Dinner with Arne in Cloverdale

Well, yesterday was a memorable day. Arne, the founder of Prayer Canada who baptized Deborah 2 days prior to her suicide invited us out to dinner. He is 97 yrs young. He insisted on picking us up and taking us to his favorite restaurant in Cloverdale, called Elizabeth Chalet. The rain started to pour also, not making it an easy drive. Arne had his leather gloves on while driving, since living in the cold prairies for many years made it necessary to wear gloves due to the cold steering wheel. After small talk, he put on a very loud woman singing, I can't tell you the CD's name but I wasn't sure why the music was so loud, either he enjoyed it, or was not able to hear it well, and thus amplifying the sound even more. Arne claims he hears better without a hearing aid which has background noise, when turned on.
The restaurant was lovely, with real table cloths, napkins and fresh flours. The decor was like a German Chalet, but with light wood fixtures and little rose patterns on the upholstered chairs. They even had a mobile dessert cart. Every sense was stimulated, sight, smell, and taste. The food was delicious, my husband and Arne choose rib roast, and Yorkshire pudding, while I had the salmon with wine sauce. On later reflection I realized I should have asked for no sauce, as I'm sure it was packed with calories, but it sure tasted nice with the rice.  A lemon meringue pie was shared at the end. Arne, wanted to play some games and cards afterwards. We told him we had no cards, so he took us to his new place. A long drive in the dark, where he only needed glasses for evening driving. He takes no medication at all. No pain killers. He confided that he does not eat beef regularly, even though he comes from Alberta, but munches on vegetables often.
So after arriving at his house, he quickly cleared chairs and the table for us to get comfortable. He feels that these games are good for the mind as it takes us away from the everyday drudgery. In the Prairies, people would often play games into the night, or have dances, but they had to get up early to milk the cows. Arne was recently interviewed by the pipeline people Kinder  Morgan. Arne worked for them 60 yrs ago, and they wanted his story. He showed us his hat, and water bottle they gave him along with the article written about him. Arne feels that pipelines are the cleanest way to transport this kind of energy, and we can't get around utilizing this method. Arne also attends two church services on Sundays, and hosts several prayer meetings weekly. It will be soon 40 yrs since he founded Prayer Canada, which is not going to be called Arne Bryan Ministries. He gave me a 30 yr pin for my blouse. By the time he drove us home, after insisting that my children pick us up, it was well past 11 pm. He even gave us a letter sharing what a huge impact Deborah has made in his life with her always exuberant desire to help him learn to use the computer. He recalled how he lost his wife Cathy of over 40 yrs of Honeymoon. Imagine, a marriage so full of love.

Habukkuk 2;14 14"For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.was a verse He quoted to us, as he mourned over the sad state of our world today. Just watching the news is painful.