Niagara Glen

I started to make day trips because I was waiting for a critical surgery. I was afraid I was going to die and leave my Charlene alone.

This weighed heavily on me.

I wanted to give her the memories to look back at if the surgery failed. Since she wanted to see the world, I decided that I would plan trip after trip. She would come home from work, and off we would go. There was no rest because there was so much to see and do. The more we travelled, the more we saw. The more we saw, the more we discovered.

I was born with a set of heart defects, and weirdly, they counteracted each other, allowing me to have a somewhat normal life. This odd balance was getting out of whack, and I was suffering for it. I considered surgical options before, but because of the uniqueness of the condition and the risk of failure (45% death-rate!), I decided to wait.

It came to the point that waiting was no longer something I could do; it was getting that bad. After much, much more testing and reassurances that surgical techniques had improved drastically in the years since (now only a 5% death-rate!), I gave the go-ahead to do this invasive surgery.

It was a terrifying decision, and it was made easier knowing that Charlene was (and still is) by my side.

It becomes easier when planning for one’s death if one is married. Even though Charlene and I have known each other since the last millennia, we never married; it was time to do so. Not just for the legal benefits, but because we really love each other and love being together.

Charlene started her adventure with me as my wife on March 23, 2018. It was a small, heartfelt and meaningful wedding. We wrote our own vows.

All of our family was there for this fun ceremony. We now needed to go on a honeymoon!

And I knew exactly where to go: Niagara Glen.

Access to this park that runs along the Niagara River, which is the border between Canada and USA, is free. Parking is reasonably priced. There is a very well-built and sturdy staircase to the bottom of the gorge and that was the first part of the adventure. It was so easy going down, I decided to ignore the fact that I would have to go up these same steps with my heart issues; the excitement of discovering a new place drew me down and spending this time with my new bride was more than enough to ignore the complaints in my chest.

Niagara Glen is a unique place. If it wasn’t for the stairs, it would be inaccessible, and this gem of nature would be missed. Looking up to the escarpment makes you feel small. We saw someone walking on the American side, and they were lost in the scale of the cliff face.

We ventured down several pathways looking for interesting geography. Our favourite spots were when we could see the river rushing by. All the water that drains into Lake Ontario from Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie must come down this narrow passage. It really did help to show how big nature can be. Finding calm spots in the water was almost surreal, especially when the river is flowing with intensity only a few dozen metres away.

We explored all that we could see and slowly climbed the stairs back up. We would return to this very spot to celebrate a successful surgery and the enormous improvement in my life and health.

Because I can now do so much more physical activity, we would explore this location even more. This time, we learned of a small waterfall that had to be crossed to get to this gorge’s far end. It is located on the Whirlpool Trail that leads to Whirlpool River Park. This trail can be quite rugged in places, but the waterfalls is rather refreshing. It was fun to find this tiny gem and enhance our repeat journey experience.

I started day-tripping because I feared death. Today, we continue to day-trip to celebrate life and all that the world has to offer. It is amazing that I have found someone to share my life, experiences, hopes and dreams in Charlene.

Thank you, my dear wife.

We should go again to Niagara Glen. I found a trail that might lead to a better view of the rapids.

Are you ready for another trip, Mrs. Reid???