Today, I stood barefoot next to a pool in the backyard of a beautiful family that gathered to celebrate the life of their loved one. Despite the cause of death, all families are casualties of Covid-19 if they were not allowed to hold vigil during...
On some level, despite the unprecedented impact of this pandemic resulting in fear, sickness and sadly greed, Covid-19 will ultimately prove to be one of our grandest teachers and desperately needed recalibration of life gifts. Right now, it feels like the most obnoxious uninvited guest...
When Max’s wife asked me to lead her husband of 35 years Celebration of Life at their family farm I was elated. Yes! Yes, I thought this is exactly how it is supposed to happen!!! This farm was alive in itself with each barn board...
It has been said, and it is true, everyone you meet is struggling. Death and loss come in many different forms. It can be the straight up death of a loved one or it can be a loss of a job, or a divorce. It...
Paul started his journey holding on to his Momma’s apron strings for dear life until one day his spirit whispered in his ear, “Let go buddy, this time around is going to be a spicy ride.” Paul was blessed with velocity. In his youth, his...
........it’s the pain that everyone will feel once I am gone. My family is everything to me and it’s honestly like we are an appendage to one other. We are each other’s heart beats. We need and rely on each other in so many indescribable...
Jean made her way into the world along with her twin brother Jack on a blustery Winnipeg winters day in 1924. Eight other siblings completed the brood and within 5 years, along with their parents, they’d all board a train destined for Windsor, in search...
The word makes you shudder. The thought makes you cringe. It’s a Pavlovian response of pain when anyone comes in contact with the word funeral. Thank you for your service dear word but you are now dismissed….. Death is apart of life, just as birth is. ...
John packed smiles and chit-chat into every corner of his day. We always hear about the person that “everyone loved” but sometimes it’s not until that person is gone that their impact on the world is registered. John was taken way too soon. He had...
Kevin, a fit mid 50’s magazine editor approached me after one of my services with a half-hearted smile saying he’d totally change his “no funeral service” motto if I’d agree to write and deliver his life story. His body language transitioned to indicate he was...