Memories of Ottawa Part 2 - The people I love

I am gone. I have left Ottawa. And, behind me trails a long list of memories I will never forget. In the first part of my ode to Ottawa I spoke about all the places that made up my daily routines in Ottawa. Now I write about the people that filled those places, the days, and my heart. There are handfuls of people that have made leaving Ottawa something harder than I ever expected. To address this I will try to go in chronological order from when I first arrived to when I left.

There are my friends from Whitby that I first hung out with - Mike, Remi, Neil. I could always find hilarity and relaxation at their place. They took me to a few Carleton parties and I had a wicked time. Also, Nicole - my sisters roommate and my long-time friend. I could always count on her for a kind word.

Then there are the friends I knew through my sister - Adam, Christina, Isa, Corrinne. It was cool to finally live someplace close to my sister and get to know her better. Adam was a blast to hang out with the few times I did. The girls from the the sorority boosted my ego and threw some great events.

My first roomates - Martin and Jessica. Marty was hillarious with his women and Jessica was great to watch movies with.

My first Ottawa girlfriend - Lisa. Her and her family made the summer incredible.

My second roommate - Ron. He was amazing to live with. I will cherish all our conversations about business and marketing. All the times we went out. The food we cooked.

Ron's friends - Matt, Pat, Chris, Josh. Hanging out with all of them was a tone of fun. The golf was a great time.

My third roommate - Chris. I only knew him briefly, but he played some wicked guitar.

Everyone I met at the concerts, stores, and movie theaters. There are a lot of people to mention here and I feel I would forget some names. I met a lot of people randomly and maybe only once. However, they all made up my time here. From this point on I will mention a few key players that I met randomly or through an interesting story.

Calum. I met Calum at a Rock Plaza Central concert and we just seemed to click. I enjoyed all the concerts he put on, all our discussions about music, and meeting all his friends.

Mark. I met mark at the Tea Store and we really connected. He took me to a few open mike concerts and I really enjoyed the music and all the people I met there. We lost touch later in my stay and I wish we could have reconnected before I left.

Glenn. I first saw Glenn at a concert he opened for and later spoke with him at a Winks concert. We kept running into each other and talking more and more. Now I know many of his friends and am happy to call them some of mine.

Everyone I met through Katie. If you know her and know me then you should know that our times at the Heart and Crown are cherished.

Everyone I worked with at IBM. All my colleagues in the office: Ted, Bob, Barry, Neville, Yannick, Doug, John, Andrew, Dan, Steve, Laurent, Gord. The other people I met: Brad, Carolina and everyone else. All the students especially Maria and Carolyn.

And there there are the people closest to my heart. My three friends that I will hold closest to me in my memories of Ottawa. All our hellos and goodbyes have reinvigorated my faith in people, my happiness, and all the joy that I feel. Thank you so much for everything.
Katie - You are sweet and funny and kind. I adore your laugh and smile. Every moment with you is a tone of fun. I love dancing with you.
Stephan - Every one of our conversations will be missed. Your style and attitude are just fun to be around and inspiring. You are relaxed and generous and I am happy to know that about you. I will miss all the concerts we went to.
Savanna - You are a darling sweet, beautiful woman. I watched you grow with me and become closer to me than I thought I would allow. Thank you for caring for me, all the time you spent with me, and keeping me and my heart company. I am going to miss all the sharing of thoughts, feelings, memories, and emotions that we did.

I am in love, love, love with everyone I met in Ottawa. When I return I will look forward to seeing everyone mentioned here or elsewhere.