A scrapi

ok cle

Columnist Shannon Nelson bids adieu to readers

PVE been through

some major changes in

the last few years, some

of them self-directed,

and some of them not.

While certain of my recent

_ life experiences have been difti- _ cult, I feel like P've grown a lot aS a person,

_ And Pil tell you what: for the first time in a long time, I feel remarkably calm.

Why just yesterday while in the grocery stare, an incident occurred chat would have, a few years ago, incited me to

_near violence. *

I was rushing to buy gro- ceries after work, and, when my-arms were full, I walked into what looked like an empty

"|. checkstand ‘and dumped my

stuff on the conveyor belt. Just as I was finishing, a miser- able looking woman verbally accosted mec.

-“Pardon me,” she said-

indignantly, pointing to her cart, which had been left unat- tended a few feet out of the

. checkstand, “but I was here.” She had a sour look on her bespectacled puss, and, judging from the frown lines it looked

“Slike ic had been there forever.

- In faet, she wasn’t in line when I got to the checkstand at-all, and although her cart

“may have. been parked some- where in the vicinity, there was a big gap between the shopper in front of me and the end of

“ the conveyor belt. The sour- puss hadn’t even: pulled into the checkstand, or put a single grocery item on the conveyor belt.

» According to my references on grocery store etiquette, you ~shouldn’t get into line until you are ready to be checked through. The gal was com-

_ pletely out offline to accuse me

* of butting in, but that’s not : what’s. important. What really

matters is that I’m so evolved

home

now thar | didn’t stuff my toi- let bow! cleaner down her throat when she barked at me, I simply picked up my gro- ceries and moved to another checkstand. It’s just not worth fighting about, I said to myself’ proudly. I’m bigger than that.

See? Despite the — turbu- lence of the last few years ve really grown as a person. ma calmer, more mature Shannon.

Part of this may be linked to the fact that my home life has quieted down alot. My family has grown up in the last few years; my boys are away at school, and my daughter is quite independent. I can shop for groceries without a cart (usually a big mistake but I never have the change), do laundry: weekly now rather than daily, and although [ find rayself nagging at the dogs for being fazy.when it gets too quiet around here, E can always go out for some action.

No doubt about it, the everyday chaos of raising a family has subsided at my house, and while I miss it, Pm also getting comfortable in my new fife.

I was complaining che other day to one of my kids about how it’s so quiet around here that I feel like Pm running out of things to write about.

“Mom,” he said, with that wonderful insight kids save for when they start parenting you.

_ “Have you considered the pos-

sibilin’ ‘that thar might be a good thing?” He’s night about it being

good for me, but it’s not so good for this column,

Over the past four years I've had the great fortune of shar- ing my stories about my family with you, who have been gen- erally supportive through good and bad columns. [ know I've been naughty occasionally, and a little bit cheeky too, but hey, I'm just a normal woman lug- ging a bit of baggage around, and I'd be a liar if I made any apology for that.

In the process of writing Close to Home, I’ve created a scrapbook of my family memo- ries that I will have forever. (It's a good thing, as I'm lousy with the camera). And I've made friends I know T may never even meet. Being able to make a connection through writing is an awesome thing, and I’ve loved it.

But it’s time to retire Close to Home, and move on to other things. Just what, I'm not sure, but Pve got a full time job now that’s a fot of fun and allows me to be creative every day. Oh, Fl always write, but maybe Pil switch to writing manuals. There are a few subjects I've become an authority on, like dealing with auto claims through ICBC, cleaning up dog barf, and gro- cery shopping etiquette. I don’t think those manuals have been written yet.

You can still reach me at <shannonn@telus.net>, and ld love to hear from vou, if you've got the notion. Or you can find me on your computer weekday — afternoons at <www. mycityradio.com>.

In the meantime, Pd just like to say Thank You for read- ing my column.

And remember, drive care- fully, use a lite vinegar when cleaning up the dog barf, and for Pete’s sake, finish your gro- cery shopping before you get

North Shore Recycling’s Natural Garde

leading to her front door.

Wednesday, November 8, 2000 — North Shore

Aw ets ae

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