ADAM OLSEN -- Sonia is as strong and wise as her mother, and I am honoured to officially pass the leadership of the BC Greens to her
I have an
interesting story about Sonia Furstenau, Jan Carroll, Emily and Adam Olsen.
In 2006
Emily and I were planning our mid-August wedding. I was given one important job
- secure the person who would officiate.
Part of
the reason I had such a minimal workload for the wedding was that I was also
the communications manager for Aboriginal Team BC heading off to the 2006 North
American Indigenous Games in Denver, CO.
While I’m
proud of the job I did to gain exposure for the hundreds of Indigenous youth
athletes in 15 individual and team sports from all corners of our incredible
province, I am less pleased with my lack of success securing the official to
officiate our marriage. (Wow! I am throwing some serious shade on myself here.)
I guess I thought I could get someone for the second Saturday in August after I
got back from the games in the middle of July (of the same year.)
As you
likely quickly recognized all the wedding officials were officially booked. It
is quite likely most of the officials were booked by mid-July of the year
before.
No
surprise that there were no official officials to officiate our wedding and we
had 250 friends and relatives ready to celebrate. They were ready because every
other part of our big day was effectively planned by Emily.
We needed
an official on short notice so by mid-July even an unofficial official would suffice.
That is when Emily and I turned to Jan Carroll.
We didn’t
know at the time that Sonia Furstenau was Jan Carroll’s daughter, but we did
quite like Jan and felt that she would do a great job convincing our family and
friends on our very biggest day that they were attending a real wedding meeting
the expectations of the Province of British Columbia.
Jan
dispensed her job beautifully. Despite almost backing off the bluff and into
the Saanich Inlet - saved by one my uncles I think - the service was perfect.
As a
result of my procrastination Emily and I now have three anniversaries. The
early spring day we met, the mid-August day Jan "married" us, and the
late fall day we actually met the official standards of our great province.
It was
from Jan that Emily and I received the powerful advice that has become a
critical part of the success of our relationship.
She told
us that the secret of a successful marriage is to always remember that “one
cooks and the other does the dishes.” Ever since, this simple principle has
played out in a variety of ways - many that have nothing to do with the
kitchen.
Eleven
years later I was elected to the British Columbia legislature alongside Jan's
daughter, Sonia Furstenau. I have worked closely with Sonia ever since. We have
stood together on the top of the mountain and at the bottom of the valley.
One thing
I know for sure from many hours sitting at the table with Sonia is that she
truly has the interest of British Columbians at the heart of her work.
Sonia is
a powerful advocate; she has a fierce determination to ensure that the
legislature in Victoria is the home of governance and not a platform for
partisans.
I look forward to continuing to work with Sonia on behalf of our constituents and all our province.
Comments
Post a Comment