It was bound to happen, sooner or later, but my Aunt's passing on January 20th afternoon was still a shock. I had come to know her well, since I became her Mandataire, as they say here in Quebec. I knew what made her happy, like taking her out shopping or going to the restaurant, and even just spending some time with her at the two residences she lived in since her health started failing in April 2016. I already miss our telephone conversations and our outings.
Aunt Thérèse was a very well organized individual and very professional. She had been proud of her accomplishments in life, and did appreciate the value of an education. The only major disappointment in her life had been the passing of her sister, my other Aunt, Fernande, in the early nineties. My Aunt had pre-arranged her funerals and had taken care to write down her wishes. I just had to follow up. As a result we had a quiet, yet respectful, service, on February 13th at Paroisse Notre-Dame du Perpétuel-Secours in Sherbrooke, accompanied by a violinist and a cellist who played beautifully the pieces my Aunt had chosen. It turns out the violinist had met my Aunt many years ago and she had asked her to play at her funerals; the violinist retained very nice memories of their meeting and had been delighted to have been contacted. I did speak a few words in my Aunt's memory at the service. Aside from Gary and me there was in attendance my cousin Denyse and her husband, Yves, Louise Cloutier, a good friend of my aunt's in the past and the person appointed responsible to handle the Estate, and another very good friend and past co-worker, Carole Cloutier and her husband. To my very pleasant surprise, Phil and Fer also showed up from Montreal. The next and final trip for my Aunt will be to have her ashes interned at the family plot in Mont-Joli. My cousin, Denyse, is responsible for that event and it will be taking place in early June.
MEB
