Tragic News, Then A Celebration.

Our Location today is McGregor, Ontario, Canada.

We were fast asleep when Kathy woke just before 1:00 this morning. She was sensing that something just wasn’t right for someone close to us. That is not the first time she has had those kind of foreboding feelings. She was able after a few minutes to drift back to sleep. At 2:20 the phone rang waking us both from a sound sleep. Unlike the wrong numbers we have often received this unfortunately was meant for us to hear. It was our longtime friend Kathie telling us that Ross had passed away. I could only mumble my immediate condolences but I could hear the disbelief at the other end of the line. I didn’t say a word when I hung up but Kathy knew Ross was gone.

By then we were both wide awake and after removing our CPAP masks and needing to calm down we went back to the computers where I returned a call to Kathie. She explained that she had spoken to Ross three hours before receiving the shocking news when he relayed the message that he’d be coming home today. She didn’t get a chance to say good-bye.

Ross in a Family Photo.

I met Kathie and Ross back in 1976 and even attended their wedding in 1978. When our families were growing the children referred to us as aunt and uncle as ours did to them. Ross was always there to lend a helping hand whether it was helping to fix a vehicle, computer or a roof. He was actually my Bestman when Kathy and I got married in 2001. Their entire family became involved in the Canadian Cub Scouts for many years and Ross rose to the position of area director.

Years ago Ross started experiencing pains in his jaw not realizing he was actually having Heart Attacks. That was not considered your typical symptom at the time but medical professionals are still learning. Nearly ten years ago he was shipped from Windsor to the University of London Hospital where he underwent a lengthy rebuild of his heart. Not one to sit idle afterwards Ross became a Security Guard for the Ontario Insurance Board taking him to many places in southern Ontario. Almost two years ago Ross had a massive Heart Attack while on the job in Goderich. We drove his daughter Christine there to pick his car up nearly two weeks later. His medical issues continued to increase until he was sent back to London to stabilize his medication just recently. After being told he’d be returning to Windsor yesterday he had a fatal heart attack around 10:45 last evening. The medical team tried reviving him for nearly an hour before making the call.

It was nearly 5:00 this morning before Kathy and I were tired enough to go back to sleep. We slept until nearly 9:00 this morning and then only spent long enough at Home to have breakfast and checking our E-mails before heading out towards Windsor. We needed to make a few stops before finally arriving at Kathie’s apartment. Having been through this type of loss before both Kathy and I were able to give her some solace as to some of the things that would have to be taken care of and the emotional roller coaster ride she would be traveling through in the near future. Luckily her daughter Christine and grandson Liam were also visiting with her so we were able to have them start focusing on the happier and even funny memories they had spent with Ross.

On our return trip to Home we stopped at Guardian Storage to check on our Mail before going back to our Climate Controlled Storage Unit. Kathy had some papers that she needed to put in the file cabinet as well as picking additional supplies to bring back to the trailer.

Heading up Foster Avenue to Walker Road the traffic seemed to be crawling along slowly. It wasn’t until we got around the bend that we were faced with a three vehicle pileup in the middle of the intersection. Once we got through the congestion it was clear sailing going towards Home. We made a couple of stops first to get the car washed and then stopping at the Zehrs Super Store to pick up some groceries.

When we arrived Home we had to open the rest of the windows in the trailer. The temperature had reached 82 F (28 C) but it felt closer to the century mark. There were wind gusts above 20 MPH that helped cool the trailer down fairly quick. Kathy was kept busy putting the food away as I brought it in from the car. Then I turned my attention on collecting the trash and recycle before taking it to the Park Trash and Recycle Center. I also used the time to park the truck in the Overflow Parking Area as we were expecting guest this evening.

Around 6:00 we headed to the 19^th Hole Restaurant at the front of the park where we were joined by our son Kevin and Daughter-in-law Melissa for supper. This was a reversal of our weekly visit but there was an additional reason. They were celebrating their 20^th Wedding Anniversary. The meal was great and the company exceptional as we always have fun visiting with them. They were shocked about the news of Ross’s passing.

Melissa and Kevin celebrating twenty years.

It was nearly 8:00 by the time we drove back to our site. The ladies each enjoyed an Alcohol-free Margarita while Kevin and I each enjoyed a cold Tallboy. Kathy brought out her Homemade Chocolate Pie that we all enjoyed. They really liked the way we set things up and the peacefulness of the park. They were amazed how Kathy had organized so many food stocks by using the square and rectangular containers in such a small space. I also had a chance to demonstrate to Melissa how to use The Weather Network on the computer for planning any future getaways they may have planned. It was nearly 9:30 when they left because we were all having such a good time.

We’ll sleep soundly tonight because of how little we slept last night. We did tell Kathie that if she needs to talk call any time so maybe we won’t sleep so soundly after all.

“Rest in Peace Ross!”

Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

A fine line by Mark Twain: 

Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.