Author: Ron Baker

Sunday, July 1st.  I attend our local church service and escape as soon as possible to catch a flight to Winnipeg.  My arrival time is plenty early and I sit in the waiting room.

Our flights gate is changed, so I move.  The flight arrives and we all anxiously await boarding.

The radar is not working on the plane.  Storms and lightning are expected.  The flight is a “no go” – cancelled.

We are all shifted to the next flight out in four hours – to arrive in time for me to get to my hotel by midnight!

In between times, I sit, read and chat.  First with a Pakistani Muslim family, then with a the Chaldean (Iraqi) Church Bishop for Canada, then with a newly married couple from Steinbach, Manitoba, then with a Bahai youth leader.

Imagine what I would have missed!

July 1st was Jill’s birthday.  As you have been reading this blog, you have seen my journey after having become a widower on May 17, 2012.

For most of the time, I have been occupied with various activities.  And for the next few weeks this will continue.

But July 1st interrupts my thoughts.  I understand anniversaries that people rehearse each year.  I also realize that this is an opportunity to grieve and to remember.

At the same time, my desire is to press forward.  I take this as a time to look at my life and see a new “birthday.” 

Where does God want to take me now?  What would be honoring to God and be a memorial for me of Jill’s almost four decade presence in my life?  These are questions that will occupy my day – and hopefully forward my life!

Well, earlier this evening I was off to a reception for a couple Jill and I had done  pre-marital counseling with.  The hall was just a few blocks away.

I walk in the door and see some local people.  They look as though they are the only familiar faces in the crowd.  So I volunteer to sit with them.  Then I head off to get some punch, and begin to encounter others.

Sarah had mentioned her parent’s friends.  Particularly this small group that had stayed together over the years – along with their families!  They no longer lived in the same town, but they kept up contact.  The “group” and their kids showed up!

And in the midst of this group.  The Cappelles – a couple who had worked with our music ministry in Prince Albert.  And my cousin Norm Stonehouse, and his family.   Well, I abandoned this other couple (they had also run across people they knew) and headed off to sit with my cousin and his family.  What fun!

As the reception came to the nine o’clock hour, I slipped away to visit with other friends who were passing through town.  They had been part of our music ministry in Prince Albert.  Along with another family we have known for years, we laughed, and discussed, and condolences were shared.  I was refreshed.

Now how good is that!  Don’t abandon your friends – they will prove your support in the years ahead!

Jill loved red bushes and trees.  This past week, in Ontario, my morning walks saw me pass a multitude of these!

I came home and wandered into our back yard.  A few years ago,  in our “garden space”, we had left two red bushes.  Just for the sake of having red bushes. 

They were not seen.  They were trimmed a few times.  The rototiller had to carefully bypass them. 

Overall they needed a new home.

So today, I went out and moved one.  To the front yard flower bed. 

Will it take root?  We’ll see. 

But at least now, in plain view is a red bush.  A reminder and an opportunity for a new beginning.