A Great Day Indeed

The first time I really got to know Marc was during one unforgettable weekend his first summer at The Zon. I think Kiera was away that weekend, and it was peak pandemic. Our backyard looked like a cross between a million-dollar trailer park and a discount carnival.

There were multiple blow-up pools, lawn chairs scattered everywhere, and an explosion of kids’ toys. It was 35 degrees, and somehow every adult ended up sitting in one of those plastic pools, half-submerged, drinks in hand.

That’s when I first experienced Marc’s sharp wit and dry humour. He was riffing on Trudeau, jokes I won’t dare repeat but I was laughing uncontrollably. He just kept going, one after another. And then, mid-laugh, he looked me straight in the eye and said, more than once, “This is a great day.”

And he meant it.

Marc was so present, so attentive, so genuinely grateful in that moment. I remember going home that night and saying to my wife, “That guy’s a legend.”

Anthony Lipkin