That’s what my mom, Elizabeth Henderson, said when my dad died seven years ago. And she said it again when she lost her job last winter after Arrow Communications, an advertising firm, went out of business. When she couldn’t find anything close to home, she decided to leave British Columbia and go to Toronto to look for work. Then zing! That’s when life threw me a curveball and I found out I would have to live with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Stuart until Mom found a job and sent for me. But since then I’ve learned that sometimes life’s curveballs actually work out to be more like — well, let’s just say, interesting opportunities. That’s what happened one day when I helped Uncle Stuart in the garden. I had stopped weeding to come and admire the pond hole he was digging when I noticed what looked like a large round stone emerging from the dark, speckled earth. It was smooth and yellowed with age. I bent down and brushed the dirt off with my hand. Then I dug around the sides with my fingers to make it easier to pull out.
