Sixteen months ago, in October 2024, I wrote on the topic of some Dutch relatives who had received the Orde van Oranje-Nassau (Order of Orange-Nassau), a Dutch civil honour somewhat akin to the Order of Canada. I interjected with an anecdote about Bryan Adams, when he was the recipient of the first cohort of the Order of British Columbia, a provincial civil honour:
Interlude while I look for the autograph I have of Bryan Adams. I cherish it not because of the signature, but because of the person who gave it to me. Adams was one of the recipients of the Order of British Columbia the first year it was awarded. I was working in the B.C. Parliament Buildings at the time. The office I shared with three other interns was right next door to the committee room where they bestowed the medals. We had a window looking into that room, but they made us close the blinds. One of the dearest members of the legislature’s dining room staff, who was attending to the coffee and treats for the ceremony, asked Adams for an autograph for each of the four of us, without our knowledge. Later she presented them to us, saying “you nice boys might be fans so I thought you might like these”.
I looked for the autograph at the time, but couldn’t find it. Yesterday, while looking for something completely different, it popped into my head where the autograph might be, and there it was.
What I really wish is that I could remember the name of the dining room staff member who got this for me. In fact, I should have gotten her autograph.
Looking back at that previous post, it’s adorable that I thought being a whole week behind in the 52 Ancestors Challenge was somehow significant. Here it is, February 7, and I still haven’t finished writing my first post for the 2026 challenge!! I’d better get cracking…
A Deck of Ancestors 
Oh, that’s so incredibly sweet. It’s the definition of the autograph gesture. 🥹
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It is a shame that you didn’t remember the name of the person who gave you the signature but couldn’t you look that up? Recently I was looking for some old council records from the 1970s. We have a new library so everything has been moved including the newspaper collection. I still haven’t found what I was looking for (as the song goes) so I asked the staff to contact me when they find what I wanted.
Stephen
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