I have been thinking lately of all the driving we did with Cameron last year - too much of which was driving to medical appointments and hospitals which you would think would be unpleasant, but you would be wrong. Cameron's attitude prevailed and he always managed to enjoy the ride and make it seem like an adventure, even when it was just one of the many trips to and from Saint John.
We drove to Halifax a couple of times and made many stops along the way for food and snacks and we listened to some of Cameron's music mixes over the car radio. We drove to Toronto in mid-winter even though we had originally planned to fly as it was a risky venture in late February. But Cam insisted that we drive and make it into "kind of a vacation"... another example of his enduring ability to find the fun in otherwise difficult situations. And believe it or not, we enjoyed the ride despite the adverse circumstances.
Later on in the year we drove to Toronto again and it was a wonderful trip. The weather was perfect and we retraced our route from before and enjoyed eating out and watching movies in our rooms. Even when we were staying in Toronto we did a lot of driving - just exploring the city and getting to know the highways. We found our way to many interesting downtown locations, did a lot of shopping and saw a lot of movies.
Long before he was diagnosed we took many family trips to Montreal to visit grandparents and sometimes John traveled with us and Cameron really enjoyed that, but later on it was mostly just me and Julie and Cam. We used to stop overnight in Riviere du Loup where Cam always had his own room and set up all his various techy supplies and gadgets. In Montreal we always drove to the nearest subway station before heading down town for more sight-seeing, shopping, movies and of course - eating out.
Cameron always did a lot of driving around with John and other friends - listening to music and just enjoying the ride. He also drove around a lot with his friend Arda in various beat up old cars, sometimes they would go for a drive and be several hours and sometimes they would be back in 15 minutes - they were, and always will be - a unique pair. For someone who loved cars, Cam was not a big driver himself, preferring to just enjoy the ride. He was a very relaxed and engaging passenger - and with the help of his ever present cellphone and Google Maps, he was a natural born navigator.
Later on, Cameron and I drove around Fredericton and surrounding area just for something to do, to get out of the house and get some fresh air. We drove a lot last summer while Julie was away in Montreal - sometimes just looking for a change of scenery or a couple of times in quest of hard ice cream cones or small glass bottles of Coke. It didn't really matter if we found them or not - it was fun to just enjoy the ride.
We all drive every day and sometimes I think we take for granted how pleasant it can be just moving down that road. So whether your journey is a short one or a long one, think about what a simple pleasure it is. Put on some music, stop for a snack, take in the view and just "enjoy the ride."
