55 days. 55 days until we get to tie the knot. Crazy. In the meantime, we got our engagement pictures back!! Our talented photographer, Chris Amat, who was ridiculously easy to work with and who made us feel really comfortable, wanted to do something other than the traditional, one-location shoot. From coffee shop to bookstore to record store to art store to park, he followed us around as we went for a date around Calgary. Check out the results!
After performing a spoken word piece at church one Sunday, a lady came up to me and asked if I would be willing to perform at the Lethbridge Pregnancy Care Centre Gala. I said yes, knowing that I was pretty inexperience on the topic but willing to take on the challenge.
When I first met with the board, they asked me to write the poem from the perspective of a man whose significant other had had an abortion. I had a couple months to write the poem so I went home and did my homework. I read a couple books on abortion, watched a couple movies, and even talked to a few people who had experienced it. All of this research lead me to the overwhelming fact that I was way over my head. My heart was breaking hearing these testimonies, but I knew that they were not really my story to tell. (Not to mention that there was a lot of internal conflict going on as I was trying to write the poem that I proposed to Joy with at the same time-- abortion arguments and proposal poems do not really go hand in hand!)
So after a while I gave up on the 'boyfriend' perspective as it just sounded fake. Instead I ended up writing about why I support the LPCC and what my response really is when people ask me my view on abortion. The whole experience was just a giant affirmation as to why I support Pregnancy Care Centres-- an organization that is there to present the options to a couple in trouble, and be there with supportive counselling before and after they make their decision. What more could you ask for?
Here is my presentation of the poem at the gala:
And here is the website for the Lethbridge Pregnancy Care Centre if you want to learn more about them: www.lethbridgepregcentre.com.