Quick Travels

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I'm now back from my quick trip out of town to attend my late Sister-in-Laws (SIL) funeral. It was a very unique funeral. My late SIL had many interests in life and a host of friends and family members. She was a bit of a maverick and one of the MC's at her service called her one of the last true cowgirls of the area.

It is only fitting then that they opened service with a Cowboy's prayer. The MC's were and are cowboys too. Her son and other relatives also work with horses and cattle and many work on the land. Many First Nations dancers, drummers and singers were there to honour and sing to her for several days before and during the service.  A fire was kept for several days and nights with young fire keepers staying awake to ensure the flame never burned out. Food was brought in by many locals and tea, coffee, juice and water was constantly available as we condoled with family in the days and nights before the service.

One thing that stood out to me is how everyone spoke of my late SIL's hospitality and kindness. Her brother was one of the MC's and he told the assembled crowd to put aside any differences and love one another as that is what his late sister was good at. Loving others and embracing people of all backgrounds. I certainly do remember her kindness and care.   She was always positive whenever we interacted.  I also remember her as an avid cowgirl and outdoor person, a hunter and fisher providing food not only to her family but to others. These are just a few of her unique characteristics and accomplishments.

After the service, her casket was driven to the local cemetery in a truck and was escorted there by several horses and riders including her son. Her grave marker was carved by one of her nephews.  All in all, I know she would have been happy with how her family organized everything on her behalf and I'm sure she was looking down and smiling at the proceedings.

Her son (my nephew) on the gray horse.

These friendly horses came up to greet us as we parked to get photos of the riders.

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After the service, a few of us drove back to Vancouver. 

About an hour into the journey home, we ran into miserable weather.  At one point the weather was extremely stormy and windy while the skies poured down hail.  

Other times it snowed or rained until about 2 hours from home when the sun came out.
Thankfully my brother was the driver and he is a most excellent driver in terrible weather conditions.

This photo was taken about half way through the journey home.

All this wintry weather is not terribly surprising given that much of our journey is through the mountain highway, called the Coquihalla (Coq for short). It has the distinction of being the deadliest highways in the province with 400-500 accidents during the Winter seasons.  Fortunately for us, there was not much traffic on the way home given it was still early in the week.

We arrived at the dinner hour but most of the traffic was leaving Vancouver, not entering,  as people headed home from work in the city. We didn't have to compete for highway space.  To be honest, the traffic was lighter going into Vancouver than I've seen it for many, many years in all my many journies back and forth to visit my late mom.

This photo is taken at the highest elevation of the highway. Surprisingly it was not snowing here.

I'm now back home, recovering from the past week and trying to catch up to things.
It has been a very busy and difficult week to lose and bury a friend and family member.
I need a bit of recovery time too.
We are expecting a wet weekend so I won't likely be going far afield.
 I'm hoping the weather will improve before all the cherry blossoms disappear so I can get more photos.

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Thank you to everyone who made inquiries and kept good thoughts and prayers for the family.

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I'm joining in with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters

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Signs of Spring & Transitions

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.

Martin Luther 

♥♥♥

Thank you to all who left comments and sent messages inquiring after my health.

It seems that I've spent much of 2018 in the clutches of a cold or pneumonia or both.

I still have a touch of it. The weather doesn't help as it's been cold and sometimes wet.

Even so time marches on.

I can count on this tree to blossom first every year. It looks quite old.

I always look forward to Spring when warmer climates and clearer skies prevail and the blossoms unfurl in earnest.

But this Spring has started on a sad note.

I said goodbye today to a very dear and very long time friend. 

She passed 2 weeks ago of diabetic complications.  Her daughter arranged for services today as there are many relatives who had to travel far to be at the service.

It was a lovely service and my friend was noted for her long and faithful service to the church amongst other fine attributes.

I will miss her. Besides relatives she is one of the people I have known longest on this earth.

One spire at the local Catholic Church.

Also very unexpectedly my sister in law passed yesterday.

She suffered a brain aneurysm and was airlifted to Vancouver for surgery.

They could not save her.

I was at the hospital late into the night with the family as they made the heart rending decision to 'let her go'.

I am expecting that the funeral services will be as soon as possible. Several of my family members here will make the road journey on Monday for a few days.

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Friends we never know what this life will bring us.

Sometimes we have a long journey in this life and sometimes we have a short one.

In all cases, it is made a bit easier in the knowledge that those of us with faith will meet again one day.

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It is almost one year since my own mother made the transition. 

She left in peace and contentment just as I know my dear friend did also.

That is a gift to the family especially when we know they have suffered long due to ill health.

Where they are now, they will not suffer again.

There are always Canada geese on the lawns in front of train station.

In my sister-in-laws case the end came very suddenly and totally unexpectedly.

It is harder to deal with loss in such cases.

My heart aches for her only son.

A few seagulls overhead.

Spring seems to be a season in which many leave this earth.

It is also a time of new growth and rebirth.

I thought  this new growth in the bottom of the tree trunk was interesting.

 I ask you to pray for the children and families involved and affected by these recent losses, especially for the children.

Also, my close friend's grandma Sally has been in hospital in Kenya for many weeks.

I ask for prayers for her and her family as well.

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I hope you all had a pleasant Easter holiday.

I had a quiet but pleasant one.

I've started to visit some of your blogs again.

Please bear with me if I am a little slow to get to your posts.

I miss reading what you all share.

I like the light in this photo.

♥♥♥

Joining in this week with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters

News

I awoke to news today that was upsetting. The young orphaned boy I wrote about here and here has passed due to complications of cancer. He was barely 20 years old.

" Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

James 4:14

I want to thank those of you who gave to help his medical bills and to those that have been praying for him.



The comfort is that he will never suffer again and as a Christian he is with his Heavenly Father.

 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” 

John 14:1-4

I was feeling rather emotional today upon hearing the sad news. Mostly because this boy is an orphan.  He's had a hard life so far and had to fight this terrible cancer. No doubt he went through periods of not really understanding what was happening to him especially during the chemotherapy sessions which weakened him a lot.  I am also grieving for the fact that he will never have an opportunity to reach his potential here on earth though in Kenya that is a very hard thing to do when you live in poverty.  Right now I am glad that this young man will never pain and poverty again.

In addition to the comfort of the biblical promises, I often find comfort in God's creation and from seeing nature close up.  Today it was in my garden.

I could hear the birds singing so beautifully.  Their warbling drew me outside.

I wasn't able to capture the birds in photo.  They are very well camouflaged in the trees and they fly away so quickly.  But I was delighted to find bees enjoying the flowers in the garden.

Beyond the enjoying the birds and the bees in the garden, I enjoyed the beautiful colours of nature.

I like the flowers and plants reflected in the bird bath.

This photo was taken a few months ago at Westham Island.

Joining up with Eileen at Saturday's Critters
and
Weekend Reflections.
Thank you for stopping by.

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.

I Miss You

Yesterday as I lay on the table waiting for the technician to wrap my legs up in air compression "gizmos", I thought of you.

Many years have already passed since you left us for your immortal home. I think about you often but mostly now instead of grief and sadness, I thank God you are no longer here to suffer and that you aren't in pain anymore.

But now and then I think of you and I miss you. Like now. I'm alone in this room and in these rare moments of time where I just lie and try to relax, thoughts come to me unbidden. I've made a point in these moments to thank God and to praise him for everything he has done for me; for the life he has given me, for the way he has sustained me, for the joys and the tribulations, and even for my body which despite it's problems, he has given me. I'm learning to be thankful for everything. But sometimes, other thoughts do come in.  I've had a lot of time over the past month to just lie down several times a week for an hour at a time each time I get a leg treatment.  It is at these times that I think deep thoughts about many things. Yesterday I thought of you.

I thought of your daughter who has done so well despite her missing you. I tell her how much you love her and how you look down on her from Heaven. It brings her so much comfort when I say 'mommy is in Heaven and she looks down on you. She is flying around with the angels".  At that point, she always, repeats "angels?" and I say "Yes, mommy is with the angels. Some day we will see her again when we die but we have to wait. It isn't time yet." She seems to understand now. She knows you are still with us though she cannot see you. In the early years she would say "Mommy come back now." and she would cry and plead.  She thought you had been away in Heaven for too long.  It was heartbreaking to hear that. I know she is still very sad at times and I imagine that she cries at night when she is alone.  I pray for her always and show her as much love and fun as possible. We all do our parts to try and bring joy to her and keep her spirits uplifted and she seems to be happy and contented.

Right now she misses her one and only brother who has come here to live and go to university. She will be happy this weekend when she sees him because he is going to visit both her and "grandma". They will be so happy to see him.  You would be so proud of him. He has been working for years now in addition to going to college locally. Now he has decided to pursue a degree at university in the big city, he says he is determined to make me proud of him.  If you were here, he would tell you that he is determined to make you proud of him. He has a lot of talents that the Lord has given Him and so I pray for his success in life and for things to go smoothly despite the challenges of student life.

I started out by saying how much I miss you and then I got into telling you the news of your children.  I know how much you loved them and how concerned you were about their future. I just want you to know they are okay though they both miss you still. How can I blame them when I miss you still?

When I think about you I think about your ready smile and how your face lit up the entire room with your beautiful face and loving spirit. I realize now how patient you had to be to raise your children, especially one with special needs.  You did the best you could and for that I am so thankful and proud of you.

I miss your laugh. I miss the way we would joke about the difficulties or bad news we would get.  We knew that God would help us and sustain us and we had to hang on to that in the storms of life through mom's illness and yours.  Our Maker gave us so much laughter and joy despite our tribulations and since you are no longer here it doesn't seem like we laugh nearly as much.  I miss the way you would call mom every day and bring her joy. You would be happy to know that mom now has help and people to look after her health.  Though she (and we) had a very rough ride of things, things seem to be calmer now. She is looking forward to things again.  I miss the way you and I got so close. I miss the holiday I wanted to take you  on to Hawaii. I really wanted you to enjoy that trip and we were so, so close to going. I imagine in Heaven, the scenery and the beauty made up for not seeing Hawaii here on earth.  I miss your hugs.  Besides me, you are the only one who really gave a good hug and didn't mind a good hug.  I miss the family celebrations we were not able to have with you. We just celebrated mom's 75th with a small dinner and cake.

I want to tell you again that I love you and that the memories of your sweet presence blesses me still.  Sis, I don't feel sad about you most days because I know there is no pain, no tears, no suffering where you are. That is just so awesome. Though I tell your daughter that you are looking down on us to bring her comfort, the truth is that I do not really believe that.  If you were looking down on us you might feel the pain or involvement in this world and that is not what Heaven is. In Heaven you do not have the concerns of this world anymore and for that I can rejoice.

Photo credit: Jonah at Missions of Hope

I know we will see each other again some day after we put off these mortal bodies. I don't know just exactly how we will relate to each other in Heaven because we will all be sons and daughters of God there.  Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be glorious. God has promised a wonderful place and I believe it.  Love sis.

A Time for Every Purpose

  For everything there is a season,
      a time for every activity under heaven.
  A time to be born and a time to die.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2

I went to early morning services this morning at church. I usually go to the late morning service but today the power was being turned off for the morning at my building while they do some kind of maintenance work. It seemed best to be out.

When I got home I was stunned by a phone call from my mother. She reported that Marlene, the wife of the husband and wife team (Tom & Marlene) that looks after my autistic niece and another autistic woman, in addition to their own daughter, has died. 

Marlene died very suddenly yesterday of a massive heart attack. She was only 49 years old. 

While most of us know that death can come to any of us at any time, we are nevertheless shocked when it happens so suddenly to someone in seeming good health.  

After talking with my mom, I called Marlene's husband, Tom and offered my condolences. He is in shock and doing his best to remain positive and focused for the whirlwind that will arrive this week as family and loved ones arrive.  Even in grief he recognizes that my niece also needs comfort as it is like she has lost two moms and I guess she has been saying "Marlene died, like mom".  He told me that he shared with my niece that his wife is now in heaven greeting my sister, my niece's own mom and that the two of them are laughing and sharing stories about my awesome niece.  I guess my nephew has also been there to comfort his sister.

 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn...

Ecclesiastes 3:4

I just heard the news and I am still processing it. I am in a bit of shock and my system is jolted with the sudden and unexpected news.  My heart is grieved for a woman I knew to be a powerhouse in her sphere of influence and she will be greatly missed.

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again...

Ecclesiastes 3:20

I will say some prayers for the family today and gives thanks anew for my daily blessings and the gift of life, a fragile and sometimes fleeting gift.

Love to you and yours.