Shameless Name-Dropping Post

I don’t pay too much attention to celebrities, it’s true, but I have to admit even I have a tendency to get star struck sometimes. If I very much admire someone, or if I think someone is incredibly talented, then all bets are off. I saw Colin Mochrie in Las Vegas in 2000 and I actually went up to him, introduced myself, and told him that “all of Canada was proud of him.” I once sat at a table with David Pelletier; I admired him greatly. I watched the whole gold medal debacle in a bar in Houston, and all the kind Texans assured me that Canada was robbed. I didn’t say this to David Pelletier, but then again, I didn’t get to say too much to him as he spent the dinner texting Jamie Sale about babysitting arrangements and, possibly, how lame his tablemates were.

I met Jim Cuddy at the same function, in 2008, and I still refer to him as “my boyfriend.”

My friend and I once specifically took our kids to the zoo just because Will and Kate were going to be there, and we took photos of their motorcade from the gorilla viewing area, which made it look like we were creeping in the bushes (we weren’t).

So when my friend and fellow YMC’er Ashley asked if I wanted to meet Catriona Lemay Doan, I pounced on it.

Well, to be totally honest, I was a wee bit more excited about seeing Ashley than I was to meet the three-time Olympic medalist and “fastest woman on ice.” You see, there are many, many benefits to working digitally from home with people all across the country, but there is a huge drawback: I rarely get to see those wonderful people in the flesh. So when Ashley – who lives in Halifax – said she was going to be in Calgary, and I was ALSO going to see her the following week in Toronto, well. I was pretty excited, is all I’m saying.

But there is something very cool about meeting an Olympian. For one thing, I am probably the farthest thing ever from being an Olympic athlete, i.e., I am terrible at all sports. So I very much admire people who devote their lives to sport and become elite athletes: a) they are incredibly gifted, and b) they are incredibly hard-working.

Catriona Lemay Doan is both of these things. She is also suffering from osteoarthritis in her toes – all those years on the ice! – as well as shoulder issues. She had partnered with Ashley’s company, InnoviCares, to talk about chronic pain management.

As an aside, I only just found out what Ashley’s company does, even though she’s been working there a while. It provides a free card for customers to get discounts on certain pharmaceuticals. Now, as any good economist knows, there is no such thing as a free lunch, so I questioned Ashley extensively about this. I mean, if it’s free to the consumers, and the consumers are getting free savings, someone has to be footing the bill. Who is it? It turns out that the pharmaceutical companies fund this, so if you already need these medications, this card would be a good idea. I do not have any specific prescriptions, but Ashley told me that they are starting to get into the vitamin and supplement market, and I do love a good supplement. It works with your existing drug plan, and I know that some of my relatives are on some of the covered medications, so I’m going to suggest it to them.

Anyway, I was pretty excited to meet Catriona, who is absolutely gorgeous in person – both physically and on the inside too. She is a warm, lovely person who immediately made me feel like a friend. We chatted for a long time, and although we started talking health care and how athletes usually have such a short term goal in mind that they often discount long-term effects of their sport on their physical well being, conversations turned to kids, schools, and food.

Things Catriona Lemay Doan and I Have In Common

1) We were both born in the 70s, although she’s a few years older than I am.

2) We are the same height.

3) We have kids who are similar age.

4) Her kids go to school with my friend’s kids; in fact, her daughter is in the same class as Mark’s preschool buddy. That’s like two degrees of separation!

5) She used to live in the next neighbourhood over from mine.

6) We both grew up on the Prairies.

Ways In Which Catriona Lemay Doan and I Differ

1)  She is an Olympic athlete.

2) She is not vegetarian.

3) I’ve never been a commentator at any Olympics, although I did get to attend a couple of events during the 1988 Olympics.

See? More similarities than differences! It’s a small world after all, we are all sisters under the skin, etc.

Also, medals are really heavy.