feos 4 ~- Friday, April 26, 1991 ~ North Shore News A good man and a fall-nothing more THE FOLLOWING may seem to be a very private ex- ploitation of this space. What the hell. A man has to abuse his position once in a while. Just before midnight Sunday, when my unconscious self (along with my conscious) was slumber- ing in preparation for writing what would have been a very dif- ferent column for today, my wife woke me up. ““Grandad’s fallen in the bathroom,” she said. *‘] can’t get him on his feet myself. | think we’ll have to call an ambulance and get him to hospital.” 1 fumbled into some clothes. My wife and Grandma had managed to get a low metal stand under Grandad. He looked ill and dazed, and there was an ugly deep gash on one hand, charac- teristically dark with poor circula- tion. Grandad’s 79. I looked at Grandma. Her eyes were sad but steady. I often see her youth in them. {n our three-generation house- hold, Grandma and Grandad are the calm and reliable centrepeople. They ’re serene, and their genera- tion endured and survived so much. My wife — their daughter — and ! can rail against each other and argue about the children (three of them, blessedly asleep at that moment) and they never in- terfere. They make today’s younger Canadians look whiney, spoiled, soft. My wife and I each got a side and tried to get Grandad on his feet. But he had no strength. An awful stomach flu has oozed through the house lately, and Grandad was weakened by two debilitating days of sickness. And Grandad had polio as a boy of five or six. He was an otherwise strong, even powerful, and independent man. He walked forcefully with a cane. Now he needs two of them. At dinnertime he climbs two sets of stairs, navigates over the toys and the dogs, and joins us — nine people and animals around Lifeboat squad responds to calls THE NORTH Shore Lifeboat Society responded to two rescue calls this past weekend. Shortly after 9 a.m. on Sunday, a resident of Keats Island reported seeing what appeared to be a small aircraft hitting waters be- tween Keats Island and Bowen Island. But a search of the area by the lifeboat society’s auxiliary-one lifeboat along with a Coast Guard cutter failed to find any trace of an airplane. At about 6 p.m. Friday, the lifeboat society responded to a call for assistance from a boat that was taking on water just off Eagle Island. Lifeboat society spokesman Dave Lamb said his crew put “‘dewatering’’ equipment aboard Trevor Lautens GARDEN OF BIASES the table — for the meal. But this time he couldn’t get up. The ambulance came and, with the skill and dexterity that always seems such a marvel, the atten- dants whisked him away. I sat with the driver and we talked about normal, normal things. At Lions Gate Hospital, Gran- dad was wheeled away while ! an- swered the usual questions at ad- missions. Funny. The one | couldn’t answer was Grandma’s first name. She’s been Grandma so long I'd forgotten. Isobel. Isobel Kay. It came to me later when, having to stick around for the doctor's appear- ance and hating hospital waiting rooms with a passion, I took a walk through the cool, deserted streets, Isobel — Grandma — was working for the Vancouver Parks Board when she met Grandad. They married in their 30s. They had a weekend honeymoon in Victoria. William Turner Robertson — Grandad — | remember vividly from my first few days at the Sun in 1963 He was personne! director for Pacific Press — a hell of a lot of responsibility. Earlier he’d been one of the right-hand men of Fred Auger, publisher of the Province. Bill Robertson came from a humble background, but he was smart and he was a Scot. He went to the University of B.C. at a time when nut too many working-class kids did. And he had a reputation as personnel director for fairness. I can tell you bluntly that there wasn't an awful lot of that around the plant in the 1960s, when the unions and management of Pacific Press —~ not to be confused with the excellent publishers of the Papers themselves —- were both dominated by dinosaurs. After che terribly destructive strike of 1970, Grandad was among five executives retired eaz- ly. The new head honcho was a hotshot who, like so many hot- shots I've seen in a life not altogether free of cynical observa- tion, was parachuted into our no- ble business and vanished without leaving it memorably improved. Grandad has never talked about that, even though he unexpectedly lost what would have been half a dozen remunerative years. 1 took three walks around Lions Gate before the doctor got to see Grandad at 2 a.m. The doctor said Grandad would be admitted. It’s not so automatic, these pinch penny days. - Grandad, various things at- tached to him, looked weak. But, typically, he had no self-pity, no complaint. ! said a few words and left. The taxi driver on the way home drove so badly, so slowly, chose such a stupid route, that I suspected him of stringing ot his maybe one live fare of the night. } exploded and gave him holy hell. i'm of a different generation than Grandad. It was 3 a.m. when | turned off the light. And suddenly remembered: it was Grandma and Grandad’s 48th anniversary. Yes. Of all days. We'll make it up to you. s TRAN SIT SERVICE CHAN GES For West Vancouver Effective April 29, 1991 The #257 Horseshoe Bay Express/ Vancouver Express route will be revised to provide improved service to the Westrnount and West Bay Park & Ride lots for commuters to downtown Vancouver, and new local service to Dundarave, FOR MORE INFORMATION Frequent service is available Monday to Friday during rush hours and service is provided every 2 hours midday, Saturdays, aN Sundays and holidays. QC Feny “—— Y c RESTAURANT JOIN US FOR LUNCH OR DINNER, UNTIL MOTHER'S DAY “Closed from May 13th until June 18th’ 1373 Marine Drive, W. Van. 926-4913 UNPAID, DEFAULTED AND OTHER CONSIGNMENTS CANADA. GOVERNMENT CUSTOMS CLEARED CERTIFIED AS PERSIAN CARPETS, ASIAN, TURKISH, AFGHANI, CHINESE, etc. HUNDREDS OF RUGS, RUNNERS, PALACE CARPETS OF WOOLS AND SILKS, CATEGORIES INCILUDE TABRIZ, HERIZ, SAROOK, SHIRAZ, BOKHARA, AFGHANI, CHINESE, ETC. | AUTHENTIC HIGH VALUE CARPETS f « released only for immediate disposal, payment and removal * 10% freight, brokerage and warehousing charges to be added * each bale will be unwrapped and pieces tagged individually for public inspection © each carpet labelted with country of origin and fibre content. Certified genuine hand made, hand knotted ° pro er 1D required for registration, dealer tax exemption ificates required to bé tax exempt e terms: bank cheque, cash or credit cards SEYMOUR GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB SATURDAY. i 27th 40 00 ‘PM SHARP Viewing at 72 noon woman Re-roule wm eo oe Limiled stops 2 2 © © Orsconbaued Ge Pare & Ave WEST VANCOUVER Termanal g Ambleside and Park Royal. Take advantage of commuting the Park & Ride way. Enjoy free parking all day and avoid traffic Pick up a West Vancouver time- . table for complete details of times - Manne Onve and routes. Timetables are avail- ae te able free of charge from your public library, city and municipal the vessel to pump out the water and then escorted the boat to Fisherman's Cove. congestion. The Westmount lot is located at the Upper Levels High- way Interchange and the West Bay hall, community center, chamber of commerce, the Vancouver Travel InfoCentre, BC Transit Lost A new spirit of giving lot is located at 31st Street and Marine Drive. Property, or the West Vancouver Transit Centre. Transit information 985-7777. NieF4 Vancouver Regional BPE veormit System BC Transit 24