Flight to Canada – Beau Discovers a New Land

June 1991 rolled around and the family was almost ready for the return to Canada.  Our four-year assignment in France was over.  John left in August 1990 to begin studies at Harvard University and was working in Toronto for the summer, so we were excited about the prospect of being together in our own country once again.

Glen called Air Canada to book flights for – Eleanor, Elizabeth and himself. Then he mentioned the dog would be travelling with us. “Will he be traveling in the cabin or down below?” asked the Air Canada agent. We hadn’t really thought about it.  We could imagine Beau sitting in seat 21 C, bib tucked in, enjoying his steak and Perrier as we flew over Greenland to Toronto.  Since the cost of that was prohibitive we answered that he would travel below – in his cage rather than in seat 21C. Beau was not consulted in the decision – we knew what he would say and we did not want to go there. 

The tickets were bought, the farewells were said and we prepared for the trip to Canada.  We were heading home.  But Beau was heading to Canada as a foreigner.  We contacted the Canadian embassy to see what would have to be done to bring the French member of our family into the land of the Maple Leaf.  The Canadian embassy spelled out the requirements:  he had to be vaccinated within the last year and at least three months before so the vaccinations had a chance to take effect.  The vaccination certificate had to be validated by the French government.  So off we went with our vaccination certificates from the veterinarian, ratified by the French government’s veterinary service and off to the Canadian embassy to get things set.

Beau had to be prepared for the trip.  Elizabeth took on that responsibility, administering tranquilizer pills each day for the week preceding our trip home.  On July 1 we headed to Charles de Gaulle airport and put Beau in his cage for check-in at the Air Canada counter.  Elizabeth administered the injection of a tranquilizer and Beau headed off for boarding.  Beau, not a fan of needles squirmed as she knelt on the airport floor, holding his paw in her hand, as a result spraying a portion of the injection on the Charles de Gaulle floor tiles.  As we stood at the gate awaiting our boarding, we watched him as his cage was towed across the tarmac to the plane – with Beau, the only canine still awake, standing up observing the entire adventure.  It appeared that the tranquilizer was not having any immediate effect, no doubt due to some spilt drops…

We boarded the plane for the 8-hour flight to Toronto.  After clearing customs in Toronto we emerged to meet our family and collect our luggage.  From behind we heard a familiar sound – the plaintive bark of Beau in his cage, welcoming us to the new land, asking when he could get out.

We were home.  Beau had cleared Canadian immigration.  The family was home and Beau was beginning a new life in a new land.  It was a land of big parks, open spaces, squirrels to chase.  The adventure for our three-year-old rocket was just beginning.

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2011

Word Guild Award
2009

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Salzburg – Beau visits the land of the Sound of Music

August 1990 brought a significant transition for the family as John left home to travel to Boston where he commenced his studies at Harvard University.  The leave-taking at Charles de Gaulle airport was a sorrowful one.  Fortunately for us there was a diversionary plan – a trip to Germany and Austria with our good friends Geoff and Dot Havercroft, who had come from London, England to join us for the trip.  Beau, of course, had his seat marked out in the car and waited eagerly for our departure.

The German trip was particularly entertaining in that it was necessary to procure a paper from the German embassy in Paris attesting to Beau’s ownership and his vaccination status.  The paperwork was done and Glen went to the embassy, emerging with a duly stamped certificate to allow the noble dog to enter Germany. Despite all the advance preparations, we were not ready for the seriousness of the border guard at Oberndorf in Austria who checked and stamped the humans’ passports and then proceeded to check and stamp Beau’s papers when we came back from Germany.  The dog took it all in stride, appreciative of the fact that Austrian customs was doing its best to keep the country a good place for him to visit.

Beau particularly enjoyed the Austrian restaurant circuit.  He had barely entered the pizzeria (where we ate on three occasions) before the waiter arrived with “wasser fur das hund.” Beau set to drinking the liquid right away as we perused the menus.  He was touched by the attentiveness of the wait staff and perplexed as to why the dog could not enjoy his rightful place in other eating establishments we visited.

Part of the Salzburg visit included a bus tour of the sites of the filming of the movie The Sound of Music in and around Salzburg.  The activities for that day divided on gender lines – Eleanor, Elizabeth and Dot Havercroft took in the bus tour; Geoff, Glen and Beau strolled around town, to the local church.  After a few hours, the men grew tired of tramping around.

Late in the afternoon we met the bus tour with Eleanor, Elizabeth and Dot.  There were a few calls left on the tour and the driver, for some reason, offered to pick us up. He may have taken pity on us because at an earlier stop he nearly drove away without Elizabeth.  It was the shouts of Eleanor that her daughter was not on the bus that averted this catastrophe. 

 

In any case, Geoff and Glen got on with Beau.  The men proceeded, in a dignified way, to find one of the empty seats remaining. Beau, spying Elizabeth at the back of the bus, raced towards her like a rocket as the other passengers looked on aghast, trying to figure out what this furry projectile hurtling past them was.  Once beside Elizabeth he settled down to add to his store of canine knowledge. We never did hear Beau howl out Edelweiss, but the look of the Salzburg Festival and Baron von Trapp was often in his eyes.  And all you had to do was mention apfel strudel and he was right there ready to partake. 

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2011

Word Guild Award
2009

Beau Stays at Hotel Ibis

Beau quickly established himself as a willing and good traveler.  It was necessary only to say the word “car” and he was at the door ready to go.  Any short hop or long trip did the trick.

He traveled far and wide – to the Mediterranean, to Alsace, to Austria and Germany – complete with border check of his papers to enter Germany.  Other day trips included the chateaux of the Loire valley.  It was here, on hilly terrain Beau almost met his waterloo tearing down a hill when his front feet were going so fast that they gave out and Beau was sent skidding along the ground, his nose almost ploughing up the turf in front.

Beau’s most notable trip was the annual visit to check out the camps with the family.  This particular summer John stayed in Paris to work at the Palais du Peuple, a large social institution in the centre of the city.  After a stop at a couple of camps to visit the staff we left Elizabeth near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon so she could join her friends as a camper.  Eleanor and Glen continued the trip towards Paris, arriving in the Lyon suburb of Dardilly at the end of the afternoon.  It was clearly too late to continue on to Paris, so we stopped and checked into the Hotel IBIS in Dardilly.

The hotel was built on a steep hillside. It was four stories high, with a parking lot and entrance on the third floor level and a smaller lot and entrance at the main floor level.  We parked the car at the top level and registered for our room, taking the stairs down to our room on the first floor – note: in France the first is actually the second floor; the first floor is the ground floor or the rez-de-chaussee (pavement level) in French.

We fell asleep with the windows open to enjoy the beautiful summer night.  Early in the morning we heard some movement as Beau stirred.  Motivated by his need for relief, he went to the window and jumped out to find a place on the hill to do his business.  We rolled over, confident that the faithful dog would regain the room.

About twenty minutes later we heard a scratching at the door. We were a bit slow to recognize the signal and respond.  As we opened the door the pooch greeted us with a stare as if to ask why it took so long for us to open up the door to him.  Unable to come back through the window – the jump up precluded such an entry- he had gone to the entrance, either on the ground or third floor, walked into the hotel and taken the stairs to find our corridor and come to the room.

We were quite flabbergasted by his ingenuity and spoke words of lavish praise to the dog, saluting his intelligence and creativity.  Beau looked at us, a mixture of bemusement and disgust.  The only thing he wanted to know was when breakfast would be served.

Word Guild Award
2011

Word Guild Award
2009

Christmas Greetings 2012

Dear Friends:

The last few weeks have been a scramble in our household and it took the first winter snowstorm of the year yesterday to remind us that our Christmas letter is overdue. Not that the writing of our Christmas letter is a chore; we derive great joy in connecting with friends around the world and in recalling the joys of the past year.

Elizabeth and Johan

Perhaps the highlight of 2012 was when Elizabeth, her husband Johan and their daughter Sanna moved to Montreal in July.  It is such a delight to have them nearby – they live about 25 minutes away on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Verdun. Sanna is well established in the Nursery Sunday School at our Montreal Citadel congregation.  Elizabeth’s career continues to progress with the signing of some good record contracts, tours to the USA, across Canada, Europe and Japan and a concert in Toronto’s Massey Hall. Sanna’s passport is already well-stamped as she hits the circuit with her parents. 

Sanna

John

John lives in Toronto so we see him when we are in Toronto on business. For Glen that is at least once a month.  John is active on the board of the Canadian Paraplegic Association and is making good headway in the launch of his work in self-care for persons with spinal cord injuries.  If you go to http://blog.sci-u.ca, you will see the web-site that features the work he is doing with his colleagues.  He continues to be active at the Church of the Redeemer in downtown Toronto and enjoys the worship and culture of that congregation.  John will be in Montreal for Christmas and we are looking forward to that.

The Salvation Army Montreal Citadel band remains one of Glen’s great preoccupations.  The band has grown to 22 members and has been very active in community life at Christmas with a number of major Christmas concerts along with other churches and school boards in Montreal. Maybe the thrill of the Christmas run was the band’s interpretation of a magnificent setting of Who is He in yonder stall?  before a capacity crowd at the English Montreal School Board’s Christmas concert last Saturday. Glen is also involved as a member of the board of Booth University College (a Salvation Army university college in Winnipeg) and on the board of Christian Direction, a Montreal-based organization involved in creative urban ministry in Montreal and throughout the French-speaking world.

Montreal Citadel Band

 Eleanor is working two days a week writing and has had a number 

of articles accepted for publication in different magazines. Writing is her passion, a bit like band music is for Glen. Her work as a chaplain at Montclair Residence – a Salvation Army senior citizens’ home - and at The Salvation Army’s divisional headquarters in Montreal fills out her time and brings great satisfaction.  

Eleanor at Book Signing

Our church at Montreal Citadel continues to grow.  Glen leads the band and plays the piano, Eleanor is on the leadership team and we team teach the College and Careers discovery Group, a delightful experience every Sunday morning.  On Sunday evenings (bi-weekly) we are members of a bible study group in Laval, a suburb north of Montreal with an eclectic group of 5 Christian couples. The group is led by Glenn Smith, the Executive Director of Christian Direction. He and his wife Sandy are great friends and the group (which actually meets in French even though half of us are English-speaking) is so stimulating.

Our holidays took us back to Tennessee (a chalet in the Great Smoky Mountains) with a side trip to Charlotte NC and a visit to the Billy Graham Centre. History may have passed the evangelistic crusade by, in a sense, but it was a great experience to see the hand of God in the life and witness of Billy Graham and, most notably, to see the complex web of people over several generations who impacted each other until one of them brought Billy Graham to faith in Christ. The ongoing mosaic of God’s action is a marvel.

In August we were at The Salvation Army’s national Music School where we taught the social justice option. The typical student is a 20-yearold university student and we just love working with that group.  In October, we took another week in Chicago as guests at the Territorial Leaders’ retreat of The Salvation Army’s Central USA territory.

Sanna with her class

In a tough economy the work of Health Partners has its challenges, but the mission is strong and opening up on new fronts.  Glen is, at one and the same time, excited about the new program developments in the health of mothers and children and concerned about financing. We work, pray and trust. We have been able to tell our story on Parliament Hill, in Fort McMurray, Alberta and before the pharmaceutical industry at its annual meetings.

Last Sunday we did the message at the morning worship service at our Montreal Citadel congregation. We spoke on Galatians 4:4, how in the fullness of time God kept His promise in the birth of Jesus. We reflected on a moment 23 years ago, walking through a Paris train station in our Salvation Army uniforms when we were stopped and asked if we could help a single mother with two children who had nothing.  With John and Elizabeth, we went to the crumby hotel room the lady and her two children were living in with some gifts and food. When we knocked at the door of the room, she opened and greeted us with the words: “I knew you would come.  My friend said she had spoken to someone from The Salvation Army, and I knew you would come.”  Her confidence was not in us, but in The Salvation Army.  If people can trust the Army like that, how much more can we trust God who, in the fullness of time, came to our neighbourhood to live among us.

Elizabeth takes Sanna to see Santa

That is why we celebrate Christmas:  IMMANUEL -God is with us.  May the peace and hope of the season stand guard over you this year and into 2013.

Eleanor and Glen Shepherd