More Reminders of Mike

Building on my last blog entry of things that make me think of Mike, I've added some more below.

Rainy days - Mike was among the rare few who love rainy days.

Young Doctors/Hospitals - With our due date approaching, I've been making regular visits to Mount Sinai Hospital. My obstetrician graduated from med school around the same time as Mike and has a bedside manner that reminds me of my brother.

The Air Canada Centre - Tuesday night I had the privilege of watching the Leaf's game from a private box at the Air Canada Centre. Although Mike wasn't a Leaf's fan (or a hockey fan for that matter), he was a huge Raptor's fan and took every opportunity to see a Raptor's game at the ACC when he was in Toronto.

Trips to Europe - I've travelled to Europe twice in the past 5 years. My first trip was to France after hearing so many enticing stories from Mike and Sarah. I remember vividly calling Mike from Paris after we first arrived. He was so excited for us! My second trip was to Istanbul, Turkey; another city that Mike had travelled to previously. Both Mike and I had rather stressful trips to Istanbul. Mike's was planned at the last minute and his luggage was lost on the flight there. Our stress came from being nearly stranded in Istanbul by a huge volcano cloud that was quickly covering Europe and grounding flights. We spent the last day of our 4 day trip on hold with American Express Travel trying to figure out an alternate route home. Despite things not going as planned, Mike and I were able to look back on our respective trips with found memories of the extraordanary city filled with rich history.

Lucas & Emily - Lucas and Emily have about the same age spread (3 years) as I had with Mike (2 years). Watching them play together reminds me of growing up with Mike. Although we had our fair share of arguments (as all siblings do) we got along extremely well most of the time. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the same family as one of my closet friends. I hope that Lucas and Emily grow up to share the same closeness that I shared with Mike.