By Scribe
“What time is you
mom’s flight due in?” I asked Josh.
“She said she was
going to be on the Air Canada flight arriving at
“How’s it going
bro?” Andy asked jovially as he approached.
After a series of
greetings and introductions, our expanded group of ten decided to make our way
to the motel and get checked in before heading out for dinner. The plan was to meet Susan at the airport and
then the group of us would head off for dinner together.
We had all booked
ourselves into the Holiday Inn in downtown
The rooms at the
hotel were spacious and well appointed.
Josh, Mark, Bryan, and I were in one room. Andy and my mom were in the next, James, Ann,
and the twins were in the room next to them.
Susan and Bob were booked into a room across the hall.
While I went
about hanging up our suits, Josh fired up my laptop and connected to the
Internet using the in-room high speed connection. A moment later, I heard his happy shout.
“COOL,” he
crowed. “There’s a Mandarin restaurant
not far from here. Can we go there for
dinner?”
“Sounds like a
plan to me,” I replied. “How about it
guys, you feel like pigging out on all you can eat Chinese food?” I asked Bryan and Mark.
“Oh man,” Mark
replied. “The Mandarin is one of the
things I miss most about
“I guess that
settles it as long as everyone else agrees,”
It didn’t take
long to secure the agreement of the rest of our party. In particular, Richard and Matthew were very
enthusiastic about the idea of eating at the Mandarin. I placed a call to the number that Josh
provided and made a reservation for twelve for
We had about 30
minutes before we had to leave to pickup Susan and Bob at the airport so we
took a few minutes to relax. It was just
as well that we were having a later dinner.
It was approaching
“You excited
kiddo? I asked him after a few minutes.
“Yeah, kinda,” he
replied.
I could sense
that Mark had something on his mind.
“You want to take a little walk with me?” I asked.
“Sure,” Mark
replied with a smile.
“Guys, we’re
going for a little walk to check out the hotel,” I told Josh and Bryan.
“Sure. Have fun,”
“Would you grab
me a coke from the machine while you’re out?” Josh asked.
“Sure bud,” I
replied as Mark and I left the room.
We went to the
elevator and made out way down to the lobby and sat down in a couple of
comfortable chairs.
“Is everything ok
Marky?” I asked.
“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I’m having a great time and the past few
months have been the best time of my life.
It’s just that….” He trailed off.
“It’s ok
bud. It’s me you’re talking to. You can tell me anything,” I said
encouragingly.
“I know and I’m
glad that you’re here. I love my brother
more than anything and I love Josh like a brother. You and I have a special relationship. You came into my life at just the right
time. You’re like my guardian angel,”
Mark replied with a grin.
“I hear you
bud. I’ve said it before; you’re like a
son to me.” I reached out and gave his
knee a squeeze through his Khaki pants.
“I just feel a
little bad for
I smiled at Mark
and I felt a lot of pride in the boy at that moment. He had become so much like Josh that it was
uncanny. “I wouldn’t worry about
“What?” Mark
asked.
“He feels pride
in you and he loves you unconditionally.
He doesn’t feel bad that he’s not getting a medal; he’s feeling happy
for you. He feels proud of you for what
you did. You know what he told me?”
“What?” Mark
asked with a raised eyebrow.
“He said that
although you guys live like buddies or roommates and you’re brothers,
Mark thought
about what I had said for a moment and then smiled and leaned over to give me a
big hug. “Thanks Tommy,” he said
softly. “You’re the best.”
“You too
kiddo. Never forget that Bryan or I will
always be here for you and Josh.”
“I know. Nobody has ever done as much for me in my
life.”
We walked back up
to the room, stopping along the way to get us each a Coke from the vending
machine near the elevator. I smiled when
I opened the door to the room and Mark bounded in, jumped up on his bed with
“Hey bud, what’s
that for?”
“Just because,”
Mark replied.
There was a knock
at the door just as I was about to sit down.
“Andy!” I said as
I opened the door. “Come on in
bro.”
“What’s up guys?”
Andy asked.
“We’re just
relaxing before we hit the Mandarin,” Josh replied.
“Good plan,” Andy
replied. “I have the statement of claim
and the statement of defense for you to sign.”
“Oh yeah, the
lawsuit. I’d almost allowed myself to
forget about that,” I replied.
“Don’t worry
about it. Their case is a joke and it’ll
get thrown out in a second.”
Andy handed me a
stack of papers. “Do I have to read all
of these?”
“Normally,
yes. In this case, Professor Markinson
and I drew them up and I know what they say.
Basically, it lays out the legal reasons that the plaintiff’s case is
invalid and it states the basis of our case for our counter claim and our
complaint against their lawyer. We’ve
also included a standard retainer form allowing Professor Markinson and I to
act on your behalf.”
“Ok, I’ll
sign. I don’t need all the legal
details,” I chuckled.
“How much are we
suing them for?” Josh asked.
“We’re asking $1
million, but we probably won’t get that much,” Andy replied instantly getting
“Do they even
have $1 million if we win?” I asked.
“That’s the
beauty of it. We’re naming the
plaintiffs and their lawyer as defendants.
If they lose, the lawyer has liability insurance which would have to
pay. I doubt that we’ll get $1 million,
but we’ll get something out of it.”
“Remind me never
to piss you off,”
A moment later,
there was another knock at the door and when Mark opened it; he was nearly
bowled over by two very excited six year olds!
“LET’S GO!” Richard shouted.
“YEAH, WE”RE
HUNGRY!” Matthew added.
Anne followed
them in at a slightly slower pace.
“You guys are
going to have a lot of fun keeping those two fed when they become teenagers in
about seven years,” I said to Ann.
“Don’t I know
it. They already have very healthy
appetites but they’re like their dad, they don’t gain a pound of fat!”
“What did I do?”
James asked as he too entered the room.
“Mommy said that
we’re like you and we don’t get fat when we eat too much,” Matthew said.
“She did, did
she?” James smiled at his son.
“All of you boys
are like that,” my Mom said as she completed our little group. “Let’s get a move on, this room is a little
crowded with ten of us in here.”
We headed
downstairs to our vehicles. My mom,
James, Andy, Ann and the twins piled into their rented mini-van while the rest
of us climbed into our rental car and we headed off to the Mandarin. The plan was to drop Bryan and Mark off, then
for Josh and I to return to the airport to meet his mom and Bob.
“Don’t eat all
the Lobster before I get back,” Josh said to Mark when we dropped them off.
“Don’t worry, I’m
sure there’s enough,” Mark replied.
“Looking forward
to seeing your mom again?” I asked as we made our way back to the
“Yeah, I’m not
too keen on seeing Bob, though.”
“I know son, just
try to be nice and give him a chance.”
“I will.”
We pulled into
the short term parking lot and I deposited a couple of loonies in the
meter. We didn’t expect to be waiting
for long. Susan’s flight was supposed to
land at
We entered the
terminal on the arrivals level and I could see that Josh was excited and
looking forward to seeing his mom. He
didn’t have long to wait.
No sooner had we
arrived in the arrivals area when we saw Susan coming through the gate with her
suitcase in tow. Surprisingly, she was
alone.
“MOM!” Josh shouted and ran to his mother, throwing
his arms around her in a big hug.
“Hi Susan,” I
said as I approached.
“Hi Tom,” she
said and gave me a quick hug. “You two
look great. Josh, I think you’ve grown a
bit.”
Josh blushed
slightly. “Where’s Bob?” he asked.
“Bob decided he
didn’t really want to come along, so I’m here alone,” she said.
A small light
came on as I wondered to myself, ‘Why wouldn’t Bob ‘want’ to share in this
great moment?’ I got the sense that
there was more to the story than Susan was letting on, but I wasn’t about to
say anything and potentially spoil the happy mood.
“I’m really glad
that you’re here,” Josh said.
“Me too,
Josh. Me too,” Susan said.
“We have a rental
parked outside. Unless you want to go to
the hotel first, we can go straight over to the Mandarin and join everyone else
for dinner,” I said.
Susan laughed out
loud. “The Mandarin, eh? Trust the two of you to find a Mandarin
restaurant! We can go to the hotel
later. Josh might start eating the
upholstery in the car if we don’t get some food into him.”
“MOM!”
“Don’t Mom
me. I know you too well son!” Susan laughed.
We arrived back
at the Mandarin a few minutes later and after everyone had a chance to say
hello to Susan, we joined the Buffet line.
Not surprisingly, with three hungry boys in the group, the others had
already started eating by the time we arrived.
Back at the
table, James had ordered a bottle of wine and some grape juice for the kids.
Strangely enough, Ann stuck to juice as well.
James stood up and offered a toast.
“I’d like to propose a toast to the three heroes. To Tom, you used to be the baby of the family
but now you’re the one to have followed closest in Dad’s footsteps. To Josh, you’re a truly amazing young man who
has had a profound affect on Tom. To
Mark, a courageous young fellow who has overcome some very significant
obstacles. Cheers.”
All three of us
were blushing quite obviously at that point as we all clinked glasses and
drank.
“You guys are
heroes, but NEVER, EVER do anything like that again,” my mom said seriously.
“I’ll second that
one Dianne,” Susan replied firmly.
An hour later, we
were all tucking into dessert when Ann spoke up. “Now that we have everyone together, we have
an announcement to make. We found out
the other day that the family is going to be getting a little bigger in about
eight months.”
It took a moment
before it sunk in and then everyone broke out into cheers and shouts of
congratulations.
“Way to go bro,”
I said and lightly punched James on the shoulder.
The twins, who
were sitting between Mark and Josh, looked a little confused. Josh leaned down and whispered in Richard’s
ear while Mark did the same with Matthew.
A second later, both boys broke into huge grins.
“Daddy, does
mommy mean that we’re going to be big brothers?” Matthew asked.
“I’m already a
big brother cause I was born first,” Richard said causing everyone to laugh.
“It sure does
son. You two are going to have a little
brother or a little sister.”
“I’m hoping for a
little girl,” Anne said. “There are
already too many males in this family!”
“Keep it up and
we’ll soon have our own hockey team,” Andy said.
“I play hockey,”
Mark said.
“Same here,” Andy
replied. “We ought to talk.”
“You guys won’t
believe some of the stuff we’ve done on this trip,” Josh said enthusiastically. He proceeded to hold everyone enthralled with
tales of bungee jumping, super malls, towering mountains and simulated air
combat.
“Sounds like you
boys are having quite a summer,” Susan said.
“Yeah, it’s the
best time I’ve ever had!” Josh gushed.
“I’ll bet that
you’re both learning a lot,” my Mom added.
“Oh yeah! I never imagined some of the places that
we’ve seen and we’ve met so many incredible and wonderful people,” Josh
said. “You should see the badlands. Tommy was even bitten by a snake. I thought it was poisonous, so I cut its head
off with a knife.”
“Sounds like you
got lucky,” James said.
“Josh found a
real dinosaur tooth in the
“Wow Josh, you
did a really wonderful thing for that little girl,” Susan said.
“I want to go see
the dinosaurs,” Matthew announced.
“Uh oh, now look
what you’ve started,” Ann said.
“Come to think of
it; I’d love to see that place too,” James replied.
“You? In the outdoors?” Andy asked incredulously. “I always thought your idea of roughing it
was running your laptop on batteries.”
Everyone had a
good laugh at James’ expense.
“Sounds like something
I can relate to,”
“That’s why I
didn’t think it was weird when you wanted me to pack my suit to go on a camping
trip,” Mark deadpanned earning a round of laughter.
As I sat back and
listened to my family bantering back and forth, I couldn’t help but smile. The whole crew was gelling nicely and
everyone got along famously. Family was
everything to Bryan and me, and I was thrilled to be in the company of all of
my loved ones at the same time.
Later that
evening, back at the motel, Josh went across the hall to visit with his mom for
the evening while Bryan, Mark, and I settled in for a quiet evening. I decided to polish my shoes for the next
day’s ceremony and figured it could be a good bonding moment with Mark.
“Hey Mark, you’re
going to join the Air Cadets right?” I
asked.
“Definitely. I want to join the air force when I get
older.”
“Excellent. It’s a good program. Do you want to learn an important skill that
will help you in Cadets and in the military?”
“Sure,” Mark
replied and came over and sat down with me on the side of the bed.
I reached into my
overnight bag and produced my good leather shoes and a small bag containing
some black shoe polish, some rags and a balled up pair of panty-hose. “I’m going to teach you how to spit polish
your shoes and make them look like mirrors,” I said.
“Cool,” Mark
replied. “Why’s that important?”
“Good
question. Your uniform is something that
you wear with pride and the way you wear it says a lot about you. Having well polished boots or shoes says a
lot about you in military circles. It
shows a lot of pride and dedication.
It’s actually pretty easy to do, but it takes a lot of work to build up
a good coat of polish.”
“I’ll get my
shoes,” Mark said and he went to retrieve his shoes from his bag. “How do you do it?” he asked when he
returned.
“Well, you need a
little polish, a little spit and a whole lot of little circles,” I replied.
“A whole lot of
little circles?” Mark asked with a
questioning look on his face.
“Yes sir, a whole
lot of little circles,” I replied.
I proceeded to
show him how to wrap the rag around his finger, how to get a tiny dab of polish
and how to work it into the leather using a firm circular motion.
“You have to
learn how to give just the right amount of pressure,” I instructed.
“My finger get’s
tired after a while,” Mark said.
“I know; it does
that until you get used to it. Once you
get lots of layers built up, it gets easier.
See how it’s started to get nice a shiny and you can see those little
streak marks? That means you’re doing it
right.”
“How do I know
when it’s done?” Mark asked.
“I consider it
done when I can read newspaper print reflected in it.”
“Oh man, that’s a
lot of work,” Mark lamented.
“I know and your
boots aren’t the only thing that will need polishing. The brim of your cap and your belt need to be
done and you need to polish the brass of your buttons and your cap badge too!”
After an hour or
so when Mark had a good coat of polish on his shoes, I showed him how to buff
them to a brilliant shine with a balled up pair of panty-hose.
“Wow! These look great,” he enthused. “Look at my shoes.”
“Those look great
bud,”
Pretty soon, Mark
was polishing his brother’s shoes too while I went to work on Josh’s.
It was getting
late and we needed to be up early the next morning, so we decided to turn
in. I wasn’t too sure if Josh was coming
back that night, but I made sure that he had a room key before he left. Susan was only going to be in
I climbed into
the big king-sized and, after bidding Mark and Bryan a good night, I drifted
off to sleep. That night, I once again
found myself dreaming of Josh and the future.
In a dream very similar to the first such dream that I’d ever
experienced, I saw myself with a crowd of people in a well decorated room. Josh, who appeared to be in his late 30s, was
standing at the front of the room in profile facing an older man. Beside me on my left was a blonde woman, a
very pretty blonde little girl and a strikingly handsome blonde teenage
boy. The boy was a mirror of Josh and
both he and the little girl had his gray eyes.
Beside me on my
right was a man dressed in the sharp blue dress uniform of an Air Command
officer in the armed forces. The officer
had three gold bands on his sleeves, the brim of his peaked cap was adorned
with a quantity of “scrambled eggs” and he proudly wore the golden wings of a
pilot on his chest. It took me a moment
to realize that it was a grown up Mark sitting next to me wearing the uniform
of a Lieutenant-Colonel. Beside him was
what was an older version of
I awoke to the
sound of thunder and the light tapping of rain on the hotel window. I was on my back and I felt a familiar weight
and warmth against my right side. Josh
had evidently returned from visiting his mother and climbed into bed without
disturbing me.
I wrapped an arm
around him and went over the dream in my mind.
Slowly, the meaning of that dream began to dawn on me and while I still
rejected the idea that I was somehow clairvoyant, I believed that someone
somewhere was trying to tell me something.
I realized for the first time just what Josh’s destiny might be and why
it was so important for me to be there to support and nurture him along the
way. With the sound of my son’s snoring
in my ear and thoughts of what the future might hold flashing through my mind,
I once again drifted off to sleep.
We all awoke
bright and early the next morning. The
big day had finally arrived. The four of
us scrambled to take our showers and get dressed up in our suits. I decided against mentioning any part of my
dream to any of the others.
Before long, all
eleven of us were standing in the hotel lobby waiting to take the short drive
to Rideau Hall. Josh looked like a
million bucks in his new suit and the same Navy blue tie that I’d given him for
his father’s funeral. Mark and Bryan
both looked immaculate in their suits, as did Andy and James. Susan, Anne, and my mom were all dressed in
nicely trimmed skirts and jackets. Even
the twins were decked out in tiny suits and ties.
“You’ve become
such a handsome boy Josh,” Susan said as she wiped the corner of her eyes. “You’re not a little boy anymore.”
Josh blushed
slightly and hugged his mother.
My own mom
reached up and straightened my tie for me.
“You look wonderful too Tom,” she said and kissed my cheek.
Most of the
morning seemed like a blur. I hardly
remembered walking to the car and climbing into the passenger seat as
After we parked
the car, we were met by a Government House staffer who checked our invitations
and recorded the names of our guests before showing us into the main hall where
the presentation was to take place.
Along the way, she explained how the ceremony would take place but I
barely heard her. I was lost in my own thoughts. I was filled with mixed emotions. I felt pride, but I still felt a degree of
guilt and shame over what had happened.
If not for Josh’s hand on one shoulder and
When we entered
the room and took our seats in the front row, I had a sense of Déjà vu. I realized that the room we were in, was the
same room from my dream the night before and that only served to heighten my
certainty that I had correctly interpreted the dream. I was also thinking about my Dad and
wondering what he’d think of all this. I
knew that he’d be proud and I was a little sad that he wasn’t there to see it.
“You ok Dad?”
Josh asked.
“Yeah bud, I’m
fine,” I replied and squeezed his hand.
“I’m more than fine.”
“You have kind of
a funny look on your face,” Josh commented.
“I just feel a
little overwhelmed, that’s all.”
“I’m with you
Dad. We’re all with you. Everyone you love and care about is here with
you,” Josh said softly.
“I know
kiddo. I was thinking about the future
and the past too. I was thinking about
my Dad. I wish he was here.”
“I’m sure he is
here Dad. He’s always with you. It’s like you told me that night in the
hospital. Your dad will always be with
you, just like you promised to always be with me.”
I knew he was
right and hearing it from him made it real.
“You’re right Joshy. Thanks bud.”
“Hang in there
Tom,”
“I will. Thanks,” I replied and softly touched his
hand.
A few moments
later, the ceremony was started with the playing of the vice regal salute and
the arrival of the governor general. She
was a fairly short, kind looking, lady who had a grandmotherly look about
her. When she spoke, she spoke from the
heart and with the authority of her office.
“Ladies and
gentlemen, welcome to Rideau Hall. Of
all the duties that I have as Governor General, this is the one which gives me
the greatest pleasure. I am honoured
today to recognize ten Canadians who have made a real difference to this
country. Each of you has performed an act
of heroism and placed yourself in a position of great peril in order to help
others. Each of you represents the best
of what this great country of ours has to offer. Each of you has set an example of for the
rest of us to follow. I am proud of all
of you and I am very pleased to welcome you hear today in recognition of your
brave and selfless acts,” she said before sitting down in the large chair at
the front of the room.
The Rideau Hall
staffer who had shown us to our seats approached the podium to the side of the
room and began to speak. “Your
Excellency Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of
Josh, Mark, and I
all stood up together and walked to the front of the room. I heard one of the twins giggle something and
smiled faintly as we took our places facing the governor general.
The woman at the
podium began to read the citation for our medals. “In February of this year, Thomas Ryan Davis,
Joshua Michael Chambers, and Mark Andrew Callahan were visiting the Cloverdale
shopping mall in west
The Governor
General rose from her chair and approached the three of us. Beside her was another aid carrying the
medals laid out on a silver tray. She
stopped first in front of me. “On behalf
of Queen Elizabeth the second, I present you with this medal for acts of
bravery in the face of great personal peril,” she carefully pinned the medal to
the left lapel of my jacket and then shook my hand. She smiled warmly at me and said,
“Congratulations and well done.”
She moved on to
Josh and then to Mark and repeated the same narration again. Just like that, after only a few minutes, it
was all over. When we turned to head
back to our seats, I noticed that at the back of the room, there were a dozen
We sat and
admired our gleaming medals as we watched the rest of the medal
presentations. There were ten groups and
individuals being honoured that morning.
Sadly, a few of those presentations were posthumous. I thought about just how close our little
adventure had come to resulting in a posthumous presentation. Had Joe Chamber’s aim been a little better, I
could have taken his slug in my heart instead of across my arm.
Following the
presentation, there was a catered reception.
I sought out Constable Higgins and the other officers who had made the
trip and found out that they had all known and worked with my dad before he
died, and they had all come to
“Way to go son,
your dad would have been very proud of you,” Darren said warmly.
“Thanks. Thank you to all of you for coming. It means a lot to have you here.” I made my way to each of them and shook their
hands. Having them there meant more to
me than any of them would ever know. I
could feel my dad in that room with me that morning.
After speaking to
the officers, I sought out Josh. I found
him with Mark near the buffet table.
“Hey son. How’s it going?”
“Great. How about you?” Josh asked.
“I feel great
kiddo. I just spoke to Darren and the
officers who came with him. They all
used to work with my Dad. I was thinking
about what you said, and I can feel my Dad here with us today.”
“I’m glad. I want to speak to them and thank them too.”
Josh turned and
was about to head in the direction of the group of police officers when he
noticed a tall, well dressed man enter the room and begin walking in our
direction. I followed Josh’s gaze and
felt my breath catch in my throat. The
man coming towards us was the Prime Minister of Canada.
“Josh, do you
know who that is?” I asked.
“Isn’t that the
Prime Minister?”
“Yes it is,” I
said. He was on his second term and
likely to run for a third. While I
hadn’t voted for him either time and was unlikely to vote for him the next
time, it would be an experience to meet someone of that importance.
“Welcome to
“Thank you Mister
Prime Minister. It’s an honour to meet
you.”
“It’s not every
day that I get to meet a hero,” he said with a crooked grin.
He moved on to
Mark and I noticed the reporters following him with still cameras and video
cameras. I hoped that we weren’t going
to end up on some election brochure.
By the time he
finished with Josh, I need not have worried about being used in campaign
material.
I heard the Prime
Minister exchange greetings with Josh and then I did a double take when I heard
what Josh had to say next.
“I’m honoured to
meet you sir, but if I can be honest with you, I don’t think you’re doing a
very good job in some areas,” Josh said clearly, confidently and loud enough
that all the reporters took notice.
Suddenly Josh was surrounded by microphones, tape recorders and every
camera in the room.
“We live in a
great country but there are some problems that don’t seem to be getting
fixed. My father was a drunk who kept
getting drunk and driving his car. No
matter how many times he got locked up for it, he kept getting out. He kept doing that until he finally killed
three people and himself. My new dad’s
father was a police officer like those men over there. He was shot and killed in the line of duty
and the guy who killed him might get out of jail in just a few years. My new dad was in the army and he got hurt
and it took two years for the army to figure out that they were at fault and he
nearly died. A bunch of our troops,
including some of my Dad’s friends, are over in Kosovo right now and they’re
having to work with old equipment that should have been replaced,” Josh paused
for a moment and it was clear that the Prime Minister was thinking quickly
trying to figure out how to answer him.
Josh
continued. “Right now, my dad and I are
driving across the country trying to learn as much as we can about every part
of
“You’re a very
smart young man,” the Prime Minister said.
“Those are some very complex and difficult issues.”
“Yes sir, I know
that. My dad likes to say that you
should tackle the hard stuff first. I
learned a lot about Terry Fox on this trip.
He did some really difficult stuff.
He ran a marathon a day on one leg because he believed in his
dream. He was just a young man not much
older than me. You’re the Prime
Minister. You’re a smart guy and you
have all sorts of power. You’re supposed
to deal with the tough problems and make them better. That’s what you get elected for. I ran for student’s council at my school to
try to make things better for the other students,” Josh said.
“I can see that
you’d make a great politician,” the Prime Minister replied.
“I’m not a
politician. Politicians do what they
think will make people vote for them. I
do what I do because I want to change things, just like Terry Fox did, and just
like lots of other people do.”
The Prime
Minister was clearly flustered. His
reputation as a brawler from the mean streets of
“Thank you for
the advice Josh. You’re a very smart and
passionate young man with a lot of ideas.
I hope you don’t lose that idealism as you grow up. You have given me a lot to think about. I hope I never have to run against you,” the
Prime Minister said with an uncomfortable laugh before managing to extricate
himself from the room.
The bunch of us
just stood there slack-jawed as Josh suddenly found himself in the middle of a
media frenzy. It wasn’t every day that a
young boy told off the Prime Minister in front of the national media.
As for Josh, he didn’t
understand what all the fuss was. The
Prime Minister was just a man and Josh had told him what he thought. He had been polite, respectful, and truthful. Josh didn’t expect to realize fifteen minutes
of fame as a result; he just wanted to be heard – and as the Prime Minister
found out, sometimes the truth hurts.
When we left
Rideau Hall, Josh was just as happy to leave the media frenzy behind him and to
get on with the business of being a boy and enjoying having his whole family
together for a day of exploring
As I sat in the
passenger seat of the car, I smiled to myself.
I had always known what a special boy Josh was and pretty soon, the rest
of the country would know too.
That night, Josh
would be featured on all the main newscasts.
The next day, the front page of virtually every newspaper in the country
would feature the image of Josh, dressed to the nines, wearing his new medal
telling the Prime Minister what was wrong with the country.
It was that day
that the country got its first real taste of Josh and it wasn’t to be the last.