I played in the Deiter’s Love
Memorial Golf Tournament this past weekend in Strathroy (west of London). I
played in it last
year as well, and also designed and built the website. The tournament is
in memory of Deiter Rombouts, who was born prematurely and needed a liver and
bowel transplant, and
possibly a stomach and pancreas transplant as well. Deiter passed away at the age
of six months while still on the transplant waiting list. These are the same four organs
that our friend Sarah received when she was six months old, and that was over
nine years ago. While Sarah was in the hospital in London for one of
her many surgeries, her mom Cindy met Deiter’s parents (Stacy and John) and became
friends, and we met them through Cindy. Stacy and John started running this
golf tournament and silent
auction to raise money and awareness for organ donation, and I am proud to be
part of it. I’ve signed my organ donation
card — have you?

I played with my friends Steve, Jeff, and Doug, and we finished the day
with a 2 under par 69. I got to use my new
driver, and actually
hit it pretty well a couple of times. One of those times, I hit
it too far, and we used Steve’s drive (it’s a best-ball tournament)
because it was further back and gave us a better shot at the green. (Of course,
he used a 5-iron, and I only outdrove him with my big-ass driver by about 30
yards, but still.) The winning team shot 10 under, so we didn’t come close to
winning (not that we expected to), but we had fun.

Didn’t buy anything at the auction this year. I bid on a few items (Tiger-Cat
tickets, some outdoor speakers for my dad, and I can’t remember what else), but
was outbid on all of them. Not true – I actually bid on and won a little green
ribbon (for organ donation) charm for Gail, but found out later that she
already had one. Silly mistake, but not very expensive ($10), and Gail said it
was a very sweet thing to do, so it won me some husband points. Gail
got a couple of crafty things, and the boys each got some toys. I bid on and won a
putter last year, but I haven’t touched it since, since I like the putter I
have. I should have called Stacy and donated it back so they could auction it off
again this year, but I didn’t think about it until a day or two before the
tournament. I’ll probably donate it to the school silent auction in February.

Coincidence of the week: At last year’s tournament, I bought one of those
bracelets that everyone is wearing (like the Livestrong ones). This one was green
and said “Donate Life”. I didn’t wear it much during the winter, but other than
that, I’ve worn it almost every day since. I wore it again at the golf tournament,
and then when taking it off yesterday, the day after this year’s
tournament, it broke.

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