Soon, Caydance and Griff would meet Claude and Genevieve in Montreal. This unexpected Christmas gift was a perfect holiday surprise. When her class ended and her grades were filed, their journey to Canada would begin.
For years after his Mother left his Father for the Montreal ice rinks -- and a Canadiens Assistant Coach -- Mamie, Griff's Montreal Grandmother, had refused to speak to her daughter. Gifts from Mamie arrived every year at Christmas, but it had been years since Griff had seen his Grandmother, who lived in an apartment in Vieux-Montreal. Claude and Genevieve and Griff and Caydance would stay in a hotel not far from where Mamie lived. They would join her for dinner at French restaurants. They would skate outdoors at Old Port; they would skate on the Rivers and on the lakes, and they had tickets to see the Canadiens play at Montreal Forum.
His parents had met in Montreal. Mamie, whose visits to Sacramento were memorable when Griff was a child, was a much loved Grandmother. The trip was a Christmas present from Griff to his wife, to his Mother, and to his Grandmother. And Caydance was happy that The Lodge la Belle Montagne, where Sido and Tyrone would be staying with The Music Box Book of Hours, was within easy driving distance from Montreal.