Raising Flowers and Skids

Happy 19th Birthday Zandra!!

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Leah

Well who knew that this girl would be HOME for her 19th Birthday?

Despite the circumstances, we are certainly happy to have her! But I also know that there is now some Hawaii in her that won’t come out and there’s a longing to head back to her little island…and I love that! I love that she is growing and evolving!

Maybe I’ll just launch right into what I love about her- there are so many things – so consider this a sampling…

She is growing and evolving! Growing up is not easy! Sure it has it’s perks of being able to do your own thing, but there is a responsibility that you take on. An ownership of your own life and own outcomes. Zandra is learning that and taking it all in – and doing so gracefully!

I love how she is keen to do “hard things”. It has always been a bit of a joke between us – my belief that it is the hard that makes you strong – and it is the hard that actually makes it good! We may laugh about it – but she tries to challenge herself and do hard things!

Her smile. It radiates. She lights up a room when she smiles!

Her laugh – it is infectious and bubbly and makes everyone around smile too!

She gives the best, tighest, sneeziest hugs! You feel so grounded and so present when she gives when of her hugs!

Her artistic talents – she does such beautiful artwork and her art has so much emotion in it.

Her sense of style. She pulls off so many styles and she is ever changing with them.

Her fabulous makeup and hair talents. If my make up ever looks good, you know she has done it!

Her courage: So many times I have seen her just walk up and face the lion – look him straight in the eye and kick his butt. So impressive!

Her writing skills – she writes such beautiful stories and is very poetic,

Her singing voice – when you hear her sing – she really does sound like an angel. But she can also belt out a loud karaoke song too!

Her dancing skills – from hip hop to hula – she knows them all, she does them all with such grace and ease! She knows how to move not he dance floor and can lead the way for any dance party!

Her huge huge heart. She is a giver and a lover. She loves deeply and makes you feel so important and loved!

She is a great conversationalist. She can hold up her end of a conversation – as well as everyone else’s! She knows how to ask questions and she is curious about other people.

Her love of animals. Reggie loves how she talks dog to him and gives him some good love!

She is a thinker and a ponderer. She take things to heart and likes to think deeply about them.

She is intelligent and makes school her priority! She worked hard and even got a scholarships this year!

She is a hard worker – she put the effort into school AND was working as well. She scheduled her time and made sure she always got it all done!

She is an awesome step daughter! She is kind and caring. She is funny and entertaining. I love our FaceTime calls when she is in Hawaii, love our chats while making dinner, love our talks about future dreams and past moments. I am one lucky step mom.

Wishing her a bright and adventure filled year! This is probably not how she envisioned celebrating 19 – but she is rolling with it (another admirable quality!) We love and adore her so much !

Happy Birthday Zandra B! Love you!

Quote of the Week

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Leah

“Comparison is the fastest way to take the fun out of life”.

Ever do something and have a great time doing it, and then look to your neighbour who is doing something similar, but it looks better?

How quickly does that deflate your fun balloon?

I’ve seen myself do it oodles of times.

I will write something, create something, do something and be happy and proud of it.

Only to see someone did it better, faster, more creatively, more professional looking.

And all the fun, all the pride, all the accomplishment I initially had seems to disappear.

Quickly.

While looking around can give us good ideas, it can also rob us of the joy we can feel.

Stay focused on YOU. Stay focused on your goals. Stay focused on your fun.

“It’s Over”

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Leah

I sit with the rest of the world, in shock, awe, disbelief and sadness, that we are facing such a global pandemic. Logic tells me that we will come through this all; that life will be different, but life will go on.

At least for some.

A couple of weeks ago I had received an email from the OT/ Case manager letting me know that my dear client, Henry (who I wrote about here) was sick. He was in the Long term care facility and had developed what they thought was pneumonia. They tested him twice for Covid – but it came back negative.

The third time, it came back positive. Two staff workers also tested positive.

The OT wanted to know when the last time was that I had seen Henry. It had been a several weeks early as I had to cancel due to my vacation. So, it was well before the time he would be have been infected.

I was so sad to learn of his illness – but out of everyone in that long term care home – Henry was probably the healthiest – and he took pride in that! He was always showing me how “strong” he was and giving me the thumbs up whenever I asked about his wellbeing. I knew if anyone could beat it, it was him. This disease would not be the thing that took him down.

I checked in on him through the OT who had contact with the home. I wished there was a way to contact him directly – but even though he had an iPad, I had not trained him on FaceTime (and I’m not sure he would have been able to learn it either). According to the updates, he was doing well, was eating a bit and had his colour back .

Early yesterday morning the OT emailed to say that Henry had taken a turn for the worse. His fever was back and he was having delusions and was confused. She asked for our prayers.

Last evening, I received word that Henry had passed away.

My heart broke.

This is the second client in 8 months that I have lost – and that I have truly, truly loved. Some clients are just so special and dear to you. Some clients teach you more than you teach the. Some clients steal a bit of your heart.

Henry was one of those clients.

I cried and quickly searched my phone and found a video we had made together. In February Rob visited Vienna on business and went to the Vienna Opera House. Henry had a great love for the opera and had frequented the Vienna Opera house many times, so when Rob decided to go see a performance there, I asked him to send me pictures and a video. Due to the time change, Rob was at the Opera house exactly during the time of my appointment with Henry. Rob was able to send us video clips and take multiple pictures and I was able to share them with Henry right away. We created a video together – talking about how Henry had been in that exact spot and how he loved the opera. He said the pictures and videos were “fantastic”! At the end of the video, he put his arm around me and squeezed me into a sideways hug and we both laughed:)

What a precious video that is (I wish I could share but won’t due to the fact that he was my client so privacy policy prevails:)

During my last session with Henry, we listened to some new music. The Rehab Support worker had found some of Henry’s old “mixed tapes” that Henry’s friend had brought in. The RSW saw that “Roy Orbison” was listed and even though he did not know who Roy was (too young, lol), he uploaded a bunch of Roy Orbison songs onto Henry’s iPad.

During my final session, Henry and I did some work, and then in between, we took breaks to listen to Roy Orbison songs. Henry knew them well and smiled, laughed and nodded along. Who knew that would be our very last session. Such a precious memory to have listening to some of his favourite music with him.

Tonight at dinner we were having a regular dinner conversation. We were laughing about something and Sam said “Is it over?” as a comment in our our conversation.

All of a sudden, Alexa (who I have a love/hate relationship with), started talking and said “Ok, here is “It’s over” by Roy Orbison” and it started to play….

A little message from Henry to me : it’s over, but only for now. Until we meet again.

Full Circle

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Leah

The other night I was looking through my Dad’s old missionary journal with Zach. So fun since Zach knew all the places he was talking about and even saw my Dad use words that he used (the Tahitian/French slang).

We came across a lot of entries about a family my Dad had spent a lot of time with – in particular the father of the family and two of the teenage/young adult daughters (Sophie and Josephine). He wrote about them a lot throughout his journal as the family – not only when he lived close by them, but when he moved to other areas of Tahiti too. One of the daughters seemed to have gone to school on the main island of Tahiti and so it appears he occasionally saw the family when they visited her (when he also lived on the main island).

The family was from the island of Tahaa, where it looks like (according to his journal) my Dad served a good chunk of time. Zach was hoping to go there as he wanted to walk in some of the same steps his grandfather walked in. Who knows – maybe some people there would remember him! However, Zach never made it out to the islands in his time in Tahiti.

Anyhow, on one page my Dad happened to write the last name of the family that he was close to. It was listed at the back of his journal with an address of one of the daughters. The name meant nothing to me – but Zach freaked out. The one family he had grown super close with over these past few months in Tahiti had the same last name?!? This family all lived next door to his missionary apartment – it was a big family so they even had 3 houses all in a row! Every week Zach would go to their home on his pday to use their computer and call us. He went for dinner multiple times per week and knew them all super well…. Truly a family that every mother hopes her missionary has to help take care of him:)

Zach right away reached out to the family to see if they knew the people my Dad had mentioned.

Lo and behold, the “Papi” (grandfather) of this family that Zach knew and loved – was in fact Sophie and Josephine younger brother!!!!! After several messages back and forth, Zach learned that out of all 19 children, 4 are still alive – Sophie being the only girl….She still lives in Tahiti.

We also saw my Dad mention the name of one of the sons – (he actually had written that he baptized this boy and one other (name was unclear). This son is also still alive (one of the 4) and lives in Utah!

My Mom had a few pictures she found and we were able to send them- and they confirmed that they were indeed pictures of the daughters/sisters!

Coincidence? Well, Zach’s first area and experience was pretty tough. He was happy to be transferred but really wanted to go to an island where he felt he would connect more with his grandfather. I was praying that he would be able to feel my Dad’s presence and receive some comfort from that….

Who knew that he would find himself getting to know and love and live beside a family that my Dad had known and loved all those years ago.

My Dad was with Zach the whole time.

Coming home

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Leah

As I mentioned in my last post, once we arrived safely home from Barcelona, we started working on trying to get Josh home.

Luckily BYU Hawaii had suggested pretty early on that people who could go home should go home, so Zandra was easily able to get a flight. She arrived home the same day we did but went to quarantine with her Mom.

We had to work on getting Josh home. He was in Botswana with his Dad. Luckily COVID 19 had not reached there yet, but we saw the airlines and flights home were becoming more and more limited so we were working on finding them earlier flights. We knew their original flight home was going to be cancelled, and so were scrambling for alternates. This was all completed by the fact that Josh and his dad were so remote that they did not have wifi access. His dad would borrow someone’s emergency satellite phone to call for updates and info. We finally managed to get them to Johannesburg (last flight before South African Air stopped flying) and then to Abu Dhabi, then home. Close to 40 hours travelling, but we go Josh home safe and sound too.

He was happy to be home too!

Reggie was anxiously awaiting everyone’s arrival home! lol

During all this, we were keeping in regular contact with Zach. Tahiti had it’s first case and didn’t seem like a big deal. Of course, like everywhere else, it quickly escalated, and within several day, Zach was in quarantine in his apartment. Now I know quarantine is hard for all – but it’s super hard when you are a missionary – with no technology, away from all your friends and family and not able to do what you are sacrificing everything in your life to do. They were creative with playing games and trying to reach out to people (but they have flip phones which require credit to call and text out – but their credit quickly ran out). However, there was a lot of staring at walls and entering the land of anxiety of “what ifs”.

Finally, one day, they were told that they were being sent home. While Zach wanted to stay in Tahiti, he only wanted to stay if he could continue doing the work he was called to do. It became abundantly clear that life was at a standstill there like it was here.

The next few days were a roller coaster of emotions. He said that there was so much unknown and uncertainty. One day they were told they were going home. The next day they were told they had to stay because the commercial flights were stopping. We were keeping up with the facebook posts his mission president was posting, but they too struggled with getting firm details. They were trying to figure out how to get about 140 missionaries home!

Finally, late one night, we received a flight plan for Zach. I felt such relief – and sadness – that his mission was taking this turn. We found out that he was one of 30 missionaries that had a confirmed flight. The next day, another 30 had their flight confirmed. They were all on the last international commercial flight our of Tahiti (domestic flights had stopped several days before). The others they were still trying to figure out…

Zach was scheduled to come home on Sunday, March 29th. He took an overnight flight on the 28th to San Francisco. There he was to catch a connecting flight to Toronto. Unfortunately, his flight to Toronto was cancelled. We had no idea if he had another option to get home or if he would be in limbo. Luckily Gabe took the reservation number of Zach’s literary that we had and started hunting around the different options and found that he had been put on a plane for Denver, then a connection to Toronto. (Remember Zach had no phone to call us – but we also later found out that he knew when he boarded the flight to San Fran that he was being re-routed – he just didn’t know that we weren’t yet aware).

I go a little crazy tracking the flight… wanted to make sure that the flight really did leave Papeete!

I loved this picture I saw on Facebook:

We worked on some welcome home signs:

It all worked out well. We were so disappointed that we were not able to greet him at the airport:( His dad went so he could see him for a few minutes before he would be quarantined again. He sent me this picture:

However, it was awesome to see him when he got home. It was so exciting – mixed in with relief, happiness, sadness, overwhelm, joy (so amazing how so many emotions can co-exist). It was so great to just hug him so tight!

He got to talk to Gabe on FaceTime too:

We stayed up late as he emptied out his entire suitcase in our family room. We enjoyed counting his 28 new ties, haha.

The next night we had a zoom welcome home party (I wish I had taken a picture – I forgot) and so far we have just been enjoying having him home! We were excited to have Sam and Zandra come join us too – we are all quarantining with him for two weeks! It’s so nice to have the house filled (but hard to keep up with the food! Luckily we have some awesome friends who have been picking stuff up on our behalf in between deliveries!)

The kids spent some time together just hanging out. Zach is obsessed with his rubix cube, lol. Zandra gave him a haircut, and then Zach and Zandra gave Sam a haircut. Josh is holding firm on his mop of hair, lol.

We ordered in schwarma poutine for his welcome home dinner:

Truly a crazy time in our lives. It was a crazy time to be out on a mission. I’m grateful that Zach is back but know that he is excited to return (hopefully to Tahiti ) to finish off his mission at some point. But, my heart and prayers are out there with many of his buddies who are still in Tahiti (they are awaiting charter flights that the church is trying to arrange, but it is hard with all the restrictions from different countries). Also thinking and praying for my nephew who is still in Peru. Peru has been on lockdown so the church has not been able to get them out either. They will all come home safe and sound, but it is certainly not the mission they expected!

Barcelona

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Leah

Last summer we decided to plan our March break around a time share opportunity we had in Mallorca, Spain.

We decided to invite my brother and sister in law and were so excited to finally take a trip with them after years of talking about it.

We decided we would spend a few days in Barcelona, then head to Mallorca for the week. They would leave a few days earlier before heading to Madrid.

We made our plans of what we wanted to cover in 3 days in Barcelona and made all the necessary bookings.

A few days before the date we were scheduled to leave, we had some flight changes. A couple of flights were cancelled, however even though a big pain, we were able to find flights – ones that were a bit more convenient too.

We flew during the night and immediately upon landing we heard the news that Pres Trump had announced that all Americans who were overseas would not be allowed to get back home. My brother and sister in law sent us texts giving us the heartbreaking news that they had to cancel joining us.

At this point though, things still seemed relative calm. We attempted to change our tickets at the airport but so many Americans were trying to get home, so we decided it would be best to wait it out and carried on to our flight to Barcelona.

We arrive in Barcelona and everything was calm and very normal. We walked around for a bit and went to get dinner. We headed back and tried to call Expedia and waiting online for hours and got cut off…

Meanwhile, Josh was en route to Botswana with his Dad.

The next day, we decided to head out and explore the city. We knew based on the news, to be careful and keep our distance. Everyone seemed very respectful of “this suggestion”. We spent the morning walking through the gothic area, checking out some of the beautiful cathedrals, admiring the waterfront. We walked up the famous las rambles, however we avoided checking out the markets or eating as it was a but busier.

We found a great tapas restaurant and had a lovely lunch at a secluded table outside.

We headed home and watched the news. We heard how bad it was getting in Spain and knew it would be wise to get out…. We spent the next many, many hours trying to get through to Expedia but to no avail. We finally thought to call our travel insurance, they answered and we got cleared to book flights home. Flights were limited and we realized most flew through Europe. Rob found one that routed us to Mexico City – so that is the one we booked!

The next morning we got up early and headed out. It was quiet, all attractions were closed (We had tickets for Sagrada Familia, but it was closed) so we went for a long walk. We picked up food at one of the few bakeries that was open ( restaurants were closed) and headed home to chill in our hotel room.

We spent the rest of the time watching news and seeing how it was all unfolding. We were worried about all our kids all over the world – anxious to hear from them all.

The next morning we took the long flight to Mexico City. We had a 8 hour layover, so we smartly had booked a hotel room at a hotel right in the airport so we could get some rest. We finally boarded our flight home, headed home and straight into quarantine….

Here are some snaps of walking through Barcelona. It is a stunning city. One day we will go back to explore it properly!

Upon our return, we spent the next few days trying to organize for Josh and his Dad to get back as their flights home had been cancelled. After a whole lot of stress and planning, we found them tickets and they arrived home safely too:)

Monthly Snaps of Life

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Leah

So many little moments. Like Robbie playing cars:

And Reggie being Reggie (he gets more pictures when less kids are in the house). He was intrigued with our Halloween Jack the pumpkin king. At first he was disturbed and growled, then go over it.

We video Zach on the computer so I always have my phone to take a picture.

I had to laugh when I opened our garbage on Nov 1. Kinda a gross picture but I know one day I will miss all this…

School photos came in:

I taught the Youth a class – teaching some of the coaching concepts and strategies I was learning in my class:

Gabe and Shannon were in Houston staying with good friends while he did an internship at a law firm. Our friends’ kids adored Gabe!

Regional dances and friends:

Sleepy time

My friend who is a photographer asked for some volunteers for a practice shoot. She did my hair make up and took the photos!

Aloha girl!

Josh and Rob westling:

Bio project:

Out for date at Eataly:

Sam and Rob went skiing for the day:

Some random pictures of things we did over the holiday:

Sending her back to Hawaii after Christmas:

Rob went to Chicago for work. We thought sending a package from there to Tahiti wood be taster – no such luck. It was mailed Jan 13 and it is still not there:(

Church:

Hawaii hiking:

Out beautiful Toronto city!

Extra precautions at church due to coronavirus:

Saying good bye to friends!

Quote(s) of the Week

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Leah

I have fallen behind – yet again. Although, even though I fall behind in posting, I seem to always get back up. I’ve gotten back up for over 1100 posts – coming up to 10 years (public blogging)! So just keep going….

Our kitchen board has this up:

Hustle in silence and let your success make the noise.

Some people love to talk about what they are doing, but then never seem to get anywhere. It’s ok to share (I find it sometimes helps me be more accountable ) but just make sure you are making more noise “doing”

This one is up too:

“Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing and dream while others are wishing…”

That one is self explanatory. You’ve got to go above and beyond to make a bigger difference in your world.

And then this week (see I’m getting ahead) it is this one:

Aim to be great in 10 years. Build health habits that lead to a great body in 10 years. Build social habits today that lead to great relationships in 10 years. Build learning habits today that lead to get knowledge in 10 years. Long term thinking is a secret weapon.

We have been talking a lot at home about the importance of thinking of our future selves – and even asking our future self questions and getting advice. Did you know how wise our future selves are? They know everything. They know what it takes to get to where they are. Seriously, go ahead and ask…

Grammy

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Leah

On Thursday, February 13th, 2020, Rob’s Mom (Jane) passed away. While she had been sick the past couple of years, struggling with dementia, and it was somewhat a relief for everyone, it was still Rob’s mom. She was the one that brought him into the world, and for many years, she was the most important person in the world to him. His dad passed away in 2016 and so he feels the loss of the “parental unit”. Although we take comfort in his parents being reunited, and especially reunited with his brother Dave, who passed in 1994, it is still a strange feeling for Rob to have half his family gone.

She will be buried in the spring, but today was a small, quiet, service to honour her life. I thought I would share Rob’s eulogy because I think he did a beautiful job capturing the essence of his mother: Berta Jane Essie Clendenning (nee Yates) may 4, 1937 – Feb 13, 2020.

“Today is a hard day for many of us and I’m not sure I can capture all that my mom meant to me, my family and all of you. It’s reassuring knowing that even though so many who would like to have been here couldn’t be with us, there are friends, family and acquaintances literally all around the world sharing stories of mom. Mom had such an amazing ability to connect with so many people over her entire lifetime and keep in touch with them. I know those stories and fond memories will live on among so many she met.

In my faith there is a line of scripture that teaches that there is opposition in all things. In essence, this tells us that all things in life compound in to one, whether joy and sorrow, justice or injustice, love or loneliness. In short, we only experience joy and the greatness of life when we are also able to feel some of the pains and challenges. While a week ago we sat with the sorrow of losing of my mom, our Grammy, it formed part of a life’s journey that was a truly wonderful compounded whole. While talking with Leah, the day after my mom’s passing, she also made such an important point. She said, life is in many respects a movie we write ourselves and how many of us like movies that are only one dimensional? We are drawn to movies that have love, joy, challenge, sorrow, loss, humour, tragedy, and triumph. As sad and sorrowful as I feel without my mom here, her life was one heck of a movie!

I know that early on in her life she had the blessing of finding one of her callings. I think all of us remember the stories of her nursing days, her time in Boston and the work she did in the neo natal ward. While I wasn’t around to see her incredible talents in nursing, I know by all accounts she was the top her field. She excelled at nursing, she loved helping people, and thrived on the high intensity of the work. The continuing bond and friendships she kept from those early career years are a testament to how special those years were for her and her friends.

She was also most certainly a free spirit and had a sense of adventure! I can look back and see how as a young wife and new mother it took a special sense of flare to drive all over Europe baby in tote in a little Volkswagen Fastback! Thinking back on stories of those years she was no doubt the anchor to seeing my dad through his schooling while enjoying the world! They made lifelong friends in those adventurous years!

My mom was a social person. I think anyone who knew her would unquestionably say she could be the life of a party, the most welcoming and accomplished hostess, was always dressed impeccably, and could always cut the rug with some dancing or sit at a piano and play. I remember her, tiny as she was, sitting at the piano and making it roar. So many childhood memories come to mind of our house warm with the sounds of a dinner party, the hustle and fun of her hosted June trunk sales, or a giant post skiing table for one of her wonderful chalet lunches or dinners! Others like the smell of baking when opening the front door on a cool school day or the warm towels waiting for us after a late-night swim are truly just a hint of the loving home she created. It was a household filled with traditions and memories that formed such a safe, happy and wonderful place to be. She set and kept an incredibly high bar!!

This magic to create such a wonderful environment was surely carried over to her Grammy years! In fact, she only got better at it! Years of her welcoming the kids home from school at our house; baking and a smile for everyone. Grammy sleep overs where she would create a world of pajama luxury renting movies, making great meals and playing games with the kids. Or special outings to a museum, a show or a trip to Bronte Park in Oakville for a picnic. She loved it as much as they did. In the words of her 5 grand children from the CDF family:

From Gabe:

“Some of my favourite memories as a kid were the weekends I would spend at Grammy & Grampy’s house. Days of back scratches, Blockbuster visits and games of Go-Fish on what she would call the “chesterfield”. No doubt we were some of the luckiest grandkids. It genuinely felt like first class treatment. Grammy, always the baker would have warm chocolate chip oatmeal cookies standing by for dessert or just a snack. An accompanying bag filled to the top with them was always our goody bag to take home. Grammy always held hospitality and comfort as a top priority, I felt a new level of happiness as a 7-year old when Grammy would put my towels in the dryer for when I got out of the bath. She genuinely made sure we had a wonderful time at our home away from home. I’m going to miss Grammy’s cheerful nature and the interest she took in all our lives, she was so special to me. “

From Zandra:

Grammy was one of the most, glamorous, kind, beautiful and talented people I knew. Grammy was always so willing to help others and make people around her happy and welcomed. When I was a little girl, she would always treat me like such a princess. I remember her letting me play with all of her jewelry and makeup and allowing me to experiment with such an art form that I love dearly today. She allowed for me to get in touch with my girly side. I also loved her endless baking of cakes and cookies. I will miss her beautiful soul.

Zach:

I remember so many things about Grammy. Always with an apron on, she would always bring us her famous Oatmeal cake and cookies. She always took the time to sit with us to ask us about our day and take an interest in anything we would do. One memory I especially remember was when she and Grampy took me to the hockey hall of fame. It was a lot of fun and so nice to get time just with her and Grampy. I still have the Montreal Canadians hockey puck they got me on that trip. I’m truly sad to know that she has left us in this life but know she is safe with our loving Heavenly Father.

Josh:

I always remember their house in Oakville on John street. She kept the house so nice with the Baby Grand Piano and everything so perfectly laid out at the dinner table. She always had so much patience with us kids. All five of us coming over with so much energy and running around. But she would never not be smiling when we were all there. We often would go out and play in front with the neighbors and would be gladly interrupted when she would call us in for dinner with her famous oatmeal cake waiting for us at the end!

Sam:

All of us I’m sure have had a favourite memory with Grammy. She was a wonderful grandmother and so very generous with her time and love. My favourite memory is when she would be with me after school from kindergarten. We would read curious George just in time for nap time. We then would always play with my Star Wars toys. She was so caring and loving towards everyone. She’ll be missed very much.

I feel so blessed to have been able to have my mom with us through so many of life’s major milestones. From the wonderful world she created for us and children, to a teenager, to becoming a parent. I was blessed to get her wisdom and love through each of these stages of life. She didn’t leave a lesson untaught. It’s only when I look back that I realize that in all those moments she was teaching me how we wanted our family to be. Through the trials, from divorce to health scares to the loss of our brother Dave, she was always there at the drop of a hat. There was never a question of whether she would come help in times of need or when you needed advice. I remember her and Leah on so many occasions sharing insights in to motherhood and the challenges of our children; all of which was through the eyes of someone who had been there, seen it, and done it so well. It was only as I got older that I came understand that she was more than just my “mom”. I think as we mature we learn to appreciate our parents even more knowing that they were individuals too. Multi-faceted, with challenges, struggles, mistakes and dreams both fulfilled and unfulfilled. We can seem them from a new perspective in their love, their relationships and their journey as adults too. Having the privilege of this perspective allows me to see the true richness of her life’s movie. Understanding her struggles, her individual passions, her tragedies and her triumphs has allowed me to see her life as the rich, nuanced, and epic feature film that it was.

We will miss you mom. Your legacy will live on in us and the grandchildren and great grandchildren to come. You played a leading, supporting and cameo roles in so many of our life’s movies! We thank you for being the star that you were in every role you played. “

Tonight Rob and I went to dinner at Le Papillon. It was one of Jane’s favourite restaurants and we thought we would honour her by going there. I am grateful that I also have so many of her recipes – especially her oatmeal cake and oatmeal cookies so that our kids and future generations will always have a little bit of Grammy with them.

The Guest House – (Poem)

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Leah

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house

Every morning a new arrival

A joy, a depression, a meanness

Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor

Welcome and entertain all…

The dark thought, the shame, the malice

Meet them at the door laughing,and invite them in

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

– Jalal Al-Din Rumi

I found this poem and loved it – so wanted to make sure I captured it:)