Bittersweet Weekend (26)

Bittersweet

March 1 and 2, 2008

My brother-in-law, Perry, died on February 11, 2008 at about 11:00 a.m. in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Perry had been diagnosed with brain cancer in January 2005. He underwent as much treatment as one person should ever have to endure. He fought the battle as hard as anyone possibly could.

Perry was the husband of my youngest sister, Carol. Carol is my personal hero. She did everything that was humanly possible to take care of Perry and make sure that absolutely everything possible was done to help him through his illness. My hat is off to her.

Life isn't always fair and in this case, definitely not. Perry was a great guy - talented, smart, always there with a helping hand. We'll all miss him a lot.

This is a picture I took of Perry and Carol fairly soon after Perry's surgery early in 2005.

Carol and Wendy, Perry's sister, held a "Celebration of Life" for Perry on March 2, 2008, which would have been Perry's 51st birthday.

As everyone knows, weddings and funerals are the two major life events where family and friends gather. The Celebration for Perry attracted many family and friends. It was a sad occasion, but good to see the relatives and many friends of Perry and Carol's. A bittersweet event.

Our personal weekend began on Saturday when we left Calgary at about 08:00 as we were to meet with some of Joe's family for lunch in Edmonton.

This is what the mountains looked like as we left northwest Calgary. I seem to have a chronic slant to my pix - I never claim to be a professional photographer - I'll keep my day job.


Calgary Trail - south Edmonton.


Joe has five sisters. Three of them live in Edmonton and his sister, Sister Marjorie, offered to host a lunch for the siblings. This is Joe (left) and his nephew, Frank (right).


Brother-in-law Ralph (Irene's husband) and Mary (not me - the other Mary!).

Frank.
Joe.


Ralph.
Irene - dig the shades!
Marjorie.
The main event - lunch!


From the Sibs, we drove to Stony Plain where we were to meet up with some of The Cousins. We had a long dinner at the ABC restaurant in Stony Plain.


Joe.

Cousin Marjory and Aunt Mary (another Mary!).


Greg (Marj's husband), Marj and Aunt Mary.
Cousin Sandy.

The next day, we went out to Carol's with good intentions to "help" - but I think we were more underfoot than anything. In any event - a bunch of siblings, parents, cousins and an Aunt can't help but cause a commotion.

Greg.

Dad (Jack).

Chris's Karl.
Aunt Mary (she is the fifth Mary, I am the sixth - each was the niece of the one before - I have no nieces, so I guess I am the last).

Lee.
Sandy.

Camera Wars - Or -Mine is Bigger than Yours!!!!

Karl. Again.
Marj.

Sandy.
Marj.
Sandy - I guess that one must have been pretty funny!


Sandy.


The Homestead....


Carol's horses.
Carol's house.

From the homestead to the Pioneer Centre in Spruce Grove and to the "Celebration of Life."


Cousin Laurie and Hector.
Elsie and Jack (Mom and Dad).

Elsie (Grandma), Eric (#2 son) and Jack (Grandpa).


Mary and Eric (I know he hates this, but he's so handsome, I can't resist!).

How often does this happen? Four sisters and their parents. The entire family. That would be Elsie (the Mom), Chris, Lee, Mary, Carol (the sisters), and Jack (the long suffering Dad).

Mary.
The "Little Sister" (that's me - I'm the shortest of the four - and oldest) and the "Baby Sister" (that's Carol - she's the tallest and also the youngest).

I was having a "blond day" so didn't get pix of the general crowd that attended the function - there were many and I know Carol, Wendy and Doug (Perry's step-Dad) really appreciated the turnout and all the support. I hope others will share their pix.