Why 1988 was so great:

It was the year of the Calgary Olympics - Heidi and Howdy came and visited my first grade class, they taught us all about the biathlon, bobsled, and luge.
The Russian figure skaters stayed in my hometown, Okotoks, and I fell in love with Ekaterenia Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov.

We built a huge bobsled-run out of snow in my best friend Melanie Gilbert's front yard. Her yard was split level, and on a steep hill, so we went super fast. We spent all week building it, and banking the turns just right, so the sled wouldn't fly off.

The Giant Panda Bears (on loan from China) came to the Calgary Zoo, and I got to see them - twice! I still remember the song, "Catch that Panda Magic, join in all the fun, hop on the panda wagon, and see why everyone..."

In school we learned all about elephants and Japan. We had a reading worm that went all the way around the classroom, and for every 5 books you read, you could add a segment to the worm. I was the fastest in my class at doing times tables.

Michael Netti held my hand. His birthday was on the leap year - so that meant he turned 2 when the rest of us were turning 8.

Melanie Gilbert "pantsed" this kid, Wesley - who wouldn't get off our monkey bars - in front of the whole playground. The funny thing about Wesley - he didn't wear any underwear.

Sometimes my Mom would give me some money to buy candy from the Mac's Convenient Store on my way home from school - mmm, delicious. My favorite were sugared licorice ropes.



One time, at lunch, I laughed so hard that chocolate milk came out of my nose. That was hilarious.

Also, I got an eraser stuck up my nose that year, which was way less cool - but my mom let me come home from school and hang out with her all day, and that was pretty fun.

Every Saturday, in the summer, my Dad would take me swimming at the Rec Centre.

Dr Hill had an Antique car auction, and while I spent most of my time collecting pop cans to take to the bottle depot, I also fell in love with those beautiful cars.



I went on a zip-line for the first time. I was kind of scared, but my Dad strapped me into the harness, and told me it would be alright, and boy, was it ever fun!

I got my first bike - second hand - and had my first taste of freedom. I rode that thing all over the place, I'd ride it right out of town and down gravel roads, I'd ride it just to see how far I could go. My mom never knew where I was.

My Mom and Dad told us that we were moving to British Columbia and that we'd be living by the sea - I was fascinated by the idea of the ocean. My dad told me that Japan was on the other side of the water, and since I'd learned all about that in school, I was impressed.

I got to ride in the front seat of the Uhaul with my Dad, and our dog Lady, all the way from Alberta to B.C.. Mom and Louise followed behind in the car.

We lived in a cabin on the beach - and I spent all day swimming, jumping along pieces of driftwood, digging up crabs, and collecting seashells. I could wear my swimsuit everyday, and I was always covered in sand.



B.C. was full of trees. More trees than I'd ever seen in my whole life, and that meant lots of places to climb, explore, and hide. I was never, ever bored.

All in all it was a great year. Perfect maybe. So many new and splendid things.