Better late than never!! Here is my 2012 recap!
On June 16th 2012 my Nanna Margaret (aka wacky nan) passed away. Before she died, when she was ill, I thought about her everyday. I even dreamt about her. This didn't change after she died, although the dreams have become less and less in the more recent months. She was truly a woman like no other, she made some poor decisions and never had much in the way of money or material goods (despite her abundance of get-rich-quick schemes), yet she had this amazing zest for life that I have never seen in anyone before.
As kids we thought it was hilarious when she suggested she try scuba diving by pulling herself down the anchor chain of the boat (even though she could barely walk at the time)... or tried to convince us that people could walk on water (can't remember how that came about),... or when she let Paul and Olly dangle their action men out of the car on strings and drag them along the road as we were driving... or when she let us push her into a swimming pool in a chair fully clothed whilst we filmed it to try get on "you've been framed!"... or when she declared that if she started to get old and lose her mind we had to take her into the mountains to die alone with the wolves!
Even within months of her death, she was adamant she wanted to move to Scarborough/Whitby seaside, maybe it was her lively mind just desperate to get out of the house. She showed so much patience, creativity and happiness despite her circumstances (which were never great) and even in the later years of her life when times were extremely hard for her and other parts of her body were failing, her strong mind was still alive until the very end. Whilst we didn't take her to the mountains to die with the wolves, I think she would be glad that she at least didn't go senile.
I keep trying to be sensitive to any "signs" I might be getting that my Nanna is still around in spirit! I haven't had any obvious signs yet, but one morning about a week after her death, I woke up and had the song "super-Cali-fragelistic-expi-Ali-docious" from Mary poppies (a film I had watched over and over with my Nanna), the song was going round and round my head, but only those words, and I could tell I had been singing it over and over for hours in my head whilst I was asleep. I will keep watching for signs, but either way she is still very much alive in my mind, and always will be.
June - my parents visited us for a few days in June, on their way back from the uk after helping to look after Nanna. Actually, the morning after they arrived was when my Nanna died. It was horrible, more so for my dad who knew that she didn't have long when they had to leave her and catch the plane to Toronto. Despite the sad circumstance, it was lovely to see them both, we spent time looking around Toronto, and visited Niagara Falls.
June and November - Dave Matthews band! This year we didn't get to see Dave in the Gorge, but we saw him twice in Toronto instead, once in an amphitheater and once in a stadium..we have discovered the outside venues are a far better place to see Dave!
A new addition to the family: Ryan's old cat Kaycee (also a short haired exotic) moved in with us, it was funny to see the cats terrorize each other for the first few weeks, but now they have all settled down and are friends!
September : with my generic VFR course complete, I was posted to Buttonville tower, a small yet busy airport on the outskirts of Toronto. I felt like this one stroke of good luck made up for all the bad luck I've had in the past couple of years!
Also in September my little brother Tom moved out to Oakville to go to college at Sheridan to study media. It has been great having some family close by!
As kids we thought it was hilarious when she suggested she try scuba diving by pulling herself down the anchor chain of the boat (even though she could barely walk at the time)... or tried to convince us that people could walk on water (can't remember how that came about),... or when she let Paul and Olly dangle their action men out of the car on strings and drag them along the road as we were driving... or when she let us push her into a swimming pool in a chair fully clothed whilst we filmed it to try get on "you've been framed!"... or when she declared that if she started to get old and lose her mind we had to take her into the mountains to die alone with the wolves!
Even within months of her death, she was adamant she wanted to move to Scarborough/Whitby seaside, maybe it was her lively mind just desperate to get out of the house. She showed so much patience, creativity and happiness despite her circumstances (which were never great) and even in the later years of her life when times were extremely hard for her and other parts of her body were failing, her strong mind was still alive until the very end. Whilst we didn't take her to the mountains to die with the wolves, I think she would be glad that she at least didn't go senile.
I keep trying to be sensitive to any "signs" I might be getting that my Nanna is still around in spirit! I haven't had any obvious signs yet, but one morning about a week after her death, I woke up and had the song "super-Cali-fragelistic-expi-Ali-docious" from Mary poppies (a film I had watched over and over with my Nanna), the song was going round and round my head, but only those words, and I could tell I had been singing it over and over for hours in my head whilst I was asleep. I will keep watching for signs, but either way she is still very much alive in my mind, and always will be.
Other goings on in 2012!
March - I started my generic VFR course for air traffic control in Toronto! This is something I had been waiting for for 3 years, it lasted 6 months and was a lot of studying and hard work, but well worth it! I march we packed our bags (and the kitties of course) and moved to Toronto from Williams Lake. Ryan and I were both extremely relieved to be getting out of Williams lake, not necessarily because of the town itself, but because we felt trapped there until I got my course date.
June - my parents visited us for a few days in June, on their way back from the uk after helping to look after Nanna. Actually, the morning after they arrived was when my Nanna died. It was horrible, more so for my dad who knew that she didn't have long when they had to leave her and catch the plane to Toronto. Despite the sad circumstance, it was lovely to see them both, we spent time looking around Toronto, and visited Niagara Falls.
June and November - Dave Matthews band! This year we didn't get to see Dave in the Gorge, but we saw him twice in Toronto instead, once in an amphitheater and once in a stadium..we have discovered the outside venues are a far better place to see Dave!
A new addition to the family: Ryan's old cat Kaycee (also a short haired exotic) moved in with us, it was funny to see the cats terrorize each other for the first few weeks, but now they have all settled down and are friends!
September : with my generic VFR course complete, I was posted to Buttonville tower, a small yet busy airport on the outskirts of Toronto. I felt like this one stroke of good luck made up for all the bad luck I've had in the past couple of years!
Also in September my little brother Tom moved out to Oakville to go to college at Sheridan to study media. It has been great having some family close by!
 |
| Buttonville Control Tower |
December: for Ryan's birthday we had a family gathering where Ryan's family came around and got to see our house for the fist time, we made a big meal and had a great night! Unfortunately December was to be a stressful month. On Christmas Eve Ryan's mum Renee went into hospital. She suffers from COPD which is a combination of emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and had caught pneumonia. The result was that she was placed on life support for 4 days! Thankfully, She is now recovering at home.
It just goes to show that life is short, and can change with the drop of a hat!
Other highlights of 2012:
- getting to listen to Val's debut album release! I'm so proud of her for turning her dreams into a reality, and am looking forward to seeing her when she visits in Spring!
It just goes to show that life is short, and can change with the drop of a hat!
Other highlights of 2012:
- getting to listen to Val's debut album release! I'm so proud of her for turning her dreams into a reality, and am looking forward to seeing her when she visits in Spring!
“The
dead do not need to rise. They are a part of the earth now and the
earth can never be conquered. For the earth endureth forever. It will
outlive all systems of tyranny. Those who have entered it honourably,
have already achieved immortality.”
― Ernest Hemingway
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