Monday, May 22, 2006
is there no eternal life....?
I’ve posted about age before…but I think this is a little different.
I was out at Fairmont hot springs this weekend with my (partially extended) family. It is a tradition to spend the May long weekend in Fairmont, and we have been going there for as long as I can remember (probably since I was…4 or 5 years old – I’m not exactly sure). Anyway, the past few years have yielded changes in the family members that attend. My grandmother passed away Easter of Grade 9, and I’m not sure if we went that spring. Then one of my uncles (who wasn’t always there, but came out quite often and who was definitely the life of the party) passed away shortly after from liver/colon cancer at age 35. That year-ish is kinda hazy, and I think we still did go the next year, though I do remember it being really weird not having my grandma or uncle there. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for my grandpa and the remaining kids (my mom and 2 uncles). Someone who you’ve been so used to just being around, and then one day they are gone.
Death is a scary thing.
But I guess the only blessing out of it was that we had time to say goodbye. Neither of them died in a tragic accident. They both lived full lives.
My grandma, because she was elderly (obviously), and though I don’t know a large amount about her history as a child, she went to Brazil with the man she loved (my grandfather), and spend over 10 years there, beginning to raise 3 of her 4 kids there. They came back to Canada when my mom was 9, and moved to Fort Saskatchewan (outside of Edmonton). Once all the kids were grown up and moved out, they moved to Parksville, where my grandpa still lives. She and my grandfather took vacations to Hawaii quite often, and came out to see us every year for thanksgiving. We saw them at Fairmont, and then went to visit them on Vancouver Island every summer. I think my best/most prominent memory of my grandma is her reading The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (stories like the Elephant’s Child, the Butterfly that Stamped, and my favorite – the cat that walked by himself), and the way she always said “Best beloved” when she read.
My uncle may have only been 35, but he traveled most of the world, worked as chef on a ship for a while, and eventually settled down in Kamloops, working as a chef and a ski patrol at the ski hill there (Sun Peaks). He bought a dog – Talisker (after the whiskey – we kinda started a trend of naming our pets after alcohol – 1st my dog, who we got from the SPCA (humane society) was Kokanee, then my other uncle got a black lab and called him Guineuss, and then Talisker, or Tally for short). When he found out he was sick with cancer my uncle was traveling across the country. He realized his life was about to be cut short, and had money left to spend. He bought an expensive bike, new skis, among other things, and purchased a defibulator for the ski hill. He was probably the biggest partier, and yet the most unselfish person I’ve yet to meet.
Both he and my grandma were cremated; my grandma’s ashes were spread in the forest by the ocean by their home in Parksville, and we had a ceremony for my uncle on the top of one of the mountains at Sun Peaks that February. It was probably the most beautiful and sad ceremony I have yet to be at. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we all met at the top of the Top of the World chair. And it seemed like we really were on the top of the world. We were completely surrounded by mountains, and it think it was exactly as her would have wanted it. I think we could all feel his presence. His friends from all over the country, and possibly the world were there, and a few of them shared songs and letters. My grandfather was the first to take a handful of ashes to spread, speaking the words, “Happy Skiing George”. That must be the hardest, scariest thing to do. Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children.
As I sit here in my childhood room, typing on my laptop, my eyes tearing up, I’m realizing how important family really is. I almost didn’t go out to Fairmont for the whole weekend this year. A friend from uni was having a birthday party for her younger sister in Edmonton this weekend, and I was going to go to it and then out to Fairmont, until she changed the day from Friday to Saturday. I decided I wasn’t up for all that driving, and it would have been people I don’t know that well anyway.
My cousins, who are about my age have kinda come out sporadically to Fairmont – my mom always says that they have their own lives, which is true, but so do I, and yet I’ve yet to miss a year. This year I was impressed though. My one cousin, who is a year younger than me was out at sunshine for their last weekend of skiing, but his brother, who is a year older than me came out a brought his girlfriend. At first I was pretty apprehensive of that, mainly because of a comment that she was gorgeous (which I wasn’t sure I could take…especially with the whole acne situation how it is right now). Anyway, she ended up being really great, and fit in with no problem. She and I chatted for a bit, and we all (including my younger brother, who is 14) played Frisbee, tennis and went for a couple walks together. And for the record, she was gorgeous, but in more of a natural way – I was expecting someone very made up and she wasn’t at all. I really hope he keeps here around, the seemed really good together. Though it did kinda bring up the thoughts that I had when Jaymes and I were dating, that maybe he would come out to Fairmont with us this year, especially when we (my cousin, his girlfriend, me and my brother) were playing Taboo (J. and I played that with friends of ours). Anyway, it made me realize that we are the next generation, and we need to find some way to continue on this tradition, or another, as my cousins and I continue to grow up.
I’ve sort of gone off my original train of thought, but I think it turned out better in the end.
Cheers ~
I was out at Fairmont hot springs this weekend with my (partially extended) family. It is a tradition to spend the May long weekend in Fairmont, and we have been going there for as long as I can remember (probably since I was…4 or 5 years old – I’m not exactly sure). Anyway, the past few years have yielded changes in the family members that attend. My grandmother passed away Easter of Grade 9, and I’m not sure if we went that spring. Then one of my uncles (who wasn’t always there, but came out quite often and who was definitely the life of the party) passed away shortly after from liver/colon cancer at age 35. That year-ish is kinda hazy, and I think we still did go the next year, though I do remember it being really weird not having my grandma or uncle there. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for my grandpa and the remaining kids (my mom and 2 uncles). Someone who you’ve been so used to just being around, and then one day they are gone.
Death is a scary thing.
But I guess the only blessing out of it was that we had time to say goodbye. Neither of them died in a tragic accident. They both lived full lives.
My grandma, because she was elderly (obviously), and though I don’t know a large amount about her history as a child, she went to Brazil with the man she loved (my grandfather), and spend over 10 years there, beginning to raise 3 of her 4 kids there. They came back to Canada when my mom was 9, and moved to Fort Saskatchewan (outside of Edmonton). Once all the kids were grown up and moved out, they moved to Parksville, where my grandpa still lives. She and my grandfather took vacations to Hawaii quite often, and came out to see us every year for thanksgiving. We saw them at Fairmont, and then went to visit them on Vancouver Island every summer. I think my best/most prominent memory of my grandma is her reading The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (stories like the Elephant’s Child, the Butterfly that Stamped, and my favorite – the cat that walked by himself), and the way she always said “Best beloved” when she read.
My uncle may have only been 35, but he traveled most of the world, worked as chef on a ship for a while, and eventually settled down in Kamloops, working as a chef and a ski patrol at the ski hill there (Sun Peaks). He bought a dog – Talisker (after the whiskey – we kinda started a trend of naming our pets after alcohol – 1st my dog, who we got from the SPCA (humane society) was Kokanee, then my other uncle got a black lab and called him Guineuss, and then Talisker, or Tally for short). When he found out he was sick with cancer my uncle was traveling across the country. He realized his life was about to be cut short, and had money left to spend. He bought an expensive bike, new skis, among other things, and purchased a defibulator for the ski hill. He was probably the biggest partier, and yet the most unselfish person I’ve yet to meet.
Both he and my grandma were cremated; my grandma’s ashes were spread in the forest by the ocean by their home in Parksville, and we had a ceremony for my uncle on the top of one of the mountains at Sun Peaks that February. It was probably the most beautiful and sad ceremony I have yet to be at. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we all met at the top of the Top of the World chair. And it seemed like we really were on the top of the world. We were completely surrounded by mountains, and it think it was exactly as her would have wanted it. I think we could all feel his presence. His friends from all over the country, and possibly the world were there, and a few of them shared songs and letters. My grandfather was the first to take a handful of ashes to spread, speaking the words, “Happy Skiing George”. That must be the hardest, scariest thing to do. Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children.
As I sit here in my childhood room, typing on my laptop, my eyes tearing up, I’m realizing how important family really is. I almost didn’t go out to Fairmont for the whole weekend this year. A friend from uni was having a birthday party for her younger sister in Edmonton this weekend, and I was going to go to it and then out to Fairmont, until she changed the day from Friday to Saturday. I decided I wasn’t up for all that driving, and it would have been people I don’t know that well anyway.
My cousins, who are about my age have kinda come out sporadically to Fairmont – my mom always says that they have their own lives, which is true, but so do I, and yet I’ve yet to miss a year. This year I was impressed though. My one cousin, who is a year younger than me was out at sunshine for their last weekend of skiing, but his brother, who is a year older than me came out a brought his girlfriend. At first I was pretty apprehensive of that, mainly because of a comment that she was gorgeous (which I wasn’t sure I could take…especially with the whole acne situation how it is right now). Anyway, she ended up being really great, and fit in with no problem. She and I chatted for a bit, and we all (including my younger brother, who is 14) played Frisbee, tennis and went for a couple walks together. And for the record, she was gorgeous, but in more of a natural way – I was expecting someone very made up and she wasn’t at all. I really hope he keeps here around, the seemed really good together. Though it did kinda bring up the thoughts that I had when Jaymes and I were dating, that maybe he would come out to Fairmont with us this year, especially when we (my cousin, his girlfriend, me and my brother) were playing Taboo (J. and I played that with friends of ours). Anyway, it made me realize that we are the next generation, and we need to find some way to continue on this tradition, or another, as my cousins and I continue to grow up.
I’ve sort of gone off my original train of thought, but I think it turned out better in the end.
Cheers ~
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