Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Dear Aunt Ricky, Larry and Patrice, Ronnie and Tina, Neil and Roberta, Shannon and Chris, Ivy and Jeff and families on the passing of our dear Uncle Ian.
First, our sincere condolences to each of you. Losing a husband and father and grandparent is very hard. So many memories come to the surface that it is overwhelming. Our thoughts are with you as you go through this difficult time.
But as our faith teaches us, now is also a time to celebrate a life well lived and to acknowledge Uncle Ian’s life and all that he meant to us. In that way, we realize that although the body corporal may be gone, the indomitable spirit of Uncle Ian will always be with us in so many ways, each one individual and unique, depending on each person.
I thought I would share with you a few of my thoughts, including the impact Uncle Ian had on me, which started from a very early age.
First of all, Uncle Ian and Aunt Ricky are my godparents. In particular when I was young, that meant a lot to me - that we had this special relationship.I figured that if I every became an orphan I had a pretty good deal - because I could go live with them and they had horses, goats, chickens, babies, lots of fields to run around in and just about everything that an aspiring Annie Oakley could want!
I remember very clearly my first trip “Out West” in 1963 and then in 1965 when we had such a good time staying on the farm. Uncle Ian was an exciting guy, he drove us to a lot of neat places – really fast! He was tanned, tall, had a real cowboy hat and buckle and boots, could play a guitar and was as good as any cowboy I had every seen. I learned that there were “Westerners” and then there were “Easterners” and I was in the latter camp (but I thought I should be able to claim some partial status as a quasi– Westerner by virtue of parentage). He was certainly larger than life to my young eyes.
As I grew older, and Uncle Ian would occasionally visit with us in Toronto and we visited out West on two trips in 1983 and 2000, I appreciated Uncle Ian’s love of conversation and a good discussion – or should I say more accurately “argument”. No question – you had to have a lot of stamina as you did the rounds in verbal discourse with Uncle Ian! Which I really enjoyed. In particular Uncle Ian’s love of talking politics. He thought a lot about a lot of issues and like every good Canadian should I believe voiced his views on many subjects and took a great interest in important issues that confront all of us. He had strong beliefs and he was certainly not afraid to voice them, and that taught me a lot. Uncle Ian had a thirst for knowing as much as he could about many topics, and he relished having the upper hand if he knew something you didn’t – “Did you know that, Margo ?” was a constant refrain when he had the edge. And he liked to joke and kid and was always in my mind a lot of fun.
Uncle Ian was his own man. He ran his own show and did very well for himself and his family. His rugged individualism was truly remarkable. He could work hard and he could play hard. He called his own shots as much as anyone can. I have a lot of respect for that, and for me he was an inspiration and role model and a real breath of fresh air.
I know my Dad had a great affection for his brother-in-law Ian and he always enjoyed the times he spent with Uncle Ian and Aunt Ricky, starting from when he first met my mom.
I hope we will keep our connections up with each other as time goes by.
Although I will not be able to be in personal attendance with you on Wednesday for the funeral , my thoughts and prayers will be with you for your loss and for Uncle Ian from afar, and please convey this to Aunt Ricky.
Best,
Margaret a.k.a. “Margot” , Don, Julia and Rob
