It’s taken George Brewster 95 years to compile the lengthy list of friends he has. It took me fewer than 95 seconds to be welcomed by many of them. I’m not surprised. Mr. Brewster is a stand-up guy, full of life and gratitude. Of course he’s got so many people in his corner.
On Sunday, my two-year-old and I were privileged to attend Mr. Brewster’s 95th birthday party.
I wrote about Mr. Brewster’s phone message that made me smile on March 31.
I wrote about being invited to Mr. Brewster’s 95th birthday party on March 17.
I wrote about Mr. Brewster’s trip to Dieppe last July.
I was anxious walking into a room of 100 strangers and having many of them know me despite never having met me. Such is my life as a reporter: people recognize my name but not usually my face. To be honest, I like that anonymity.
But this was different. I‘m not sure I’ve ever felt as welcome among strangers.
“If you live this long, you get friends for a long time,” explained emcee, Greg Sumner.
I was seated with my daughter, who had excitedly picked out her own dress and shoes and who sat still so I could do her hair (I did it better than I managed to do my own… which really isn’t saying much) at a table with New Life Church’s pastor, Ken Nettleton, his wife Kimberly, a wonderful woman named Lynda Kinnee, and a few others.
We had front row seats when Mr. Brewster got up to the mic to say a few words (yes, there was a mic. And a band. And a massive meal. This man knows how to party.)
“It just delights my heart to be able to share some moments with people like you, who are so dear and so precious to an old man who is really kind of past it,” he said.
“They talk about survival, and I taught survival for years, and I tell you, if you don’t look at the weakest people in your party and take care of them, they won’t be there to help you when you need it. Look after the people and love them just for being who they are and they might even love you for who you are, too.”
Of course he got a laugh but I’m glad he said that because my daughter hit her good behaviour limit after an hour and 45 minutes. We left about two hours in so for 15 minutes I was praying the room full of people was loving us for who we were and not too annoyed with my kid’s antsy pants.
Every mom knows what I’m talking about. Thank you to Mrs. Kinnee for helping to keep my child busy until it was an appropriate time to get up and sneak out. I wish you lived next door. I feel like you’d be a great neighbour.
I exchanged some emails with emcee Sumner following the event. He filled me in on what we’d missed.
“At the end of the party, after he’d danced for more than an hour, we finally corralled him and sat him down. His wife, Joy, presented him with a special gift,” wrote Mr. Sumner. It was a cruise to San Diego in the fall. The duo met on the dance floor of a cruise ship 22 years ago and since then they’ve travelled the world by ship.
“This will give George over 200 days at sea to bump him up to a three anchor mariner status,” Sumner said.
It was a pretty cool gift for a pretty cool guy. But I’d say the better gift has been knowing Mr. Brewster.
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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