Over this past year I have been keeping a journal of sorts, about Dad's death and my grief journey. Some of those thoughts made their way into a piece I wrote, that appears in today's Ottawa Citizen.
Click
here to read it. In the piece I wrote about a special day at Dad's curling club, the Navy.
Here are a few photos to accompany my story:
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| Dad, helping with the harvest at the family farm in Saskatchewan in 1949. This was after he moved to Ontario. For several years he took the train home at harvest time to help out. |
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| At Ottawa's Glebe Curling Club in the early 50's. Peter Darcovich, Dad, Merle Brown and Bob McKenzie. They all worked together at the federal government patent office. |
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| At the Navy Curling Club, December 20, 2019. We each wore one of Dad's curling sweaters. |
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My siblings and I with our mother, the new trophy and Dad's last curling broom.
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Hello Mary Ellen - What a beautiful article. Not just about the curling club and what it meant to your Dad, but about your reflections on how others respond to the grief of others. When my mother died a few years ago, I finally understood that asking the grieving person how they are faring is the right thing to do even when your initial thought is "oh, I don't want to make them sad". I met you at the Steve Kot Christmas Spiel in my capacity of President of the Navy Curling Club. I did not personally know your Dad but I know he was much loved by his cohorts at the Club. I was struck at the Christmas event by your family's grace, warmth and your mom's absolute spunk. I wish you and your family well on this journey. Thank you for writing this very moving article!
ReplyDeleteSincerely
Stephanie Duggan
Dear Stephanie
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your kind words.This means a lot to me. Thanks again for all that you and the club have done, to honour Dad. You've got a great group there at the club.
Mary Ellen