SWAT teams, GTF and CSI

This is a bit of an extension on the story of being refused rent based on having children. Somewhat but not directly related. In my only half coherent state, I have posted a few random statuses today. So time for the explanation.

Last night, after work, I had some errands to do. Including picking up Ron. I worked late, he worked late. So everything ran late. I ordered and got delivered pizza to the kids for dinner. And at 9:00 pm all hell broke loose. I received a phone call on my cell from the kids but didn't hear it. By the time I noticed it was quite late and I phoned them back right away. At that point, Jeff tells me that there were gunshots next door. Needless to say I was panic stricken. I left Ron and raced home. At this point, I believe the kids have been in the house by themselves for around 45 minutes. When I got to the house, this is what I saw. About 30 police, 5 dogs, the SWAT team and the Gang task force. I was not allowed anywhere near the house and I couldn't call the house as my phone was dead (mental note: get a car charger). One of the police let me use his phone and I talked to the kids for about45 minutes. Finally, things were cleared enough that they let me in.

What happened when I was gone was this: cops surrounded both my house and my neighbours (one piece of property, two houses). They had a wall of police lined in the street in front of the house. Cops were stationed at every corner of my house and the neighbors house. They tore the fence panels out of the back and trained guns on the house through the back alley. They had guns trained on the front door at every angle. It was at this point, that they, one at a time ordered my new neighbours out of the house, one step at a time. Walked them around to the side of my house where they dropped, cuffed and arrested them. By dropped I do not mean that they punched them out, I simply mean that they were ordered to get face down into the ground.

It was not until after midnight that the majority of police officers left. However, two were stationed at the house. One in front, and one in the back alley.

Needless to say, we didn't sleep. Today the kids stayed home. And today, more story unfolded. Around 11:00 am, four more vehicles showed up with a search warrant and they proceeded to dismantle the entire house. This morning CSI was happening before my eyes. Fingerprints were being dusted for, furniture and assorted household items were being dismantled, bagged and removed from the house.

And we sat in the house, exhausted, overtired and dealing with PTSD effects.

Between bits and pieces this is what I know: the house had been watched for a long long time. There was gang affiliation as the gang task force was on site. I overheard the police discussing kidnapping and there were drugs involved as well.

So today we sit. Tired, in shock, stunned and overwhelmed. Knowing i have to move. I knew that before this all went down. And still unable to find a residence.

How does this tie in with the BC Rights Tribunal? Well, that house was available for end of August. Had I not been denied that house based on having children, we would not have been here. My children and I would have been spared the trauma of last night and today. Will this impact my Tribunal complaint and case? That I don't know. But trust me, this IS something that I will be bringing forward to both CBC again and the BC human rights tribunal. Will there be any recompense? I'm not sure, but I am willing to try.

And so we still keep looking, hoping and praying for a new house.

August

We just past August. And it was my daughter's brithday. Now as far as we can figure, my daughter was a twin. But I have only one. I look at her and wonder. And I think she knows. And so in honor of my forever baby I repost this:

I Wonder What You Look Like

I wonder what you look like

And who you’re meant to be

Would you look like Daddy

Or would you favour me

I ache to hold you in my arms

And kiss away your tears

Stroke your chubby baby cheeks

And see the dimples that appear

I long to gaze into your eyes

Are they green or brown or blue

Is that a twinkle I would see

Of mischief through and through

In comfort do I long

To stroke your tiny head

To feel your soft fine baby hair

Is it blonde or brown or red

Although the chance has come and gone

To see your life mature

I know we’ll meet in heaven

Of this I am secure

Until that awestruck day arrives

I’ll hold you in my heart

And anxiously away the time

That we’ll no longer be apart

Human rights and discrimination

So, there has been a bit of an ongoing saga around my house. I have been casually looking for another house to live in. For a variety of reasons, namely health, it feels as if my time here is done. And so I have been keeping my eye on Craigslist to see what came up. There has been this house that would keep coming up on my searches. At first I figured it was too small but it was cheaper than what I am paying for now and well, I could use the money. Things have been a little tight around here lately, more so than it has been for awhile. I noticed that the house was managed by an property management company and so I called to set up a viewing appointment. That was on the 15th of this month.

I went to the house, and quite liked what I saw. A bigger back yard with more sun, a sun room in the house enough room for all of us and it "felt" good. Now for those of you that know me, that is crucial for me. I need something that "feels" good and this did. I indicated to the property manager that I was really interested in this house and asked what the next steps were to be. He asked me who would be living with me at the house. I told him it would be myself and my three children. This did not seem to be a problem at all. The property manager handed me the application and told me to go fill that in and fax it tonight and that there was no other interest in the place and so he didn't think that it would be a problem for us to get the place. I walked away feeling really good about it all.

So I went home and did just that. Filled out the application, faxed it in all within a half hour. I got a call the next day. It was the property management company wanting to confirm both employment and references. I asked at that point, when I would know if I got the place and they told me by the end of the week.

Friday I got another call. The property management had some questions about my income. I clarified a few things and they told me that I would receive a call on Monday.

Monday arrived and I called the property management company and I was told OVER THE PHONE, that I had not received the house. I inquired as to why as all signs and indications were pointing to the fact that the house was as good as mine.

This was the reply, "after we spoke to you, someone else applied that did not have children so we went ahead and processed their application and they are going to be renting the house."

I was shocked into silence! Because I have kids????? was the only thought running through my head. I stuttered something or other and ended the call.

I then posted on fb and a number of people including a man that I highly and deeply respect informed me that this was discrimination and a human rights violation. So off I went. To the media. Global did a lot of promising but never picked up the story and so I contacted CBC who picked up the story immediately. I contacted them on Wednesday and on Thursday both CBC radio and CBC television were trying to book me in for that day. CBC news booked but had to put it off til Monday due to the HST referendum, however, CBC radio picked it up that night.

So off I went on Thursday to CBC radio to do a live interview. As a result, a number of networking opportunities have come my way which looks like they will lead to a number of career opportunities. You can read more of that here.

Additionally, I found out that my case qualifies for me to file a human rights discrimination complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal.

So all in all, a number of good things have occurred and the ramifications also prove to looking good. Monday CBC news is scheduled to come in and do a news piece on this. Stay tuned for updates on this aspect of life.

Friday I recieved a call

One more Teenager

So I have one more teenager living in this house. And oddly enough, I still don't feel old enough. Do we ever? My beautiful daughter turned 13. Now she turned 13 at the beginning of the month, but I just had her birthday (with her girlfriends) last weekend. I have been planning this birthday for three years.

I remember when my girlfriend turned 13, her parents took me and her to Cloud Nine, and I literally and figuratively felt like I was on Cloud Nine. So I figured this would be perfect for my princess. But I expanded it a bit. We were originally going to have four of her best girlfriends (and subsequently these are the same girlfriends that are leaving her school, rather devastating for both her and me to be sure). However, not everyone could make it and so we ended up with three and my mom and myself. Three years ago I commissioned a jeweler to make Missy her first set of jewellery consisting of a necklace, bracelet and earrings. I have been saving money dearly to afford this night. So we had the girls come early to get ready and then ended up all spoiling her, fussing over her and doing her hair and make-up. At 5:00 the limo arrived and after the requisite pictures, we all piled in. I had had sparkling apple juice for the girls and at first they thought it was champagne. Lol! The limo took us all to Cloud Nine where we had dinner while we saw all of Vancouver. After dinner, we piled back into the limo and went home where Missy

opened her presents from her girls.

As well as commissioning the jewelry for Missy, I had the jeweler make the girls a matching necklace and I gave this to them instead of goody b

ags. The funny thing is that I gave the girls theirs first. Boy, was Missy disappointed as she watched the girls getting their necklaces while she (thought) she had nothing.

It was a beautiful night, where my princess felt like the star of the world. What better way can a girl spend her 13th birthday?

Can I do better? Yup! I already have her 16th and 18th planned!

And so, from this adorable little angel:

Emerged this gorgeous lady:

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I have found that there is a theme cropping up in my life as of late. Words, actions and congruency. We have all heard the old adage, actions speak louder than words...but do they? I think I may come from a unique place here, but here goes.

Words are what we say, what we speak and they can bring death and life. Many people will say what they say marks who they are. It's a true testament of their character. They don't lie so what they say is true to who they are. So don't necessarily focus on what they do per se. For instance, the one who says that they love you but don't necessarily go out of their way to "show" it. You should know after all, for they will keep telling you.

Then there are those who go the other way and never speak the words but tell you to determine their love for you but what they do. Maybe they shower you in gifts, maybe they are constantly doing you chores for you. And they maintain that you should know they love you based on what they do.

But as far as I can see it there are problems with both of those scenarios. We ALL are guilty of saying things we don't mean. So if we are to take the word person and determine their love by their words we are in trouble. There is life and death in the power of the tongue. So what happens when there is a fight and the two of you start getting nasty with your words...then what? Which words do you listen to? The ones where they said they loved you? Or the ones during the fight where the hurt you? We all know it takes 10 positive things to erase one negative. So ten positive statements to erase one negative said in a fight. Talk about confusing messages.

Actions speak louder than words. So the person who "does" things for you but never tells you what you mean to them. How is one to rest in that? And to go one further what if their words and actions are in opposition? How do you reconcile between these two? For a hypervigilant person such as myself, actions as a gauge don't work. Why? Well because my life consisted of monitoring every action of every individual in order to determine my safety. So, and run with me here, what if my dad was one of the "action" people but he had had a hard day at work and then got into a bad traffic snarl? He know comes home and he's in a bad mood, walks through the front door, slams the door and throws his briefcase on his desk, slamming doors where ever he goes in the house. So I run up to give him a hug cuz he's home and I get pushed away. Well that action shows he doesn't love me and yet his actions are actually more indicative of his day than me. But he tells me he loves me.

So problems in both scenarios. As far as I can figure it, what needs to happen is congruency. Congruency between words and actions. If you say you love me, treat me as such. Show me as well as tell me. Congruency speaks to character, it speaks to integrity as a person. When we can align what we say with what we do, it is a testament on who we are. I recall someone I know who maintains that they are empathetic, compassionate, full of grace and mercy for people. And yet, they are full of anger, hatred, resentment and bitterness. I recall instances when the minute they felt an unjustice was done, to them or people close to them they turn into vile and poison spewing individuals. But then where is the grace and compassion and mercy that they will swear to you is WHO they are? Which are you to believe?

I think of someone else I know. Claims he loves this girl and always will. Yet none of his actions indicate such. He acts on impulses and then if caught comes up with some lameo excuse. He never makes her his priority. Lots of empty promises. How is this poor girlfriend of mine to believe that he does in fact love her.

Congruency is key. It speaks to who we are, it demonstrates our character and integrity and when we live in it brings untold amounts of peace!

An update on Jeff

So since the mail strike, our mail has been arriving far later in the afternoon. And today it arrived about 5 minutes ago. Upon seeing what came in the mail, it didn't take me long to make the necessary phone calls, one followed by another as I had to phone back considering I had forgotten some pertinent information. But before I get into all that, I am asking you to take a look. Take a look at this:

Stare into those eyes, look at that beaming face and smile and tell me that this kid does NOT deserve the best.

I have mentioned and alluded to this before, Jeff has had a rough life. The latest being the assualt on his person and attempted robbery. Well the police had done their investigation and along with Jeffrey's medical records forwarded the Crown Council. Now that was before the mail strike and I have not heard anything since. I wondered if they were going to do nothing and I thought about phoning to see but one thing got in front of another.

And then the mail arrived. In the mail was a letter for Jeff from Crown Council. Well Jeff is on holidays so I opened it there was a letter to Jeff. The accused is headed to court tomorrow and they want a victim impact statement as this will be taken into account upon sentencing.

Finally son has justice! Finally for this (previous trauma) he will be able to retain a sense of justice that that right was done because he stood up for right!

Praise God, my son gets closure!

Stanley Cup, Riots and Restoration

It's been a big year for us Canucks fans. In fact, big doesn't describe it. After '94, many of us didn't think we would ever see this day again. And the Canucks run and the Vancouver Spirit and Pride was reminiscent of the 2010 Olympics. And it would have been amazing. Winning the gold medal and then the Stanley Cup! And not one Vancouverite doubted that Lord Stanley's Cup would be finally making its way home...back to where it belonged. Such high hopes we had1 Such dreams we dreamt! And such pride and spirit we held for our much loved Vancouver.

And then the Bruins scored, not once, not twice, not thrice but four times. And our hearts sank. Our dreams for this year died and we wept. We wept individually and we wept as a city. I wept for my Grandfather. For you see, he was a Canuck and he would have LOVED to have been witness to this extraordinary year. But, my Grandfather passed away two years ago and was not here to witness our amazing, heart pounding and stopping, Vancouver rallying journey. So we wept. Some individually and all as a nation. I, wept both for my Grandfather, sad that he missed this year, thrilled that he was not here to witness the evil of some who claim to be our own.

And then the unthinkable happened. Riots, worse than '94 broke out. Now a day later, it has come to light that these riots were planned. It was not a by-product of a heartbroken city. It was a planned terrorist attack on our city, by it's very own! Many of us sat at home and watched the horror unfold before our eyes on our tv sets. Much like 9/11. Many of us were there. But ALL of us were horror stricken and outraged. Many innocents were beat, stabbed, bit and bruised. Our beloved fellow Vancouverites. All for the sick pleasure of some home grown terrorists.

This morning, our horror had not abated. But this morning the TRUE red and white spirit of our city came alive. For you see, today, we took and funnelled our anger in a movement to reclaim and restore our city and re-establishh our spirit. Today we came together, ignorant of the color of our skin and stood side by side to wipe clean the remnants of the terrorists. Today, rather than seeking revenge, we stood together and reclaimed what is ours.

And we have moved forces to capture those terrorists. Thanks to technology, many people took pictures. And many people posted statuses on their facebook. And again, we stood arm in arm and remained vigilant and forwarded all our pictures, and all the facebook statuses we could to the Vancouver Police Department so that we could do everything to ensure that justice is served.

Yesterday, we thought our dream had died. In my humble opinion, today our dream came alive. For you see, as much as I longed for and yearned for the Cup to come home, the Cup is not really a true symbol of who we are. The Cup is not the real dream. The real dream occurred today in Vancouver's streets among brooms, dust pans, rubber gloves and rags. Today the dream came to life as we as a city fought to protect, preserve, reclaim and restore what some thought they could steal from us. But you see, this dream cannot be stolen. For this dream involves mankind loving on and caring for one another. This dream is not about a Cup, it's about who we are as a people and what we stand for. This dream came alive. And this dream will always live on. It will always come alive when hope seems lowest. Because this dream is intangible and cannot be killed. This dream cannot die. And today, this dream LIVED!