THE ADVOCATE 341
VOL. 79 PART 3 MAY 2021
However, and to ensure that this article does not mislead, Susan does
have her flaws. She’s tried admirably, though unsuccessfully, over the years
to improve her golf game. She used to encourage young female associates
to take up the game, claiming there was no reason why we should not network
on the golf course just as the men do. But in hindsight, that effort may
have been more focused on ensuring she was not the only one digging her
ball out of sand traps. Further, Susan’s sense of direction is not to be trusted,
nor should she be permitted to ride transit unaccompanied. Susan never did
get the hang of which way to look when entering a roundabout in England,
making it through without an accident only by the grace of the good brakes
of other vehicles and Marianne’s screams (and matters only got worse when
attempting the same feat in Continental Europe while driving an English
car with the steering wheel on the right). Closer to home, Susan once
attempted to take the SkyTrain to a client meeting but got on the wrong
train and, instead of taking the Expo line to Surrey, wound up riding the
Millennium line in a circle, having to call her junior to the rescue with
directions. On another occasion, she was driving two associates back downtown
following a late-night client meeting in the Fraser Valley and turned
the wrong way down a one-way freeway entrance. Thankfully (especially
since she was driving Marianne’s car at the time), she quickly aborted and
averted disaster. The conclusion to be drawn from this evidence is clear:
best think twice before getting in a car with Susan at the wheel. (Fortunately
for our profession, Susan does not lack direction in the law.)
Despite being directionally challenged, Susan’s love of travel persists.
When not in the courtroom or writing judgments, she can be found adventuring
in far-off places or, more recently, staying local and enjoying time
with family and friends. Both abroad and closer to home, Susan looks to get
outdoors at every opportunity, with skiing, biking and hiking topping the
list—thankfully, all pandemic-compatible activities. But do not confuse her
love of the outdoors with a love of camping. As she will be the first to confess,
her days of sleeping in a tent or a camper-trailer like the one she
toured the country in as a child are long in the past (unless of course the
tent happens to be a luxury yurt in some far-off exotic locale). The youngest
people in Susan and Marianne’s lives love racing them down the slopes and
look forward to post-pandemic weekends playing Scrabble, speed solitaire
and Crokinole. For now, Susan keeps them laughing with silly jokes over
Zoom and funny poems in their birthday cards.
Susan’s combination of hard work, compassion for others and ability not
to take herself too seriously not only endear her to her family, but also make
her a wonderful mentor to young clerks and lawyers. As I can personally