“Hello?”
“Hi Dr. Solomon,* it's Angela.”
“Ah! Hi!”
“Hi, how are you?”
“Good! Real Good!”
“Good, good, good. (Huge inhale. Then, huger exhale.) I don’t know how to tell you … I heard from Immigration.”
“… Ok”
“I’ll just read it to you, ok?”
“Ok.”
Great Blast of an exhale. “’David Solomon … You will find enclosed … your Canadian Citizenship Certificate …’”
“… Oh … W-a-a-a-o-w. Oh my G— “
“—This certificate is your official proof of Canadian Citizenship!” Laughter.
“Oh … That’s fantas— Wow …. Oh my gosh …”
“We did it!!”
“Yes, Yes! Wow!”
“I had to trick you. I had to pull your leg. I had to. I couldn’t resist.” Laughter. “Yay! I’m going to send you a picture of it. Yes!”
“Alright! No … Thank you! Wow … I’m going to call Aunt Esty right away.”
“Ya!”
“Ah … Shes’s going to be delighted. This is amazing …”
“It’s amazing!”
“Ah! It really is!!”
“I knew it was coming. I was like, ‘Aaagh … I’m not going to say anything! I’m not going to say anything!’”
“Ah?! Oh, w-a-a-a-o-w … I could give you a big hug! That’s wonderful.”
“Yeah! You should see how pretty it is. They changed it. It looks nice.”
“Oh boy!”
“So, you’re Canadian now!!!”
“Yeah … Oh my mother would just be so happy … “
“Yeah. I know … Sh--- I know. I know. I know.”
“Her last gift to me ...”
If you read my previous article, you can imagine how emotional this conversation with my client, Dr. David Solomon, was.** I have a feeling that more than a few tears were shed during and after. As well, as we spoke my muscles grew stronger. I regained the electrifying glee of my seven-year-old self. My entire physiology regenerated. My lungs stretched big to welcome the air that was cleaner and more delicious than before. Yet …
… something was missing.
I felt like I was on cloud number five. Cloud nine was inappropriate under the circumstances until I finished this very article that you are reading.
Because, I must share Aunt Esty with you.
Esther Peterson is the youngest sister of Beatrice Solomon (Dr. David Solomon’s mother). If it were not for solicitor-client privilege I might share with you whether or not she is Dr. Solomon’s favourite Aunt. If only I could.
However, I can tell you that Aunt Esty is the feisty Instigator who grabbed space, time and matter by the fistfuls; and then, rolled them up and hurled them along the path of Canadian Citizenship on behalf of her nephew. As well, she is the highly skilled “lead counsel” who pinpointed obscure government agencies and persuaded their managers to expend time and effort in order to search archives of microfiche inked with the Peterson recorded family history.
Also, Esther is the fastidious Scholar who gingerly excavated and preserved each gossamer government issued document that evidenced births, marriages, migration, timing of events, location, identity and existence of the entire Peterson/Solomon family.
The first time I met Aunt Esther, I became one of her admirers. As she showed me every piece of paper that she brought to our meeting, she spoke about the significance of when it was created and to whom it referred. Her love, determination and brilliance animated her movements and made her eyes shine brighter, bluer.
Although Aunt Esther is in her retirement years, the best word to describe her is “cool”. Have you ever met a person that was so smart, self-assured, comfortable in their own skin and magnetic that you secretly wished you were related to them so you could just hang out all the time and not seem to them a fawning groupie? Yes, that is me with Aunt Esty. Plus: she is a kindred spirit. We both love to write. She is a musician. (I dabble in piano.) We both love justice and could not give a flying ‘you-know-what’ who we need to talk to to get it … ever with dignity of course. Moreover, we both are the babies of our families and we embody all of the rebellion, principled altruism and stand-up-to-the-man aura that often comes with that order of birth.
Aunt Esther motivated me to do everything I could do to make the positive decision happen for her nephew. During our consultation, I promised myself that I was going to write one of the most persuasive submissions letters I had drafted, ever.
Without her support, my submissions might have been closer to assertions. With Aunt Esther’s meticulously organized physical evidence of Peterson/Solomon family history, my Application was strengthened as an Undeniable Legal Argument.
So to you Aunt Esty, I say with your nephew, “Thank you.”
And, you know, maybe we could go for a coffee. I mean, if you have time…
My treat.
_________________________________________________________________
* Names (other than mine) remain changed to protect client privacy.
** If you have yet to review my earlier post, please read it first by clicking here as it will help put this one in context.
Listen to a portion the telephone conversation between Dr. Solomon and me by clicking on the video above.