How not to spend your time on a rainy Sunday
So today was rather uncomfortable, but I got through it somehow. Let me go back aways and explain.
My stepfather Gord passed away last year in February. One of the things he absolutely insisted on was, when he died, he did not want a funeral, he wanted to be cremated, and he used to make jokes all the time about sprinkling his ashes on the rose bushes. Now, at the time when he said it, he and Mum did not have a rose bush, so then he said, "Eh, just sprinkle them on the rhubarb plants", which grossed my best friend out, since my Mum ate the rhubarb all the time. We all agreed that the rhubarb plants were safe, and his ashes wouldn't go there.
So, getting back to the story, my stepbrother Bruce has had the container with Gord's ashes since last year. My Mum really didn't want them in the house, it was just too hard for her. My Mum lives in a community where all the houses back onto canals, which eventually lead out to Lake Simcoe. It took a long time, but they finally decided to disperse Gord's ashes in the lake that he loved so much.
Unfortunately, it was raining a lot today, and the lake would have been too rough, so my Mum and I, my three stepbrothers, their wives and children piled into Mum's boat and went to the far end of the canal to disperse the ashes. It was very quiet on that boat when it came time to open the container and the bag that held the ashes. My stepbrother Doug made some stupid comment that made me want to smack him (but I kept my mouth shut), and he and my stepbrother John didn't make a move to help Bruce disperse the ashes. I felt sorry for Bruce, cos it would have been nice for him to have support from his brothers, and it was certainly wasn't my place to help him - but I thought all of Gord's sons should have joined in to help.
When the ashes were all in the water, Mum threw in a couple of roses that she had cut off a bush in their garden - they had planted a rosebush a couple of years ago. So it looks like Gord got his wish after all, his ashes were (sort of) sprinkled on the roses.
I was very lucky, I had two dads who loved me, and I miss them both.
My stepfather Gord passed away last year in February. One of the things he absolutely insisted on was, when he died, he did not want a funeral, he wanted to be cremated, and he used to make jokes all the time about sprinkling his ashes on the rose bushes. Now, at the time when he said it, he and Mum did not have a rose bush, so then he said, "Eh, just sprinkle them on the rhubarb plants", which grossed my best friend out, since my Mum ate the rhubarb all the time. We all agreed that the rhubarb plants were safe, and his ashes wouldn't go there.
So, getting back to the story, my stepbrother Bruce has had the container with Gord's ashes since last year. My Mum really didn't want them in the house, it was just too hard for her. My Mum lives in a community where all the houses back onto canals, which eventually lead out to Lake Simcoe. It took a long time, but they finally decided to disperse Gord's ashes in the lake that he loved so much.
Unfortunately, it was raining a lot today, and the lake would have been too rough, so my Mum and I, my three stepbrothers, their wives and children piled into Mum's boat and went to the far end of the canal to disperse the ashes. It was very quiet on that boat when it came time to open the container and the bag that held the ashes. My stepbrother Doug made some stupid comment that made me want to smack him (but I kept my mouth shut), and he and my stepbrother John didn't make a move to help Bruce disperse the ashes. I felt sorry for Bruce, cos it would have been nice for him to have support from his brothers, and it was certainly wasn't my place to help him - but I thought all of Gord's sons should have joined in to help.
When the ashes were all in the water, Mum threw in a couple of roses that she had cut off a bush in their garden - they had planted a rosebush a couple of years ago. So it looks like Gord got his wish after all, his ashes were (sort of) sprinkled on the roses.
I was very lucky, I had two dads who loved me, and I miss them both.