Brett posted a condolence
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Laughing until we cried- 100,000 times.
We had so many weekends together, an entire lifetime in those 48 hour increments.
How many times did we get lost ? - on our search for cute and adorable relics at yardies (yard sales). I remember the first assembly after grandpa died and for some reason you insisted on driving. You had me with the map , which is hilarious because I didn’t know east from west . We drove around for hours. We ended up back at uncle Trevor’s AFTER the assembly. We hadn’t eaten and I was working on our bestselling book about our adventures of the day. i would sit on the ottoman and ask you 1001 questions, you told me stories of torturing your big brother, lying to your entire extended family about tour birthday party , and a swarm of aunts and uncles and cousins dressed in their best there for the party as
Your mother was doing the laundry for the week with her hair pinned - a sane woman May have scolded you but she went and got dressed and everyone had an impromptu birthday 5 months in advance. You also stole your cousins mice and washed them in the out house because ‘they needed a bath’. You always said you and your mom and dad and brother could be heard from the next town from all of the laughter. You told me of nazi occupied Norway it was quiet you said, and your mom made beautiful clothes from drapes and bed sheets. She had found some red yarn and made a ski hat, which you had pinned to your hair. The officer ripped the hat from your head calling you a communist as you yelled at him calling him rude and does his mother know he acts like this?
I remember you and your best friend decided to swim from to the mainland bc it was only 2 hours. I believe you partied on the beach and almost died on the swim back. you and your friend crawled on the beach and a fishermen rescued you.
You told me of meeting grandpa and you admitted to having boyfriends. But grandpa won with flowers and sore knuckles. as you got ready to elope your grandmother said ‘your father is going to be so angry’ that didn’t deter you. And almost 50 years later and 5 countries later no one was angry they were still laughing. You learned English on your one, you said that you would go to the shop in Northern Ireland and point to things and repeat them with the store clerk, you also had police officers in Canada parallel park for you- you cheeky beautiful being.
As I grew I still talked to you every week and still laughed. I spent the weekend at your house while I was in college i had gotten my first tattoo and never planned on tell you. I was wearing a white tshirt and realized you could see the outline on my hip. You gently touched my side and looked at me. I panicked , you said I’m sure it will come off. And then you kept handing me a sponge throughout the weekend and we cackled.
Going to college you didn’t quite understand what I was doing but you showed up randomly at my door with cheese and milk and chocolate and a crumpled $20 that you forced in my hand.
I moved to Vancouver and we still talked every week. I told you to stop watching the news, as anytime there was flooding 7 hours away you called panicked are you ok in the flood? No grandma I’m talking to you from my canoe.
You were such a lady I still do not know how to dress you taught me and I forget I suppose. But taking you to lunch when I was an official adult with an official job you loved crabby joes. I remember as we waded through the peanut shells that littered the floor ‘you can just be yourself here.’ You proclaimed.
You loved your friends you lit up the room everywhere you went.
As dementia took a hold of you I still called sometimes you were busy ‘working’. It was sad but also funny. When I could come visit when I was back in Ontario I hated that you were in a nursing home, but there were tiny glimpses of the old you, the twinkle in your eye, the jokes. You’re gone now. But I can still hear your voice.
Now I will say the last goodbye. Thank you for shaping me thank you for your love and care, thank you for laughter. Thank you.
I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living my grandma you will be.
Ridgetown: Class 1 Funeral Establishment FE-397