toronto

coming back home is bitter sweet:

• time with my family is the best. My mother had just been put in a home (which is a good thing, she has advanced Alzheimers and it is getting to be too much for my dad to take care of her, plus it's a good home run by the sally ann called arthur meighan). As a result I really prioritized family. The time with my dad was really precious, and seeing my sisters, my brother in law and the various nieces and nephews is always awesome. as well, sid became closer to his cousin abby and it was great to see that he is very excited to see her, As always, he considers his other cousin jack his best friend (or sometimes his brother) and as a result they hung out together alot
• I got to see the wonderful movement our great organizers are building with (no surprise) people from OCAP and NOII, DAMN and EJ! toronto at the forefront. The mass meeting about the rod ford cuts was awesome (though we did have one a--hole with a "f--k CUPE" tshirt, however it was fun kicking him out). Seeing everyone working so well together to build a diverse and radical coalition was very inspiring, and i think it is quite possible that an anti-capitalist coalition will be at the forefront of kicking him out of his ill-gotten position. Of particular note, the daycare group is so cool! I look forward to seeing a--hole ford's reaction to a daycare opening in his office one day!
• seeing the folks dealing with court matters right now was also great, such a lovely group of people
• spending time with friends is so lovely, seeing ro and linds, karen, jenny, kelly, the lovely ms vance, hussan, leah, mandy, graeme, jo and terrance, and so many others makes me so happy!

on the downside:

• it's an ugly city (though there are beautiful parts - i was stoked to go to the island) it is quite a shock to come out of the bush (back from the lovely maynooth party)

• the fear: the fear for people going through court; the fear for people who will lose their jobs, their daycare spaces, their services, their subsidies when ford's cuts screw us all; the fear that this winter will see more homeless deaths than ever before; the fears endemic to this time of austerity
• burnout - a few organizers are working so hard, i feel terrible not being there to help (though to be honest they don't really seem to need it in terms of skills) and hope that all my friends and fellow organizers remember that we need to still be standing in ten years to see this rev through and hence take time to have fun (i am sorry this is a little preachy if it pisses you off, that's probably pretty fair)

anyho, i miss you all and love you all and look forward to fighting alongside you, living alongside you, being in a family with you all for the next many years to come, and of course, winning our fight!