocean looks just like this,” I replied. “Let’s find a place to park and check it
out.”
We pulled into a
small park on the lakeshore and parked the Jeep. We grabbed the cameras and walked down to the
rocky shore of the world’s largest freshwater lake. It was a warm and largely windless day so the
water was smooth and calm. Birds circled
overhead and we could see boats scattered along the horizon.
“This reminds me
of our visit to
“This is a lot
rockier,” Josh said. “Look how smooth
and round all these rocks are.” Josh
bent down and picked up a baseball sized rock which had been worn smooth by the
ravages of time and lake water.
I bent down and
picked up a nice flat skimming stone and chucked it into the water, skipping it
about four times on the surface before it submerged into the cool water.
“Nice shot,” Josh
said from behind the video camera.
We spent about 30
minutes walking along the lakeshore before we decided to get back into the Jeep
and grab some lunch. We stopped at a
local greasy spoon restaurant for burgers.
Greasy spoon restaurants were THE places for good, hot and inexpensive
meals while on the road and this place was no different. Their burgers were not quite up to Weber’s
standards, but they were thick, juicy and grilled to perfection.
During the next
five hours, the highway stuck quite close to the lake. We passed through a number of quaint little
towns such as
Just past the
town of
“We’re getting
close to the
“I can’t wait to
see the monument,” Josh replied. “I’ve
read all about Terry Fox and I’ve done Terry Fox runs before but this is
different.”
We began to see
signs for the Terry Fox Scenic Lookout just east of
“There’s the
exit,” Josh reported just before the GPS announced the same thing.
I pulled off the
highway and followed the driveway up the hill towards the visitor center and
the monument. It was late in the day and
the sun was getting close to the western horizon and it cast a wonderfully soft
light over the place. The parking lot
was nearly full and there was a large crowd of people milling about the path to
the monument and the visitor centre.
Josh and I
climbed out of the Jeep and headed down the narrow path towards the
monument. Josh, catching his first sight
of the monument, took off at a near run.
The monument was breathtaking. It
featured a large granite map of
As I approached
Josh from behind, I managed to shoot one of the most memorable photos of the
entire trip. The digital photo showed
Josh in profile, standing by the iron railing surrounding the monument. He was gazing upwards at the statue and he
was silhouetted by the sun as it approached the western horizon. After shooting the photo, I stood beside him
and placed my arm around his shoulders.
Looking down, I noticed that the granite map was covered in loonies and
twonies which people had tossed. I could
see that Josh was deep in contemplation so I remained silent until he decided
to speak.
“How old was he,
dad?” Josh finally asked.
“He was only 18
when he lost his leg to cancer, 21 when he started his run, 22 when he ended it
and only 23 when he died,” I said softly.
“He lost his leg
to cancer and he ran all the way from
“That’s right,
Josh. He ran 5,373 km over 143
days. That’s more than a marathon per
day, each and every single day.”
“Why did he do
it?” Josh asked in awe.
“Take a look at
this,” I said as I showed Josh a brochure which I had picked up as I passed the
visitor centre. The brochure contained a
brief history of Terry Fox and the monument and it included some quotes from
the man himself. One of these quotes
summed up his mission quite nicely:
‘Dreams are made if people only try.
I believe in miracles. I have to,
because somewhere, the hurting must stop.’
“His goal, was to raise $1 for every man, woman and child in
“Did he achieve
his goal?” Josh asked.
“Did he
ever. He might not have made it all the
way to the west coast, but he more than achieved his goal. By the time he died, he had raised over
$24,000,000 for cancer research and since then, his legacy has raised hundreds
of millions more.”
“What do you
mean?” Josh asked as he turned away from the statue for the first time and
looked at me. I could see that his eyes
were moist.
“You mentioned
that you’ve done Terry Fox runs before.
They hold those all over
“He wanted to
change the world,” Josh replied. “He
decided to try to do something about a terrible disease.”
“That’s exactly
what he did,” I replied. “He did change
the world. He showed the world what one
man can do when he put’s his mind to it.
He showed the world that one courageous person can change the world and
can motivate people.”
“He’s a true
hero,” Josh said simply as he wiped his eyes.
I could see just how moved he was.
“He sure is,
Josh. One day, there will be a cure for
cancer and it will be due, at least in part, to what that young man did. His legacy will touch the lives of millions
of people around the world for a long time to come.”
“It’s
amazing. He was just an ordinary
guy. A kid who got hit with a terrible
disease and decided to fight back. He
wasn’t rich. He wasn’t famous. He was just like me or you. I can’t even imagine how tough it would be to
run that far on two legs, let alone one.
He must have been the bravest person who ever lived,” Josh said
thoughtfully as he turned his head back towards the statue. “You’re my hero Dad, but so is Terry. I hope that one day I can touch so many
people and make such a difference in the world.”
I turned Josh
towards me and looked into his gray eyes.
“I’m honored to be in such company Josh.
I truly believe that you can touch people’s lives the way that Terry
did. You just need to figure out your
own way to do it. I look at you and I
see someone who has his strength and his courage. I believe that you will change the world,
Joshy,” I said warmly as we embraced. “I
love you kiddo.”
“I love you too
Dad. I meant it when I said that you’re
my hero.”
We stood and
looked at the statue for several more minutes before Josh cracked out the video
camera and we began talking to some of the other people who were there. Josh was utterly amazed when he discovered
that the people milling about had come from all over
Josh was in awe
of the fact that one ordinary young man could have such a profound impact on so
many people from so many places.
Visiting that place made the Terry Fox story real to him and
demonstrated to him that the world lay at his feet and that anything was
possible if he was willing to work at it and give it his all.
Before leaving,
we paid a visit to the visitor centre.
Josh and I both signed the guest book and we checked out the displays
which depicted the highlights of Terry’s run and his life. As we were leaving, we stopped at a donation
box near the door. I watched in
amazement as Josh took out his wallet, removed $100 and slipped it into the
box.
“That was very
generous of you Josh,” I said as I reached into my wallet and did the same
thing.
“It was nothing
compared to what Terry did,” Josh said firmly as we left.
Shortly after
leaving the Terry Fox Scenic Lookout, we pulled into
“How about fish
and chips tonight?” Josh asked.
“Sounds like a
good idea to me,” I replied. Both Josh
and I were fish and chips fiends. After
a short drive, we managed to find a little hole-in-the-wall place fish and chip
shop. It was one of those places where
they had probably been using the same grease for decades and they wrapped the
fish and chips up in newspapers. Those
places always had the best fish. We
grabbed a couple of large orders and took it back to our motel room.
In pretty short
order, we downed the food and stretched out on my bed to watch TV. As usual, Josh was snuggled up against me in
his usual TV watching position. We were
doing little more than channel surfing while enjoying each other’s company.
“How’s your neck
and shoulders?” Josh asked.
“Not too bad, a
little tight, I guess.”
“All right, then
off with the shirt and lay down,” Josh commanded in his drill instructor
voice. I was powerless to refuse so I
did as he directed. It only took him 15
minutes or so to get me fully relaxed and loosened up. These wonderfully loving massages made all
the hard driving all the more worthwhile.
“Are your legs
ok?” I asked Josh as he finished massaging my neck.
“Yeah, they’re ok
tonight. I don’t need a massage, I just
want to lay here with you and watch TV,” Josh replied.
I pulled him in
close and gave him a firm squeeze. “What
did I ever to do deserve you?” I asked.
“I don’t know,
but I wonder the same thing about you,” Josh replied as he leaned his head
against my shoulder.
We watched
television for another hour before I noticed that Josh had fallen asleep
against my side and was snoring softly.
I gently got him undressed and tucked him in, before heading to the
bathroom to brush my teeth.
When I came back
into the room, I climbed in beside Josh and he immediately scooted over and
cuddled up against my side. I lay there
for a while listening to Josh breathe and thought about the trip so far and
what lay ahead. So far, things had been
going even better than I had ever imagined.
I could see Josh blossoming before my eyes and as amazing as it was, I
could see that we were growing even closer together.
The experience of
really exploring the country for the first time was already having a profound
impact on Josh. It was opening his eyes
to the vastness, beauty and diversity of the country like nothing else
could. We were meeting and speaking to
people from all parts of the country and he had come face to face with the
legacy of one of the nation’s greatest heroes.
The Terry Fox
monument had hit Josh right in the heart and it had seemed to motivate
him. Josh seemed to be looking at the
world around him and seeing the possibilities instead of the limitations and I
hoped that it was something which would stay with him for the rest of his life.
I wrapped my arms
around my son and closed my eyes while thanking God for bringing us together
and giving me the opportunity to be a part of this amazing person’s life. I felt more than ever that I was a part of
something really big and that it was my job to keep watch over Josh and to help
him along the path to his destiny.