Day 201-205 – 241.6 km (total – 4839 km)
We have arrived in Ignace, ON and are about 300 km to the Manitoba border! I asked my father to write a blog and he obliged, so here it is… thanks dad!
Each of us likely has a favourite place along the Trans-Canada Highway. One of mine has, for many years, been the Terry Fox Monument. If nothing else it offers a majestic view of Lake Superior and the Thunder Bay harbour. But it’s the story of Terry Fox that grips the imagination when you stand there and look at the magnificent sculpture of Terry. When my wife, Cathie, and I moved from St John’s back to Winnipeg five years ago, we made a final visit to the small park below Signal Hill which honours the beginning to Terry’s run. Weeks later we drove up to the monument at Thunder Bay and stood in awe when we realized what he had done. Little did I realize then that I would stand at that very same place waiting for my own son to run up the hill to it.
Colin’s run, of course, is not that of Terry Fox. There is an integrity to his run that stands forever. There is also an integrity to Colin’s run. Like many of you who have followed Colin and Sarah I have reacted with, “Yea,” or “Uh Oh,” or “Whew,” or “Can you believe that?” When the opportunity came to join Colin I did so eagerly, especially knowing that it would involve his arrival at Thunder Bay.
One of Ray’s meals… tasty!!
Like most parents would I anxiously waited for that moment when he ran up the hill to the monument. So much so that I waited to video him coming up the road, only to realize too late that he was running of course against the flow of traffic, so I missed him. When I did catch up, Colin entered the final path to the monument. I chose to stand back and wait. This was Colin’s moment, sacred to him and the dream he has nurtured for many years. Eventually Colin turned around and I went to him. Words were inadequate. We simply embraced each other.
We then became conscious of a family standing nearby. They seemed to sense that this was a special moment for us. I explained the story as best I could, and the parents were impressed. Then their teenage daughter stepped closer to Colin, and with eyes opening wide said, “Wow. You actually did that? Wow!”
If this place was special to me before, imagine its significance for me now. Wow, indeed!
