HNT - Valentine Memory

I recently won a local radio contest where they asked people to tell the story of how you first met your sweetheart. The prize was a tour of the famous Walker's Chocolate factory AND a $100 gift certificate to romance their Valentines with the exquisite taste of Walker's chocolate hearts, roses, luscious truffles and famous Mint Meltaways!!

When entering the story I submitted the tale of how Francine and I first met as counselors/instructors at an academic camp at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Called "Campus Camp"(an alternative to the usual summer sports camps), students would enroll in two week sessions where they would take one of two "subject area" tracks where they could learn more about different areas that Carleton University had to offer and was taught by students who had studied in these areas -- courses included Architecture, Law, Biology, Journalism, Business, Chemistry, Music and Drama.

I taught the drama program at Carleton's Campus Camp for 3 years and can honestly say that those were three of the best summers of my life. The students I taught were incredible -- many of them displaying incredible talent in theatre, writing and acting. I often wonder what happened to many of those students and can only imagine how a real teacher feels having seen so many developing minds come through their class.

I'm actually still in contact with one of the students who attended my class and who grew up to become a successful writer/playwright -- we maintained a correspondence while she was growing up and it was fantastic to share in her amazing successes and accomplishments over the years. There's a brief article, one of the only remaining remnants of Carleton's Campus Camp that I could find on the internet, here.

In any case, during the first meeting of counselor/instructors in my second summer of teaching at Campus Camp, I jokingly said that I had called the meeting to order because I was looking for a girlfriend and potential wife. Francine, whom I hadn't met before that day, put up her hand and said "Sign me up!"

Despite a mutual attraction that summer as we got to know each other, we had both been dating other people while remaining friends, so it wasn't until much later that our friendship actually evolved into something more serious. But I think it's really neat how the joking we'd been doing on that first day we met ended up coming to pass.

Therefore, in honour of the tale of how Francine and I met, I'm posting a picture (taken in Ottawa) of Fran and I for this week's HNT post. (And now I get to take my sweetie on a tour of Walker's Chocolate factory -- woo hoo! Thanks, Talk820! Thanks, Walker's Chocolates!)