Tattoos and Beards

Shawn and I were both born in February of 1972. He was born on the 3rd and I was born on the 22nd. Shawn is my first cousin on my mother’s side and we spent a lot of time together as kids; not necessarily by choice.

I skied in Collingwood, Ontario with him, we sun tanned in southern Florida together and we also went to the same sleepover camp in the summer. With only two weeks separating us, we also went to Hebrew school, the same high school and shared many of the same friends.

Thankfully, we never competed for the same girl’s affection!

Shawn loves his technology, pocket knives, cars, trucks, motorcycles, bare footing and scratching lottery tickets. He also loves tattoos and wears a long beard. And I mean a very long beard.

Shawn is also a great dad and puts family first. We share the same love of family and respect for others. And there ends our similarities.

We have always been cousins, but we have not always been friends.

From Foe to Friend

Although we are first cousins, Shawn and I were not always the best of friends. Sure, we invited one another to birthday parties or skied together on weekends and even spent our summers in the same camp cabin, but all of that happened mainly because we happened to be family members. Building our friendship took some time.

Just prior to our 13th birthdays, my mom and Uncle Gerry planned a get together with Shawn and I to discuss our bar mitzvah plans (the Jewish coming of age ceremony). Seeing as though our bar mitzvah’s would fall around the same time of the year, my mom and uncle were concerned that if there were two bar mitzvahs so close to each other many of our family from out of town would not be able to attend both.

Our parents wanted us to combine our bar mitzvahs and celebrate one incredible day; together. I was not impressed.

It wasn’t until Shawn and I started going to the same high school that our relationship changed. Shawn started hanging out with some of my friends and we began to frequent the same parties. He became really close with some of my friends and we quickly found reasons to be together. We finally started to enjoyed each other’s company. We were actually becoming friends… by choice.

Shawn also became my protector in high school. I know this may be hard to believe but I wasn’t always this polite and considerate. When I was 16, I may have said and done some things that could have resulted in my a** being kicked! But it was in high school that Shawn began to lift weights and became a very, VERY, large body builder. So, despite my antics nobody would dare lay a finger on me with my cousin Shawn at my side!

Shawn made sure I was safe back then, just like he does today.

The New World Order

Shawn did not graduate high school. In fact, he left school around the 11th grade and began working at the Accurate Group of Companies, a business owned by my uncle Gerry and run at the time by my dad. Shawn started in the warehouse picking and packing orders.

While I was enjoying my summer holidays and in school to pursue my culinary career, Shawn was working at Accurate learning about the business that he would eventually take over.

Around 15 years ago, I moved back to Toronto from Colorado Springs, where I was the Chef of a restaurant in a hotel. I retired from cooking full time and joined Accurate. Back then, many of the employees were familiar to me; my mom, Shawn’s bother and sister, my aunt and 3 cousins. Accurate was and remains one big, happy, dysfunctional family!

Years ago when my father began his transition into retirement and Shawn was slowly taking over the reigns I was unsure about the future of the company. I wasn’t convinced that I could work for Shawn and I was afraid of the long-term viability of the company.

In short, I wasn’t sure he could do it.

Well, as is the theme with many of my blogs I WAS WRONG!

It’s Good to (NOT) be KING

What could I possibly learn from a guy I have known my entire life? It turns out quite a lot. I have also learned a lot about me in the process.

Very soon after my father’s retirement Shawn began to make his mark in the company. At the onset I would often second guess his decisions, rationalizing that my decision would be better. But, time and time again Shawn proved that he knew what he was doing.

My second guessing quickly turned into advocating in his direction, supporting his decisions, and executing his vision. Today, the Accurate Group of Companies is a better company with Shawn at the helm. Shawn has upgraded the personnel and the infrastructure, while acquiring new companies and providing clear direction for the group.

In the years since my dad’s retirement I have learned a lot about Shawn and about myself. We have different interests but we could not be more the same. We love our families and have a tremendous amount of respect for one another.

If you ask me, I work for Shawn. He signs my cheques and I report directly to him. If you ask Shawn, we work together. We are both right. I guess. And I could not be prouder to be working at his side.

My cousin. My boss. My family. But mostly, my best friend.

Love you.

Chef JW