Skipping a few days, here we are in Sarnia, the family home. We arrived in Toronto on August 3rd, reunited with Robert, mom, Peggy, Jeff and Ian and had a fabulous supper, courtesy of Robert & Jeff. Yes Karina, there is a Santa Claus (okay great chefs which is your version of a Santa Claus).
We left for Sarnia on August 4th and got to the family home on Lake Huron – 150 feet of beach beckoning us all. Our children have great memories of this place, summers spent on the beach, doing chores with Grampa, keeping track of your towels and avoiding the wrath of Amma for bringing the sand into the house.
Upon arrival we had a special treat waiting for us. Outside the front porch windows, mom and dad had planted milkweed which attracts the monarch butterflies. They lay their eggs on the plant which is a great evolutionary approach to the butterfly's survival. When they consume the milkweed it makes them toxic to their potential predators. Memories of thousands of beautiful monarch butterflies arriving in the spring and leaving in late summer filled my mind. I loved the butterflies as a child, not the caterpillars. I now found it all fascinating that we could watch the whole process out the front window. It reminded me of dad telling us how the milkweed was essential to the monarch's survival and once he knew that he made sure the milkweed was protected on their property.
We had 3 stages of the butterfly present out the front window. The caterpillar, the pupa and the adult butterfly. Robert eagerly got his camera out to take numerous pictures of the different stages, the highlight being the butterfly emerging from the pupa.
It all seemed fitting, life goes on even when others have passed on. Dad's physical presence was missing from the house but his spirit was all around. He was here in our memories and in the knowledge he passed on to us, the appreciation of nature and the laughter we all shared. We interned dad's ashes on Saturday, August 7th. We had a beautiful sunny day, family, close friends and stories to tell. What more could we ask for – thank you dad, I love you.
