We Remember...

Our Remembrance Day weekend was very full! We had two events planned out East. One was a memorial service on the Friday at Québec High School in Quebec City where Jason and Stephen graduated. The other was the Québec Remembrance Day parade and ceremony in Montreal on the Saturday where my mother-in-law Debbie was asked to lay a memorial wreath. Since I had never been to Québec City and we had only been to Montreal for a few hours for the funeral, Stephen and I decided to use the time to do some sightseeing and to see some of his friends from high school as well. We were to fly home on the Sunday night.

Due to a blizzard in Calgary on the afternoon that we left, we arrived in Ottawa later than expected. Gerry picked us up at the airport. When we got to their house, the 3 of us sat cozily in front of their fireplace and talked until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. Debbie and Rachelle, and the two dogs, Panda and Casper, were asleep by the time we got there.

We got up early Thursday morning and got ready to drive to Québec City that day. Gerry, Debbie and Rachelle were going in one car and Stephen and I were following in the other car. It was a rather uneventful trip through Montreal and up to Québec City. We stopped for lunch at St Hubert restaurant north of Montreal. It was then I realized that I was definitely a minority. The restaurant was packed and everyone was speaking french. Because they talked so fast I could barely understand a word. The menu was in French (which was easier for me because I am better with written french), the waitress spoke french and I had to get Stephen to order for me because I wasn’t confident enough in my limited french skills that I hadn’t used in years since my college french class. It was an odd situation. I did start to practice with Stephen in the car and I did get a little better by the end of the weekend. It was fun to be able to practice but I was also frustrated with myself a lot that weekend. I am now looking for free online exercises to help me out. I’m going to check the library for as well. I have become very motivated to get better at my french because I know we’ll be going back to Québec or Montreal and I want to understand people better and even be able to converse.

We got to Québec City at about 3pm and Stephen started pointing out landmarks from his childhood. We checked in to our bed and breakfast, which was near the high school in an area that Stephen was very familiar with. The rest of his family went to have supper with relatives but Stephen and I went sightseeing in old Québec instead. We had an incredible evening! I was overwhelmed with everything we saw and did there. The weather was great. It was rainy and foggy and dark, which gave the old area even more character, but it wasn’t cold. The rain kept most people away and Stephen and I were the only ones out there most of the night. It was fantastic! The old buildings from the 1600’s and 1700's, the massive wall surrounding it all, the castle, the moat, the canons, the cute shops and restaurants in the old buildings, the pier, the boats on the St Lawrence, the winding cobblestones, the cool (and creepy in the foggy darkness) old tunnels and alleys, the Boardwalk, the Citadel, the Parliament Building, the historical stories of things that happened hundreds of years ago that took place in those same areas where we walked. We stopped for supper in a little French restaurant just below the Chateau Frontenac. They stood at the door inviting people into their warm and elegant bistro. They were advertising a gourmet 5-course lobster dinner that included wine for $30 a person. So we went in to dry off and fill up to have energy to do more exploring. The meal was fantastic. We started with bread, then an appetizer – Stephen had a duck fois gras and I had frog legs (how French is that?!) - then we each had an incredible lobster bisque for our soup, followed by our lobster with vegetables and rice and then a wonderful crème filled, chocolate covered puff pastry. Mmmmmmmm…. wow, was it ever good! Then we climbed the stairs to the Chateau and continued exploring. When we were finally to tired and wet to continue, we walked back to the car, picked up some wine and chocolate and went back to the bed and breakfast. Gerry, Debbie and Rachelle came back shortly after we did and we all piled onto the two beds in mine and Stephen’s room to have some wine, share some chocolate and talk about our evenings. It was a perfect night and definitely one of the most memorable of my life. It was good for Stephen too because he had grown up there, took it for granted and had some not so fond memories of things that had happened there. He wasn’t very excited about going back but when he saw how excited I was about all these things he took for granted, he started seeing it in a new way. I have to say that I love Québec City!

The next morning we went to a very moving memorial service at QHS. It was interesting driving around with Stephen saying, “Remember when I told you about this, well that is where it happened.” Or “Did I ever tell you about this place and this that happened?” It was also very interesting to see the high school and see his and Jason’s pictures on the wall as well as pictures of people he has told me stories about. We met quite a few of his teachers and there were people he grew up with that came to the service as well. Lots of relatives, friends of his parents, people from church, people from school etc. The Black Watch was also there with the Major and the Piper to make a wreath presentation at the service. There were also a lot of unexpected media. The family couldn’t hug someone or wipe their eyes without cameras and lights in their faces. It was a lot like paparazzi. They blocked the view of the ceremony, the guys laying the wreath were tripping over them and there wasn’t enough room for the family when the memorial plaque was unveiled. They were a little out of control but the service was beautiful. The principal, teachers and the students did a fabulous job. One of Jason’s teachers spoke about what kind of man Jason was and how he was a lot like any of these students. The students made several moving presentations and their choir sang. It was really well done. We were all very impressed and very touched. Click here for a newspaper article of the service.

Stephen, Rachelle and I left the high school before their parents did, so we went to fill up the cars and wait for them. Rachelle got a yummy Québec treat at the convenience store called salty cheese. Better than curds actually! When Debbie and Gerry came, we went to see where they used to live just outside of Quebec City. First we went to see their house in Breakeyville. It was a cute little house with lots of trees and a river behind it. Then we went to St Redempteur to see the first place they lived. Then we went for lunch – REAL POUTINE! It was so yummy and the curds were a little melty under the hot gravy and they actually squeaked. Unfortunately, I was still recovering from a cold I had gotten the weekend before and was feeling a little ill so I couldn’t finish it but what I had was very good! Once we had filled up on poutine, we headed to Montreal.

We got into Montreal after 4:30pm. Stephen had planned to call his friend Danny when we arrived to make supper plans with Danny and Danny’s girlfriend Ann. However, Stephen had taken a lot of cough syrup for a very bad cough that came with his cold and once we got to the hotel in Montreal, he fell asleep and slept for about an hour and a half. I ended up in Gerry and Debbie’s room while he slept. Once he woke up he called Danny and we did go out. We went to a Greek restaurant off St Denis street (BYOWine of course) and had a good meal and good conversation. After the meal, Danny called another friend, Jason H, to meet up with him. He was at a place where his brother was DJ-ing that was also on St Denis so we walked down there to meet up with them. It was a very small Rock-a-Billy place that plays modernized oldies. It turned out that there were some other old friends there of Stephen’s (and Stephen’s brother Jason) and we had a very good time with all of them. It was a fun night and I really enjoyed walking around Montreal. It’s a cool city that is very alive and full of character.

The next day Stephen and I thought we had until 9:45 to get ready so we lazed around our hotel room and talked. I finally went to go take a shower when there was a knock at the door. Turns out we had to be ready in 15 minutes to go to the Armoury and meet up with the parade to the Remembrance Day Ceremony. We did make it even though I had to do my makeup in the car. We got to the Armoury as it started to rain a little bit. We were greeted by the Major, Chris Phare, and were escorted into the Armoury. We watched some of the Black Watch parade exercises and then joined the veterans for the parade. The Black Watch soldiers followed us in the parade to the place where the ceremony was being held. We stood there under umbrellas through the ceremonies as prayers were said and my mother-in-law and dignitaries laid the wreaths. It poured rain and got very, very cold! A puddle grew steadily under my feet and they got so cold I could barely walk afterwards. I was very thankful that we were driven back to the armoury after the ceremony and didn’t have to walk the parade route back. It was also a good thing I didn’t have time to do my hair that morning – it curled up with all the moisture and would have been a waste of time anyway.

We spent the afternoon at the armoury talking with soldiers and vets. There were some presentations made to my in-laws in memory of Jason. One of the guys that had worked with Jason in Afghanistan and had just returned home presented them with a video he had made of Jason as well as a plaque. They also had a letter and some e-mails that Jason had sent from Afghanistan displayed. Those brought home again the reality of what had happened. It was a tough couple of days for my in-laws as many emotions were brought to the surface.

Stephen had a few of his friends including Danny meet him at the armoury. We spent a lot of hours there that day and most of it was fun but I got very tired. I was still a little sick. Stephen’s parents left with Rachelle in the afternoon to get back to Ottawa and I wanted to leave when they did but Stephen wanted to spend more time with his friends and we ended up staying at the armoury for several hours. It did turn out to be okay. Major Phare told us that he and his wife were going to a little Mexican place for supper with the Commanding Officer and invited all of us along. The food was good but I was ready to leave once the meal was done so we ended up driving back to Ottawa afterwards – I needed to get back and get some rest.

Sunday was a day of rest. Stephen woke me up that morning and asked if it was okay if we switched our flight from Sunday night to Monday night since neither of us had to work Monday because of the Remembrance Day holiday. I thought it would be a good idea. We spent much of our Sunday in pajamas. It was nice to spend alone time with Stephen’s family. Rachelle left in the early afternoon to get back to Petawawa. The Black Watch was sending a bus load of guys to Ottawa that afternoon to visit Jason’s grave and we planned to go there when they arrived. They called when they got to the cemetery and we met them there. When we walked up to the grave site, they were standing in a half circle around the grave, completely silent, many of them with tears in their eyes. They were passing around a bottle of whiskey that had been given to them in memory of Jason by another regiment. One of the soldiers, Cpl Bryan Hill, a leader among the Black Watch guys and a good friend of Jason's, read a poem as the rest of the whiskey was poured on the grave and then we walked away. The soldier that had just come back from Afghanistan walked up to the grave as everyone left, fell to his knees and began to sob. It was the first time he had been to the grave since he had returned. It was heart wrenching to see. I can’t imagine the things he had seen in his tour through the bloodiest months of Canada’s Afghan mission. We went to a local pub with the guys afterwards where we gave a toast Jason and had some appetizers. Then we went back to the house.

Monday we lazed around the house again and had a good, relaxing time with Debbie and Gerry before we had to head back home. It was a very good weekend. Check out my online photo album to see a little bit more of what we experienced (the link is also in the right sidebar of this page).

Ha-Ha-Halloween

Stephen and I watched Tim Burton's clay animation movie "The Nightmare before Christmas" with my friends the weekend before Halloween so now whenever I think of the word halloween it has to be sung like it is in the movie ... "Ha-ha-halloween".

I don't usually celebrate Halloween but my friends and I began a pumpkin carving tradition last year that we have decided to continue for our Bible Study. I read an article that compared carving a pumpkin with how God works with us. The gist of it is that He picks us out of the dirt of the pumpkin patch, removes the yucky stuff and the seeds of fear, hate and pride from our hearts, puts a smile of joy on our face and puts His light inside us. So we got together the week before halloween to carve our pumpkins. We had one extra because when we were picking out our pumkins we found a very quirky lumpy little pumpkin that we fell in love with. He looked like a little old man and we named him Joe. He's the first one on the left in the picture. My pumpkin is the one on the right.

For Halloween night, Stephen and I volunteered at the church with our friends Sally and Michelle. Our church teamed up with McKenzie Towne Hall across the traffic circle to have a place for kids to go and play games and have activities after trick-or-treating or instead of trick-or-treating. We manned several of the games and had a lot of fun. The kids coming through in their costumes were very adorable. Stephen was in charge of a station where kids stood on either side of the table and tried to blow out a candle with water guns. The first one to get their candle out won. If they won they were then allowed to squirt Stephen with the water gun. Needless to say, that was a popular game. We were exhausted by the end of the evening trying to keep up with all the very excited kids. But it was fun.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were invited to a Thanksgiving party in Ottawa.

When we were in Ottawa for the funeral, we spent time with Lynda, a wonderful woman who was a good friend of Stephen’s family for years and another good friend who had become adopted as “Uncle” Phil when Stephen, Jason and Rachelle were growing up. Lynda has 3 gorgeous daughters (Sarah, Joy and Terri) who are about the same age as Stephen and his siblings and they had all grown up together in Quebec City. Lynda and her family were having a big Thanksgiving dinner and had invited Stephen’s family and Phil’s family to attend as well. So we decided to go.

It was only a few days but it was a good time. The fall leaves out East were beautiful with brilliant colours we don’t have in Calgary. The weather was warm and sunny. We spent Saturday afternoon in Gerry and Debbie’s backyard catching up. On Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, I learned how to make real Quebec sugar pie when Debbie made 4 of them – some for the party and at least one to keep at home for our family. Rachelle and her boyfriend Troy came from Petawawa with Troy’s 2 little girls who are adorable and very affectionate! After talking and playing for the afternoon, we headed over to Lynda’s house. The party was fun and the food was good! It was a full house! Lynda’s 3 girls and their kids were all there. Uncle Phil was there. Stephen mostly played with the kids, working up a sweat and keeping pace with their games of soccer and football. I had a big piece of sugar pie and then finished the last half of Stephen’s piece of sugar pie. Mmmmmm….

On Monday morning Phil and his family came over for coffee and a visit. It was nice to spend some time. Then in the afternoon we went to the cemetery to visit Jason’s grave. We took the long scenic route along the river, through beautiful downtown Ottawa and the government buildings. It was another brilliant cloudless day. The cemetery is beautiful and we took our time wandering through it. Then we went to St Hubert restaurant, one of Stephen’s favourites from Quebec, for a good meal!

Tuesday we still had a full day with them before our flight back to Calgary in the evening. Stephen and I went and picked up some groceries including pate and cheese and real cheese curds that actually squeak, the ones that are used in poutine. I love the squeak in my teeth! Then we spent the day at their house and had supper before heading off to the airport. It was a good weekend! We are looking forward to going back to see them for Remembrance Day.