for the love of ed

The basement renovation has begun. We're very excited. There's 40 hours of hammering, drilling, boring, and cementing every week as a new wall goes up, a new bathroom is built, appliances are moved, etc etc etc.

The work is being done by our friend, Van, who has performed every construction project on our family's homes since 1984. But, being a busy man, Van doesn't do the daily work any longer. Byron and Ed do the work.

And so begins Andy's love affair. Andy loves Ed.

Ed is older, a bit gruff, no-nonsense and very talented. (Byron is too, but he says perhaps 3 words a day so Andy doesn't get as much fodder from him.) Perhaps it's because "Ed" is easy for a toddler to say. I don't know. But after the first few days, Andy started talking about Ed. Sometimes it would be incoherent babble punctuated by the word "Ed" here and there. Clearly, the man had made an impression.

Now, at the end of the second week of construction, Ed is firmly ensconced in Andy's mental framework. In the morning we go downstairs to see Ed and Andy chirps, "Hi Ed!" over and over as we go down the stairs. At the end of the day when Ed walks to his car, Andy calls, "Bye Ed!" over and over and waves.

Meanwhile, we've been spending a good deal of time with my friend Kate. We went to high school together and reconnected last summer. She's very helpful with Andy and fits right into our routine without a hitch. It's great.

The thing is, Andy is so in love with Ed that Kate is having to fight to make her identity known. Simply put, Andy calls her Ed. When we meet somewhere and we walk in the door, Andy waves to Kate and says, "Hi Ed!" When we leave, Andy calls, "Bye Ed!" It drives her nuts.

The other day we had a late breakfast at Tim Horton's. As Andy ate his croissant, he babbled to Kate about Ed. And when she went to the restroom, Andy began to look around the restaurant and point to other customers. It took me a minute to realize he was pointing to each person, waving, and saying, "Hi Ed!"

That's right. Everybody in Tim Horton's restaurant on Monday April 7th, 2008 was named Ed.

What a coincidence!