weekend in edmonton

june is already shaping up into a whirlwind month. this coming weekend is my sister shareen's wedding, last weekend was my grandma's funeral and i only have 10 er shifts, some committee meetings, a research presentation and a graduation banquet left in my residency. kylie only has 5 more school days and a few exam supervisions and then she is done as well.

the funeral was last weekend in edmonton. it was a happy time, as my grandma was 97 and died in bed while 2 of her daughters sang hymns at her side. our family gathered from all across the continent, got together for a private dinner after the funeral and spent the next day at my aunt and uncle's sheep ranch. grandma was survived by her 8 kids, 30 grandkids and 50 greatgrankids plus all the signifigant others. when we all got together under one roof it was quite a brood.

watching everyone together really underscored my grandma's influence as the matriarch of a family that she helped bring to canada from holland. she prayed for every one of us every day, wrote cards and letters to family and friends with astounding regularity and pertinence, kept herself busy reading her bible and other religious books (some written by her sons), was a great cook (although i learned at the funeral that she perfected this skill later in life after practicing on her children) and a loving, accepting and welcoming person. kylie and i will always miss her.


everyone seemed to have a fantastic time at my uncle and aunt's ranch afterwards. it was a beautiful alberta day (kylie and i had forgotten how big the sky is there) and we visited, ate, played bocce, played soccer, went on a hayride and wandered around making speeches to the newborn lambs and their attendant (raptly attentive) mothers.

kylie also shot a gun for the first time and was 3 for 3 on a coke can at 20 meters.