Métis Musings

Something that has been top of mind for me lately, is how in an instant, you can lose someone you thought would be around forever. In other, more poetic words, you never know how much time you have.

Yesterday marked 2 years since my aunt Sandy passed away. Sandy wasn’t actually a sibling to either of my parents. In fact, she wasn’t related to me by blood at all. She and her husband Donald lived across the road from my grandparents’ farm in the country, but more importantly, she was my mom’s best friend. And she would one day become the mom to one of my best friends – my cousin Jessie (hereafter referred to as sister-cousin haha).

So many of my early memories have Sandy in them, especially when she was pregnant with my soon to be bestie. I remember going with Sandy and my mom to the hospital for an ultrasound appointment and Sandy explaining to me that they were going to tickle her belly, and if she felt ticklish, then it meant the baby was healthy.

Not long after that, Jessica Dawn was born and to say I was thrilled was an understatement. It was going to be like having a real life doll!

As Jessie got older, we went through our ups and downs. There was that time period when Jessie came to church on Sunday with my family and I. She would wear a pretty little dress, accessorized with a little pink, cloth purse filled with Kleenex and two quarters. I was just starting to make friends at school and some of the girls from my class were in Sunday School with us and so I kept running away from sweet little Jessie and her bowl cut to seem ‘cool’ to my new friends.

Once I realized she was actually pretty cool, we started spending all of our time together.

We were lucky that our moms were pretty fond of hanging out together too which meant we got to have lots of sleepovers and see each other almost every weekend.

One of our favourite outings was shopping at Heritage Place Mall. We would eat lunch at either Smitty’s or the Zellers Restaurant, and Jessie and I would each get to pick out a toy at the Buck or Two. Do I have any of those toys left? Probably not. But what I do have are the memories of laughter and love during those days together.

Another favourite tradition was a mini vacation in Sauble Beach. We were close enough that we could have driven there and back in a day but we’d all be exhausted and this way our moms could relax a little too. We would rent a hotel room and spend the weekend going back and forth between the beach and the hotel pool. To this day, I get emotional walking along that beach and remembering the joy those weekends brought.

Truthfully, I could go on about things I love about Sandy and I probably will another day. But for today, I just want to honour what a great role model she was to me when I was growing up. Just to say her name out loud and intentionally remember the sound of her voice.

Hold onto those people in your life who fill you with warmth and comfort when you think of them. And tell them you love them. A lot. Make it awkward.

I love you! ❤️