Time to say "Goodbye"

Yet again I have taken a few weeks to make a post, and I know that some of you have been watching the website for an update. I apologize for taking so long.

As I last mentioned I was gearing up for a weekend at home by myself as Aaron was going away hunting. He had left mid-afternoon on the 18^th, and I curled up on the couch with my calculus homework, which by the time I finished it was almost time for bed. Couldn’t believe it, took me 7.5 hours to do about 15 questions. All I kept thinking was that this was and is going to be one really long semester, and how could I budget so much time each week for this class. Good thing I only have 4 classes until middle of March. Shortly before I was heading to bed I received a message from my Aunty Wendy on Facebook that things weren’t well for my grandma. Aunty informed me that grandma was not eating or drinking, and that the doctors were giving her pain control as she was unable to take her pills. I didn’t think much of it as grandma has been in and out of the hospital for the last few years, she always bounced back. Sunday morning I received a text from my sister (Allison) that her and my brothers (Darrin and Blaine) had just left the hospital crying and that things weren’t good with grandma at all. This is when it hit me, things really aren’t good if those three left so upset. Also, I was home by myself, so of course my mind was focusing on that. I called her immediately and we talked things out. Later that afternoon Aaron called to say he was on his way home, as hunting was no good. They hadn’t seen any ducks and the guide informed him and his dad that tomorrow would more than likely be the same, so they decided to head home. I’m really glad they did because I really needed him at home. The next few days were extremely emotional, filled with constant wondering/worrying, and waiting for that dreaded call. I won’t go into all the details just out of respect for my family. In preparation for the worse, I was scrambling to get things done for school as I knew if something happened I would be on my way back to Winnipeg as soon as I could. Monday there was no classes, as it was Martin Luther King Day, and Tuesday the school closed because of the weather. There were no classes that day to begin with as it was Senior Testing day, and I had to work it, since I work for that section here at the school. I had planned on talking to some of the instructors that day to inform them of the situation, but didn’t have a chance to. Wednesday morning I spoke with one of my instructors, and that afternoon I was meeting my Philosophy teacher for Death and Dying for the first time. I informed her before class that grandma wasn’t doing well and that in the off chance something happened in the next few days, I would be going home for a week. We had a Doctor come to class and talk to us on palliative care and brain-death. Just before his presentation/discussion was over one of the guys in class asked if families accuse him of starving their loved ones to death when a feeding tube is removed. He explained to us how our brain is responsible for our functions of eating, saliva, chewing, swallowing, etc. and how they still offer food to those in the hospital but if they refuse it, it is because they can’t do anything with it. It’s just a sign of the body shutting down. And for me, everything made much more sense. I mean I knew on the weekend that when grandma refused to take her pills, eat, drink, or even talk to anyone, that wasn’t a good sign. Hearing this from the Doctor just made my conclusion that much more comforting. After he was done, we were given a break, and at this point I thought about checking my phone but didn’t really want to, but I did. That is when that dreaded, unwanted text message was flashing at me from Allison – “grandma just passed and aunty and I were with her…” I sat at my desk, burst into tears and then quickly left the room. Dr. Cate (my prof) was already outside the room, and came to me and gave me the biggest hug. She just knew that it wasn’t good news. She asked me what I wanted to do and if I wanted her to tell the class. I told her that I just needed some time but that I’d be back in class and she could tell everyone. Some might think that is or was crazy of me to go back to class, but I didn’t have much option. The one and only place that I wanted to be at that moment was 2000 miles away, so I needed a distraction. One might wonder how sitting in the rest of a death and dying class was a distraction, but surprisingly it was, although I don’t remember a lot of the discussion that occurred for the rest of class.

The next couple of days were then jam packed with finishing up what I could for classes so that I could fly home on Saturday the 25^th. I flew back to Winnipeg that evening, where Blaine picked me up and we made a quick stop at home to drop my bags off. He took me up to Warren to where Allison was, and I went out to the Woody with her and a bunch of her friends. It felt really good to be HOME. Sunday was extremely cold and none of us left the house. We spent the day playing dominoes and rail baron, and finished the night watching the Jets game. A lot of the highways in the area were closed. My cousin, Tara, and her daughter Brianna were coming in from around Calgary and made it to Portage La Prairie, MB, about an hour away and they couldn’t get going because the highway closed and visibility was at almost zero. Monday morning I went with mom to meet Aunty Wendy and Uncle Lloyd at the church, followed by lunch at the Rock. Aunty Wendy had my cousin Graham’s daughter, Meadow, with her, so it was great to spend some time with that little munchkin. Tuesday we met Aunty Wendy at grandma’s place. Was that ever hard. Standing there in her room with her not there brought tears to my eyes. That afternoon we headed back to Aunty Wendy’s to go through pictures and make some poster boards of grandma over the years. Was nice to see so many great pictures. Grandma had an amazing life, and we were so blessed to have her a part of it for so many years. Tara stopped in quickly that afternoon, and it was nice to see her. At this point mom and Aunty decided it was time to tell us something. Tara and I were so confused with what they were talking about. Aunty then read to us from the will that grandma was leaving Tara her engagement and wedding ring set, and I was to get her anniversary ring. Well, this made both of us burst into tears. So unexpected, and extremely grateful.

Wednesday was the funeral, which was obviously hard. My grandpa passed away in 1977, and a lot of us didn’t know him. After 36 years on her own, we lost our leader, the one who seemed to hold all of us together. What were we going to do now. Grandma was so involved in everything around the community, attended countless sporting events and Christmas/Spring concerts not only for us grandchildren but her five great-grandchildren as well. For those of you who were able to attend the funeral, THANK YOU! from the entire family. This is why I love coming from a small community, and I wouldn’t ever change it for the world. Moments like that are when you appreciate those around you that much more, and be extremely proud of where you come from. Such an unfortunate event for our family, and friends of grandma’s and our families, but so nice to be able to see everyone there. Following the service and lunch, we had family and some close friends back to my mom and Ken’s to further celebrate grandma’s life. She would have been so proud. It would have been everything that she would have wanted. She will be greatly missed, and we love her very much.

Taken outside Denny's after an afternoon at the horse races - August 2013

Visit home in May 2013

On Thursday mom and I met Tara, Brianna, Allison and Aunty Wendy at grandma’s place to go through some things. Our late lunch consisted of eating almost an entire Jeannie’s cake at grandma’s place – those from Winnipeg will or should know about those cakes. If you don’t know, you need to find one and have one. Marble is the best. This was the 3^rd one of these cakes that had been eaten in a span of 4 days. Friday I went for breakfast with my Uncle Peter and then back to mom and Ken’s where the three of us played dominoes all afternoon. Just before 3pm I got a call from United Airlines to say my flight on Saturday was cancelled and they had rebooked me. So I called to get details on the flight and turns out it was the worst flight EVER! They had me leaving Winnipeg on Sunday at 4:30pm, stopping in Denver with an over-night, and getting to Cincinnati at 6pm on Monday. No way was I taking that flight, so I got bossy with the guy and told him to find me something else. He found a flight with Air Canada, but of course when he contacted them about it they refused to accommodate. He then found another flight with United that would have me leave at 3pm on Sunday. Which was fine, it was the same flight I had for the Saturday, just a day later. It would throw a kink into my plans for homework and relaxing before heading back to school for a week, but that’s ok, I’d deal with it, I was getting another day with my family. I was happy about that as I wasn’t ready to leave yet, and my cousin Graham and his wife Kim were having everyone over for dinner on Saturday and to play Kinsmen Bingo on TV before heading up to Warren to watch Darrin play Mercs Hockey. On Saturday morning we headed into the city to watch Blaine play hockey, and then went out to Birds Hill to look at a car for him. Then over to Graham and Kim’s place. Dinner was fantastic!! Kim is such a great cook! I finally got to try lazy cabbage rolls too, so I will be making those real soon. We ate quickly as bingo was starting at 5:30pm. Happy to say that I was a winner that night on one of mom’s cards. That was super exciting for all of us. Then, the 16 of us were off to Darrin’s hockey game. They didn’t win, but it was a pretty good game. I then headed up to the Woody again with Allison and Cole, where we met Blaine, Sam (his girlfriend), and more of their friends. Then of course Darrin showed up there too, so it was a family affair. Had some drinks, played pool, danced and played the VLTs. Blaine and I chipped in together and won a bit, so that was nice. I didn’t want the night to end. We were home by 3am and I was up around 8am on Sunday morning. I hadn’t started to pack yet, I had to get that done, I was bringing a lot more back then what I brought. Mom and I headed into the city around 11am and hit up Sobey’s for a few things before she dropped me off at the airport. By the time I checked in, went through security and customs it was about 12:30pm, and my flight was to leave at 2:47pm. Well wouldn’t you know an announcement comes on at 1:00 to say that the flight has been delayed. I go down to the gate and see its delayed almost 2 hours, which means I am more than likely going to miss my connection in Chicago, seeing as I had 2hrs 24 mins when I was to get there. I talked to the agent and he was able to move me to the front of the plane, and reserve me a seat on two other flights in Chicago that would get me to Cincinnati in case I happened to miss my original flight. By the time we actually landed in Chicago and sat waiting for our gate it was just past 7:30, which meant I was missing my flight. Then we finally were able to get off the plane and I had to wait for my checked carry-on bag and dash across the airport for the 7:55 flight. Well, that was impossible as it was 7:50 when I finally got to speak to an agent about my flight. I informed them that I had a seat being held for me with another airline, so they quickly looked things up, and directed me in the right direction. I had to leave the secure area to get a new boarding pass, cross back through security (such a tick off when I had a $4 bottle of water with me!) and get to the appropriate gate all within 40 minutes. Thankfully I was able to do it, I actually made sure to pick up some of my favourite popcorn at Garrett’s since I was walking right by the booth, and I needed another water. I got to the gate just as they started to board the plane. Phew! It was shortly after 11:30 when we finally got off the plane in Cincinnati. Next, did my bags make it? The agent in Chicago couldn’t tell me for sure if they would make it. They did, so that was good. I wasn’t too worried about it until I remembered that all my school stuff was in the bags and I needed it for 9am.

Went to class on Monday, didn’t go to work that afternoon as I should have but I had let my boss know on Saturday that I wasn’t going to be there. I just went home to do homework after class was over at 11am. Aaron and I were up doing calculus homework until midnight, but we got it done! Which meant that on Tuesday I had to do the quiz and prepare for the class that night. A winter storm watch turned into a winter storm warning, then into an ice storm warning, so evening classes were cancelled. Of course we chanced the weather and went to the Cyclones game.  Then Wednesday morning I woke up to an email that said school was delayed until noon. Again, this was good as it gave me some more time to catch up on things. Then around 10:30 an email came out saying the school was closed for the rest of the day. Yippie!! With that I was able to catch up on a lot of reading and homework, it’s like I didn’t really miss week. Last night we had dinner at Aaron’s grandma’s place, and then headed over to Applebee’s for the Spring ADG Rush Event for the fraternity. Trying to get more guys to join. Today I had my Environmental Science lab, worked, and now am just waiting for my calculus class. Followed by another ADG Rush event at Hooter’s. Tomorrow night we are supposed to go to Turfway for the Rush event, and Saturday we play our last broomball game followed by a cheese tasting event we bought tickets for. Finishing the night off at the Cyclones game. Sunday will be a day of studying, as I have a history test on Monday morning.

Enjoy the weekend!!!