On this cold and windy fall day we celebrated the life of Gerd Reisenecker. He was an old colleague of my father’s, WAY back in the day - before I was even born. They both worked at Volkswagen’s head office in Scarborough. Fast forward a couple of decades and Gerd owned Greenbelt VW in Markham, where our fam bought a number of vehicles from Gerd and his sales team.
And while the fam knew Gerd, my first real recollection of him was bartering in his office to have a cd changer put in my jetta. Who knew that a half Chinese girl could win a bartering contest with a very strong German. I got what I wanted, for the price that wanted, and Gerd told me I should join his sales team. A few sushi lunches and years later, this man’s time on earth has passed.
The sheer number of people who filled the hall this afternoon was a testament to the person Gerd was. But what struck me most, wasn’t all the accolades he collected, or the successes he had in business, it was the fact that this man clearly lived.
He lived a full life. Full of friendship and family and work. He played hard and worked hard. He had an amazing group of friends. You really could not want more from life. He could not want more from life.
And while listening to his friends speak of their time with him, I couldn’t help but think, I only knew a tiny sliver of Gerd. And I thought he was pretty cool...
When Gerd sold his dealership and started his retirement, he probably thought he had years and years of golf ahead of him. When I last spoke to him (when I had heard that his battle with cancer had become a difficult one), he was in good spirits and promised to take me out for sushi as soon as he got strong enough...I’ll remember to toast my next tuna sashimi and saki to Gerd.
And tonight we celebrated Kat’s Debut (18th Birthday)!
Talk about opposites huh?!
Yes and no.
Today was a celebration of life...endings and beginnings...
Kat is bubbly and sweet and full of life! Tonight’s celebration was a complete reflection of her. More than just celebrating Kat’s birthday, virtually the entire de las Alas (my mother’s family) clan was in attendance as my little cousin/godson Francis (at the tender age of 14) was part of Kat’s cotillion entourage!
Francis & debutante Kat
There was the dance of the 18 roses, the 18 candles, and (new to me) 18 wishes.
OH! and being a Filipino party, of course there were numerous musical performances (including one from Kat’s big bro), but the icing on the cake was certainly the cotillion!
The music was super fun and modern and the “kids” had a great time performing. (Did I mention Kat’s dress change?! She wore two dresses, they looked exactly the same, the first in white, the second in red. Both gorgeous) Kat’s parents made tear jerking speeches and Kat thanked everyone for making her celebration possible.
When it came time to finally hit the dance floor, I was dissed by my 9 year old sweet Bean...who said, “I’m gonna go dance with my friends, kay? See you later!”
Hmmm...9 more years til her debut...
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