Baggage vs Memento - crossing lanes with you
photo credit - Samantha Hurley https://www.samanthahurleyphoto.com
I remember when I bought it for him. CBC sold branded merch in their HQ on Front Street and by then, Radio 1 was on not just in our house, but also kept Jack company as he drove to fix fridges and assess stoves around the GTA.
When I introduced Jack to CBC Radio and he liked it, it was lucky because let’s face it, I was going to play it in the house anyway. I’ve shared before that Radio 1 was built into my DNA. Unlike the Narnia kids, the back of my closet didn’t provide access to another world. Instead, that ‘exploding pizza’ CBC logo was the visual representation of the aural portal out of my southwestern Ontario community. Jack arrived in Canada the year the logo was mothballed but its 70s vibe appealed to him reminding him of the swinging decade he came of age.
Jack was tough to buy for, so in December 2015 when I saw the sweater in that store, I knew it was going under the tree for him. By January, it assumed a spot in his regular rotation of black zipped hoodies where it stayed until he died. While his kids took its closet-mates as mementos, I preserved the CBC logo’d one.
Unlike pullovers, zipped hoodies are perfect for anyone whose body mercury rockets high and plummets just as fast. Jack’s CBC hoodie has therefore been close at hand for the last few years, as I’ve been buffeted on the winds of menopause. While those winds have largely passed, the hoodie remains.
I was wearing it last October when I dropped by Crossroads Theatre’s Nuit Blanche event. Crossroads Theatre is one of Weston’s hidden gems operating out of the arts hub at 34 King Street. Their Nuit Blanche show, The Good Stuff was advertised as “an ode to the small things in our lives and the big stories and legacies they carry.” Intriguing! I missed the part in the ad though that said ‘bring your own personal object.’ My Weston friends though stood in line clutching important pieces of their histories, waiting to have their stories recorded and their item photographed by Torontonian Samantha Hurley (@lightleaksin). They told me the sound recordings and photos will be part of a future Crossroads installation about everyday things and the people who love them, reinforcing the message that art needn’t be highbrow.
This idea was too good for me not to be involved. I stood outside the hub mentally rifling through the contents of Chandlerville, just two blocks away. What could I go get? Running my fingertips over the frayed edges of my hoodie’s cuffs, I realized I didn’t have to go home. I was wearing an ordinary thing with big meaning.
I’ve got lots of other sweaters perfect for an autumn evening that don’t have frayed cuffs. But I can’t part with the CBC hoodie. It’s tangible evidence not only of the lane I occupied with Jack but the logo has marked every lane I was in before I met him: from the girl in Wingham anxious to escape; to the political news junkie majoring in political science first at Mac and then York; to the City of Toronto manager where Metro Morning interviews were the topic of conversation over cigarettes and coffee every morning; to the transplant in Victoria studying law anxious for the nightly glimpse of the Toronto skyline on the National; and then to the newly minted lawyer back in downtown Toronto.
I told the story of Jack for the Crossroads event - how the sweater lets me wrap myself in a surrogate warm embrace. It’s only since then, that I’ve begun thinking about the things we choose to move with us as we traverse life’s highway. Puts me in mind of Lane Changer, Pam Hudak, who’s branded her home decor business with a snail: slow, adaptable to any environment, and traveling with what’s important right on its back. Not baggage but memento. Like my CBC hoodie.
*****
Keep an eye out for the Crossroads Theatre show, The Good Stuff, coming soon!
Curious about my Lane Changer series? Check out these profiles
Peter Chandler, how it all began for me
Cathy Crowe, her lane is the street
Marissa Bastidas, same lane, new direction
Pam Hudak, living on a multi-lane highway
Jennifer, crossing lanes from Phuket to pup-minderEmma Simpson, from taxiway to writing terminal
Jessica Waraich, changing lanes on the career on-ramp
Michelle Simmons, straddling two lanes in her mid-40s
Sybil Chandler (1928-2025), proud to find life’s off-ramp
Faiv Noelle, solo on a global highway
Karly Wilson, waiting aside life’s highway for the next lane
Marya Williams, when life’s lanes bring you full circle
Carolyn Whitzman, lanes inspired by mother and grandmotherValerie Groves, when the lane is bordered by perennials and pollinatorsElana Harte, Changing lanes on the “Being of Service” HighwayFaren Bogach, the fast lanes of lawyering
Cathy Mann, finding the lane to Nova ScotiaDenese Gascho, finding common ground in different lanesSafiya Randera, lanes that cross land, community, and artChristine Mounsteven, nine decades, still driving forward on life’s highway
When a sector changes lanes: How ONPHA gave me hopeVeronika Tursik, in a new lane and behind the wheel for the first time!Lane Changing RingsLiz Kaufman, embracing life back on a two-lane highway
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