Sojourner's Journee: Remembering a Gem...

Last week we received news that my Uncle Rudy had passed away, the news was received with shock and sadness. It was only the day before I was speaking with my cousin in Ontario saying we would come to Ontario for a visit next year so that we could spend time with him and his wife and to see my Aunt and Uncle in St. Catharines. For several years now I have felt the importance of these visits as they are aging - not really aging as much as just getting on in years and somehow that put a sense of urgency on the time we would get to spend with them which meant making sure we made the trek to Ontario from BC more often.

As long as I can remember, Auntie Ev and Uncle Rudy and my cousins lived in Ontario, which unfortunately meant that we did not get to spend too much time together as we grew up. Aside from a couple of visits that they made to BC while I was growing up, we really didn't get to spend too much time together. It was in my late 20's that I made my first trip to their house while on my way to South America to spend a year working in a Mission School in Bolivia. My visit was met with warm welcome and I immediately felt as though I belonged. My Uncle Rudy and Auntie Ev (inseparable really when I speak of their love for people, their generosity and tenderness) always had an open door... WOW do I feel blessed to be a part of their family. My Uncle Rudy is remembered with warmness and love, he had a wonderful joy for life. Laughter to tears was part of who he was. He was tender and not afraid to show his tears. He loved to work with wood and made some of the coolest carvings and I remember he also loved his garden. He was a man you would meet and instantly like, feel apart of the family and soon would laugh with... he was like home as my husband quickly found out when we were blessed enough to have them in BC for our wedding. He will definitely be missed and as I write I find my eyes welling with tears, but a smile is on my face as I see his face smiling! He is now with our Heavenly Father and I am sure he has already heard his Father tell him well done My good and faithful son, Welcome Home. Can I say Heaven is just a little sweeter! Here are a few of my favourite shots from our last two visits....