05/08/2026
The wait is over
I am Opening for the Season Tomorrow
Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 12:01pm and 16seconds.
I do apologize for my late opening this year, and I feel I should explain why, as the rumours have already started.
No I did not marry the heiress to the O Henry fortune.
No, I did not win the Lottery and decide to leave you all behind.
And Yes I finally decided to retire as a spy and scoop ice cream full-time, sorry the paperwork was a nightmare.
The real reason was,
You may want to sit down for the next part.
At the end of September of last year, over the space of two weeks I had what can best be described as what Linda Blair went through in the Exorcist. Minus the levitating, speaking in tongues and the 360 degree head turning. My Father and Mother finally convinced me to go to the Emergency Room at 2am. I had to politely mention to my 85 year father that while I appreciated the fact that he could drive at the speed of 140km/h I would like to arrive at the ER in his car and not an ambulance. To my amazement the ER was empty, I mean there was seriously no one there. In my 52 years on this Earth I can honestly say I have never been to an ER anywhere on this planet that was empty. I should have bought a lottery ticket at that point. The Nurse took me to a room, the Doctor ordered an X-ray, said I would need a CT scan but they were not open for business until 9am. I went back then, and I will now apologize to the other patients in the waiting area, I am truly sorry you had to listen to me while I was in the restroom. You know it was bad when you come back to the waiting room and everybody is avoiding eye contact. A friend of mine once was installing a bathroom on the main floor of his house, he purposely bent a few blades on the fan so it would make a racket when in operation. So his guests would not be embarrassed while using the restroom. Just a suggestion I am putting out there for the Hospital to mull over. With the CT done I went back to the ER for a Doctor to review. Of course the ER was packed at this point, I knew my good luck could not last. I was eventually taken to a room and the ER Doctor said I had a rather large mass in my Colon and a Surgeon would be down to talk to me about Surgery. When the Surgeon arrived he said that he had scheduled me for surgery, and I said, sometime this week or month? He responded with No we have to get that out tonight. I told my parents to go home as they had been awake for 24 hours at this point and I did not want them admitted to the hospital. My Brother had decided to drive down from Fredericton, I figured he wanted to ask the Surgeon to remove my funny bone so he could be the funniest in the family. With hindsight and all the medical grade drugs out of my system I am truly grateful he was there. After the operation he asked the Surgeon if the tumour was big, like the size of a golf ball, the Surgeon said think bigger, more like the size of a large grapefruit. I don’t like to brag, but. He said the margins were clear, and he took biopsies from some lymph nodes.I ended up requiring 6 months of IV and pill chemotherapy, which just ended on April 28th. I would have done the chemo in Miramichi, but my living arrangement here is not Winterized and while I did have a lot offers from Miramichiers to stay in their homes, which I love and appreciate the fact that they offered, I felt it was best to stay with my brother and his wife in Fredericton. Even though they made me sleep on an old dog bed under the stairwell, heck, Harry Potter was given a proper mattress. The one bright spot was the fact that they have two Aussie doodles and a cat, which I can tell you really helps keep your spirits up during chemo. So THANK YOU SCOTT and JEN for looking after me during my treatment and I hope I was not too demanding with the constant concierge service that I require and quite frankly deserve when I am a guest in someone’s home.Sorry for the long post, and I would like to Thank all the staff at the Miramichi Regional Hospital, The Moncton Oncology Department,Sun 360 and Mckesson for helping me. I know you have a hard job and have to deal with all the emotions with people at some of the worst times in their lives. I would just like to say, YOU are noticed and YOU are appreciated.At some point this season I will host a Thank you week-end at Maurie’s. Free Mini-putt and discounted ice cream for the health care system. Details to follow when the good weather sets in and I have had time to figure out how to manage this event.I hope everyone had a better Winter than me and I am looking forward to seeing you all this season.