I was in Steinbach for an appointment last week and it was a lot shorter than I had expected so I decided to surprise my sister at work before heading back to Winnipeg.\u00a0 My sister is a cook at a popular, and very good, restaurant in town.\u00a0 So I surprised her and ordered something to eat.\u00a0 I sat down at a table and I realized that I hadn\u2019t been to this restaurant since the day of my Mom\u2019s funeral almost a year ago when we had an early family dinner.<\/p>\n
As I sat there I remembered all the times I had been there with my Mom.\u00a0 Going out for afternoon coffee \u2013 or any time of day \u2013 was one of her favorite things.\u00a0 And I was always up for it as well.\u00a0 She always knew someone, had a conversation, a laugh, or just a \u201chi\u201d as she walked by.\u00a0 I looked around at the people in the restaurant and wondered if there was anyone there that day that she would have known.\u00a0 After Mom was sick and unable to go out we would pick up food for her.\u00a0 Mom was friends with the owners and knew all the waitresses so they didn\u2019t mind \u201cbending\u201d the menu for Mom when her tastes changed.\u00a0 And there were days where Mom would get hungry for pie so we would call the restaurant to see what they had that day so Mom could decide and then go pick it up if it was the right kind for that days craving.\u00a0 They were always so good to her.\u00a0 This was also the restaurant where she had fainted and they had taken care of her until my sister got there.<\/p>\n
The other day I sipped my coffee and I looked across at the empty chair and I could almost see her sitting in front of me.\u00a0 Maybe she was in the washroom and would be right back.\u00a0 Maybe she hadn\u2019t gotten there yet and was on her way.\u00a0 Every time I heard the door I expected to see her walk around the corner with a big smile on her face.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t.\u00a0 And she wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 My sister came and sat down.\u00a0 We had a good chat and a few laughs.\u00a0 But someone was missing.<\/p>\n
Now that was a year after her passing and I was only there once.\u00a0 My sister went back to work a few days after the funeral and faced that absence every day.\u00a0 She spoke with Mom\u2019s friends, answered their questions and listened to their memories.\u00a0 I realize that I have been very sheltered here in Winnipeg without the painful daily memories and I\u2019m not sure how my sister did it, especially in the beginning.\u00a0 But as painful as these experiences are they are also cleansing and important.\u00a0 Mom\u2019s illness became so overwhelming it was and still is difficult to remember the times before she was sick.\u00a0 It was refreshing to go somewhere that holds the \u201cbefore\u201d memories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was in Steinbach for an appointment last week and it was a lot shorter than I had expected so I decided to surprise my sister at work before heading back to Winnipeg.\u00a0 My sister is a cook at a … Continue reading