Well,I for one was shocked speechless last week upon opening an email from Spence. The tears came before I finished reading it and flowed for awhile.
Last April,Spence,Jeremiad and myself went to the Foothills hospital to visit Garry ( my first time meeting him). Upon arrival in his room,we were greeted by his mother with the biggest,sweetest hug and light kiss on my left cheek I’ve ever gotten. Garry gave us the biggest smile I’ve seen someone give to total strangers and then his right arm reaching for handshakes,and then a solid man hug. Right then,I was sitting in my living room. That’s how I felt.
I can’t speak for Spence or Jeremiad but I immediately felt that this man was a friend i just hadn’t seen in a few months. All
My nerves fell to the floor and I was relaxed immediately. For 3 hours we talked Corvettes. We talked farming. We talked about cancer. His Mother talked about my eyes !! Lol. She said I have beautiful blue eyes. I joked it was the reflection of me staring at my car so much !! We talked about a lot of stuff We talked about me driving the big 8 wheel tractor he has. He said I could “have at it”. I told him I would take him up on that.
For those of you who never met the man and only “saw” him here, you missed out on a first class guy. The 3 hours I sat in that room were by far the best 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone who has welcomed me into their life. Regardless of the circumstances,Garry was a fierce,tough,determined and focused guy. He was more than willing to bring us in to share his story. I can’t tell you how many times I came close to losing my tears. Very close a couple of times.
And Murray,like you.... I’m having a really hard time with this. It doesn’t take me long to well up when I think of our visit with him. I’ve cried a few times this week already as well as,,,,,well now. Just a little mind you.
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He was first class in every aspect of the word. My thoughts and tears go out to his Mother. I saw the pride she had in her son and I saw the pride and thankfulness she showed us for making the effort to come see her son. More than anything,I’m grateful and humbled to be a small part of some comfort to him. I certainly hope we brought something to him because I left there with something he gave me. He fought hard. Tougher than a lot of “us” by far. A tough Alberta Farmer.
RIP Garry. You will be missed and thought of often.