Life is precious and so we, or I should say I am still enjoying my life, although it's with so many tears, and at times I say to myself o.k. that's enough, move on. Yesterday we celebrated my birthday ahead of time, in a big family it's so hard to get everyone in one place at one time, so this is how we manage it...the day everyone can be there, that's it..Birthday time.. It was supposed to be up north, but the weather was not cooperating, but Gaye was and so Gaye extended the invitation to the family and there we all were.
I noticed Mac's ashes in a lovely ceramic brown box, still resting on her fireplace mantle where we had put it after the "celebration of his life", a kind of nicer way of saying "his funeral" - in any case somehow I felt I wanted those ashes with me. We are going to have a special day where we will bury them, another time when the whole family will be at the lake..he want's to be buried up north near our cottages..(I want to be in the lake), my friend 95 year old Alice says, some have to be with you in the lake, and some with him on the shore...o.k. I always say..anyway they are now resting on a little table right here in my apartment.
I have been looking at them and thinking about Alice's comments and thinking too just how many places I would like to put his ashes.. Places where we've had so much fun. Mount Royal, Chateauguay walking path, Lake St. Louis, Pine Beach, the list is endless...so tonight when I was downstairs getting the mail a funny or I should say peculiar story came to me by way of my friend Letty
Letty is the 90 year old who was the first woman priest of the Anglican Church in Canada. I'm happy to say she is back after her terrible fall almost three months ago. Her husband Cliff who I have been visiting on the second floor, while she was in hospital, but recently he also fell and broke his hip.But, NOW, both of them are back here and there was Letty downstairs with her walker looking her beautiful perky self, she had just come from visiting her husband on the 2nd floor, planning to return to her apartment...when she spotted me, getting my mail. So there we were sitting in the lobby enjoying our little get together, when she told me this story.
Apparently she and Cliff a few years back were enjoying a holiday in Cuba. on a particular day she was in the ocean and noticed a woman with a snorkel diving and staying down for quite long periods of time, which was making Letty nervous for her. So Letty decided to keep an eye on the woman, and was happy to see her getting out of the water. Then the woman sat down on her lounge chair gazing out at the ocean, tears rolling down her face, and as she sat Letty noticed she had a vial in her hand..Letty thought, well what have we here, is she contemplating suicide...So Letty walked over to the woman and said, can I be of help to you.
The woman looked up to Letty and said in French, I'm from Trois Rivieres and I've just put my husband's ashes in the ocean where he wanted to have his ashes, here in Cuba where we've enjoyed so many wonderful holidays. Letty said, well I'm an Anglican Priest..(then realizing how strange that must have sounded, standing there, soaken wet, stringy hair, looking less like a priest,than an old lady but she persisted. Then she thought the woman being French maybe didn't even realize that there were women priests but she said, I would like to say a prayer for your husband. The woman
replied - well thank you..and you speak French so well.
Then the two of them went to the ocean, stood in the waves and Letty said the special prayer in French, while both of them held hands with their heads bowed. What a beautiful story, the woman knew that God was there for her. Letty said, this was one of her moments when she knew her calling was so right.
Well needless to say, I was really moved, and still so happy to know that both she and Cliff (ages 90 and 93) had almost recovered from their terrible falls..and said now Letty you must get to bed, it's now nine o'clock. So I walked with her to make sure she was not too tired to the elevators on her side of the building.
- This is only her second day using a walker, when, we heard a funny noise coming from one of the elevators she was going to go up on. Would you believe a man was stuck on the elevator...I have claustrophobia, so I had a minor fit. Letty was getting on the elevator. she didn't hear the noise,coming from the other elevator, I quickly said, Letty get off come here, someone is stuck in the other elevator. Well she moved pretty quickly with her walker, saying I will not go on the elevator alone. I said, look you will not get on at all, until we see that the elevators are fixed and even then someone will go up with you...( to myself saying, it won't be me)
So there we were, we waited with some others who had come in who were ready to go to their apartments. Finally the elevators were fixed and I, breathing a sigh of relief watched as Letty and four others with a person from the staff went up to her fourth floor.
Then I went over to my side of the building, where I had to take the elevator by Myself...holding my breath and praying I got to the sixth floor, and thankful that I'm here to look at Mac's ceramic box holding his Ashes - on the box it says
Gordon Robert McConnell January 30, 1930 - March 10, 2015
Those most precious ashes - I'll say goodnight to them and think about just where we will be burying them...hmm we had a great time in Cuba too. g'nite.
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