To everything there is a season....

Good morning,

I promised to tell you about the other sympathy card I needed to make. There is a bit of a story behind this one as well - you are welcome to skip it if you like, but I think it worth telling....

My husband and I dated for several years before getting married. While I was in University in London, ON, he finished college and headed to BC to look for work on the coast. That spring, I used my tax return money to pay for a plane ticket to go visit him. Wow - BC is so beautiful - we loved the Island in particular. Since he was staying out there, I decided to join him for the summer. I flew out after writing my last exam in April. For the first two months, we lived in a simple little furnished apartment with a kitchenette across the road from the ocean. Money was very tight as we were living on student wages (luckily I found a job quite quickly as a tour guide at a local historical museum as well as a Nanny job for two young boys in the evenings). As a result, we posted several posters offering to do odd jobs. We met many wonderful people as a result and did some interesting jobs. One of the jobs involved piling wood for an elderly couple in at Horne Lake ( a little inland from where we were staying). The lady, Betty, insisted that I be brought along the next time and perhaps she could find something for me to do as well. Well, to make a long story short, at their insistence, we ended up living in a broken down motor home on the Beach of Horne Lake for the rest of the summer for free. This couple had a hard time seeing us pay rent when there was a perfectly suitable "living spot" available on their beach. In return, we ran errands for them, did some cleaning, piled wood, picked up groceries, etc. and didn't have to pay rent. This made for an interesting, and memorable summer to say the least - no plumbing or hot water, but we did have electricity when the generator was running (we played lots of cards!). Anyhow, we stayed in touch with this couple over the years and let them know when we married and had children, sending Christmas cards each year. We went to see them again while on our honeymoon. A few years ago, I stopped sending the cards since we hadn't heard from them in a number of years and I mistakenly assumed that they were no longer with us. Much to our surprise, my husband received a phonecall from Betty's daughter two weeks ago - we had never met the family. She was calling to let us know that her Mom had passed away in September. She said she had been going through her Mom's things and found all of our cards and photos and knew we would want to know. Wow - I could hardly believe that someone we had never met took the time to call (and write to us) to let us know - it was all because of the cards and letters I had sent over the years. Although I am sad to hear of her passing, I am thankful to have known her - she was a kind, compassionate and giving person. Betty was 81. This is the card that I am going to send to her family.

Hugs,

Shanna

p.s. The stamp is from Stamping Up - Measure of a life