Picking up Our Running Kits for the Greater Mississauga Spring Marathon, 2016

We picked up our running kits a day prior to the Mississauga Marathon

Today was a pretty interesting day for us. It was our first experience with a city wide running event.


We were helping out with the Joy Beyond Vision Community charitable organization composed of vision impaired people who would be taking part in the Mississauga Marathon / running event on Saturday. April 30.


We met up with Pastor Philip and Clement and drove to an arena to pick up the running kit for all the runners the day before the run. My husband and I did part in the Terry Fox Run for a couple of years when our children were young.

Since we were not involved in the organization of the run, we knew very little about the workings behind the scenes of organizing a city wide fundraising marathon event.

I thought we would just park our car outside the arena, and went in to pick up the kits and then head home. It would not take too long, right?

Wrong!

We were in the arena for over an hour because there were a lot to see!

Before we could reach the area to pick up everything we needed for tomorrow's run, we had to walk through a maze of sponsors and vendors winding down the path leading to our destination.

We enjoyed the different samples of protein bars offered at the booths

A number of companies were there with  booths set up, enthusiastically promoting their products and giving out free brochures and samples. We had fun looking at all the displays, trying samples of different energy bars.

The behind the scene organization was awesome!  Everything was arranged in order and the flow and traffic was very smooth; everyone got through the process with little waiting time.

Friendly staff manning the merchants\ booths

These were the stations in sequence to help runners to pick up their running kit efficiently:

1.  Business and Vendors' Booths - They were set up at the entrance to the lower level of the arena.      Everyone entering the ares must go by these booths.

Participants pick up their Bib number from the main desk 

2.  Bib Number Pick Up Station - We picked up the forms for our group, double checked each name on our list with the Bib number and picked up the safety pins to attach the bib.

Runners' Bib numbers were scanned by machines set up by Sport Stats.

3.  Scanning Station - We scanned each one of the Bib with the runner's number on it on a scanner so that we would get a report about our run.

The T- shirts were laid out according to gender and size on the tables. 

4.  T-Shirts Pick Up Station - T shirts were neatly displayed on a row of long tables with size and categories clearly marked on the wall above the tables. Though we are not running the marathon tomorrow, this would be our first T shirt for our run

5. The Goodies Station - A goodie bag with free gifts and samples were handed out to each registered participants.

The whole experience was quite pleasant and efficient. The only problem we encountered was a couple of our runners name did not have registered number assigned to them.

Pastor Philip had to spend some time finding out the reason and locating their number so that they could be in the computer system.

After a few tries, the Greater Toronto Spring Marathon organizer was able to finally located the names and assigned each a number.  Mission accomplished! We were happy and look forward to the run tomorrow!!!

R.T.
Mississauga
Ontario

Celebrating Mom's 90th Birthday Party!

As medicine and science have advanced in the past few decades, more and more citizens of the modern era are able to enjoy a longer and healthier life span.

The giant birthday card we created for our mother's 90th birthday!

My mom is one such person living a long and healthy life. A few weeks ago, prior to my sister's 60th birthday celebration, we had a big family gathering and celebrated her big 90th birthday in Toronto.

J. flew in from Calgary for Grandma's birthday party

Our siblings started planning this big family bash more than six months ago. Party invitations were sent out in January.

Therefore, out of town family members and guests would have a lot of time to plan their travel to Toronto for the celebration.

E. flew in from the  west coast of the U.S.

Consequently, many of her grandchildren and their families were able to fly back from all over the North American continent and wished their grandmother happy birthday in person.

B. and his family flew in from Prince Edward Island

They flew from San Francisco, Florida, Vancouver, Calgary,  Ottawa, and Prince Edward Island on the day of the celebration.

M.. and family and  kids flew in from Florida

We certainly appreciated those grandchildren  such as Ben and Patrick with their wives and young children in tow flying in from long distance for grandma's birthday!

There were lots happening at the birthday dinner

Prior to the party, we created a power point with pictures capturing my mother's significant and happy moments in her life.

Entertaining the guests with songs

While this slide show was being play,  there were a lot of Kodak moments with my mother, her children, their families and dinner guests.

Many took part in the dinner program to celebrate Mom's milestone birthday 

Thanks to my sister, Rosie's meticulous planning, we had a full program for the celebratory dinner.
Many took part in the celebration!

There were a few highlights throughout the evening.

The Parade of Great Grandchildren was led by  Joanne, the No. 1 grandchild

My most favourite moment was the parade of the great grandchildren being ushered in by their parents.

The parade of kids was led by Joanne, Mom's first born son's first child, who led her children into the dining hall.

Some of Mom's great grandchildren

Each little great grandkid was wearing a red single Chinese character on their neck and marching in to the upbeat tune of Walt Disney's It's a Small World.



They marched to the front of the dining room, stood together and form a congratulatory message in Chinese for my mother.

My mom and her great grandchildren!

The kids, between two and ten years old, all looked very cute and adorable!

Everyone was excited, clapping, smiling and singing.

Later on, all the grown grandchildren  joined in, each holding a special message ( written in traditional Chinese way) for grandma. It was a memorable moment and one of the highlight of the evening!

Jordan performing the Lion dance at |Grandma's 90th birthday dinner

Another highlight was the Lion Dance by Jordan, one of the grandchildren who flew in from Vancouver for this special event.

M. assisting in her brother's Lion Dance 

Barely living in Vancouver for a few months, Jordan joined a Lion Dance Club and learned how to do some basics of a Lion Dance.

Mike , Jordan and Grandma

Jordan, along with his cousin, Micheal, performed a lion dance with all the necessary paraphernalia midway during the dinner.

A Lion Dance is a symbol of good luck and celebrations in the Chinese culture.

Everyone was excited, especially the birthday gal as the Lion Dancers winded their way through the dining room!

A congratulatory  message from PM

Another highlight of the evening was when Jo, the first grandchild presented Mom with a congratulatory message signed personally by Justin Trudeau, the prime minster of Canada!

Mom is a blessed person loved by her children and descendants!

It was a great celebration and a momentous event celebrating Mom's 90th birthday!

The only child in her family, my mom always wished she had a sibling or two.

However, God is very fair,  He gave my mother seven children!

J/ and M.  manning the reception desk

He has also blessed her with a large extended family with many wonderful grandchildren.

E. and J. flew in from the west coast for Grandma's birthday bash

Among her descendants, there are engineers, doctor, lawyer, school principal, teacher, human resources, hotel and sports managers, nursing supervisor, successful business owners, city planners, physiotherapist,  a Ph.D and many other professionals.

Mom thanking the guests

 Hannah, the mother of Samuel in the bible was childless and suffered at the beginning of her life.

Similarly, my mother was lonely when she was growing up as the only child and without a father.

Look how fortunate she is now!
At 90, she is healthy, mobile, independent and loved!

I praise God for His grace, love and mercy!

My mother is truly a blessed woman as she is loved, surrounded and looked after by so many of her descendants!

Happy 90th Birthday, Mom!

I heard on the radio that Queen Elizabeth II just celebrated her 90th birthday in Britain a few days ago.

Happy Birthday, Mom and Queen Elizabeth II!  May there be a few more happy returns to come!!!

God bless, and love you both!

R.T.
Toronto
p.s. Photo Credit - Jordan Lui & Susan Lui
Thank you for many of the pictures sent to me by Jordan and Susan Lui

Dinner in the Dark ( at 105 Gibson, Markham) Walking in the Shoes of the Vision Impaired for an Evening

Cultural Cafe - powered by Visually Impaired People at 105 Gibson Centre

Recently, we attended an event called Dinner in the Dark at 105 Gibson Centre located in the Steeles and Warden area in the city of Markham, an immediate suburb of Toronto.

This is also where Cultural Cafe, a cafe run by VIP's ( visually impaired people)  is located.

Dinner guests registered at the reception Desk

My husband and I looked forward to this event as this was something quite unique and meaningful .

We arrived at the centre shortly after 6 pm by we were not allowed into the dining area where the event was going to be held.

Some guests were already there chatting and taking pictures.

Each registered guest was given a new blindfold

After signing in at the reception desk, each guest was given a blindfold to ensure he/ she would be in the dark.

After the guest put on the blindfold, each person was led by an usher with normal vision.

Each Dinner in the Dark guest was escorted  safely to the dining area

The usher guided each blindfolded guest to his/ her table. As a person with normal vision, we would never understood how a blind person feels.














This evening, we had the opportunity of being in their shoes.

Many people took part in this meaningful learning experience

It felt strange, insecure as I was led to my table.  I sat down, not knowing  where I was, who was sitting beside me or who were at my table.

I arrived at my table and joined my fellow blindfolded guests

I waited and listened to the conversations going on around me. Someone told me my husband was right beside me and we were reconnected.

Wearing blindfolds, we ate the three course dinner in complete darkness 

The guests started introducing themselves  to one another. I learned that the couple sitting beside me were parents of a child born blind. They were here trying to experience what their child experiences each day and gain a glimpse of his world.

Each one of us was served with a bowl of hot soup as the first course. Though, we could not see what we were eating, the soup was delicious! It was not difficult to take in the soup as I could hold the bowl with one hand and spooned it into my mouth with my other hand.

The second course was  the main course which I found a little challenging. I had no idea what I was served and did not know where to start to eat from the plate.  Eating slowly and gingerly, we enjoyed the dish served to us.   In between the dinner, Pastor Danny and his team who organized the dinner explained things to the diners.

Pastor Danny & one of the VIP's

There were nice conversations taking place at our table while we were enjoying our dinner. Time flew by and we finished our last course in no time.

Dinner guests share their experience of being temporarily being blind

One guest shared her experience

At the end of our dinner, we could take off our blindfolds and were back to our normal selves.

Pastor Danny asked the dinner guests to share how did we feel about the experience of being blind temporarily.

A few of us did and were touched by the experience that evening. There was quite a bit of sharing among the participants.

Pastor Danny thanking his wife's support at the dinner

The Dinner in the Dark event was a practical and insightful lesson for those of us with normal vision. We were fortunate to have this rare opportunity to get a tiny glimpse of what the visually impaired has to deal with on a daily basis.

This event came about as a result of a lot of planning and hard work by Pastor Danny and his wife

Pastor Danny acknowledged in front of the dinner guests and expressed his appreciation for his wife's tireless and unwavering support.

It was a deeply meaningful evening and we were glad that we were a part of it.

Thank you, Pastor Danny, for your leadership and advocacy effort in educating the rest of us to gain a better understanding of the VIP's world and the challenges they face everyday!


To encourage the VIP's ( Visually Impaired People) to participate in more public events and to raise fund for the Joy Beyond Vision organization, Pastor Danny and the VIPs'  will be taking part in the
Mississauga Marathon 2016  this coming Saturday, on April 30, 2016. They have been training for weeks for this event.

If you are in the Toronto GTA area, we would like to invite you to take part in the run/ walk marathon this coming weekend. If you are not in the Toronto/ Mississauga area, please go online to learn more about the Joy Beyond Vision Community charitable organization. I sincerely hope that you will show your support and make a donation to the event!

R.T.
105 Gibson Centre
Markham