Circle of friends
Special support system for those who need it
By Jim Arnold
Peter Cossarin and I have been friends for almost 20 years. We met when my friend, Ian Milsom started dating Peter's sister, Jackie Cossarin, whom he later married. Since then, I've become good friends with the entire Cossarin family.
My friendship with Peter reached the "Best Buddy" stage when I moved back to Powell River eight years ago. At the time my family lived in the Vancouver area, so I always got invited to Easter and Thanksgiving dinners by the Cossarins or Milsoms, but the seating positions were always set up by Peter, with him at the head of the table and me at his right hand side. There have been lots of dinners, but my place at the table is always the same.
A few years ago, Peter's parents asked if I would like to join Peter's "Circle of Friends" and after hearing about it I joined on the spot. This is a small group of people who spend time with him. We get together every three to four months for a couple of hours and discuss topics concerning Peter's future, fun and interesting things to do with him.
Peter's mother Bernie said the Circle of Friends was started by Planned Lifetime Advocacy Networks. They wondered what would happen to their handicapped children when they, the parents, were gone. The Powell River Society was incorporated in 2006 and today, it uses PLAN as the mentor.
I take Peter to some of the Kings games, where again the seating is the same each time. Two rows behind the home team bench and on the aisle. Second intermission is hot chocolate time (no sooner, no later).
We go 4x4-ing and for hikes on the trails made by the BOMB Squad. One time we went to Duck Lake to fish and have a cookout. We set up folding chairs, lit a fire, set our supplies up on the tailgate and went over to the lake edge and cast out two bobbers and worm combos. We went back to the fire and put a couple of smokies on some sticks, grabbed a couple of Cokes and watched the bobbers for action. We had just finished getting our dinner ready and were about to take our first bite when both bobbers went down. Now it was time for Peter to make a decision. Stay there and eat dinner or go reel in a trout? Well, we each landed our trout, but Peter said to wait until we were finished eating before putting the lines out again.
One of our most common outings is "Boys Night." I go to pick Peter up and find him standing in the carport in his jacket raring to go. I'm always on time, but sometimes I think he's already been waiting a while (this always makes me laugh). I ask, "where would you like to go for supper?"--his first choice is always the Laughing Oyster and on occasion we do go there, but most of the time we go to the Shinglemill, where we get a table in the bottom section by the window and order our special mix of half-and-half Coke and Diet Coke. (We both hate straight Diet Coke.) Then there's the figuring of what to have to eat and Peter is very particular about reading the "whole" menu and making just the right choice. Later we will go somewhere different for dessert, such as Manzanita's where I introduced Peter to Crème Brûlée which is a new fave!
After that we go for a drive listening to Country Music on Sirius channels 60 and 61. We always play the Eagle's song Take It Easy, but we like the version by Travis Tritt the best and his other song T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
A few years ago Peter started feeling comfortable enough to sing in front of me, and now he belts it out with a good amount of volume. We think we sound awesome!
Peter's friendship is very important to me and I look forward to many more years being "Best Buddies."
Remember "Everyone" can use more friends!
