I like this photo. In a single, simple shot, it captures a lot. My mother-in-law, Diane, was French Canadienne. She loved Quebec, she loved France, she loved anything French. She loved wine and she loved performance.
She was once in a restaurant in Chicago and saw a bottle of wine on the menu that piqued her interest. It was a Bordeaux, a Saint Emilion, from a house named Chateau Simard. That’s her maiden name and nothing could stop her from buying this wine. And for a few decades now, my wife and I buy it at just about every opportunity.
Her husband, Dave, was a legendary Canadian performer. He began his career a very short while after the CBC began broadcasting television and he was a mainstay on television and radio for decades. Young people don’t really remember him now but he was just about as big a star as there was for many years. He won thirteen ACTRA Awards for Canadian television and radio broadcasting. He may have won more but we have thirteen in our home.
In our family room, where we watch TV, we’re never that far from a few memories of my wife’s parents. I like the idea of a wooden case of Chateau Simard keeping together some of the performance awards of Dave Broadfoot. It’s closer to the truth than you can imagine.