As I write this column, on a hot and sunny afternoon in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., today is the 30th wedding anniversary for Tracy and I, and we are here to visit her family and enjoy a couple of weeks of vacation.
Our daughters are driving out from Regina as I write this, as one of them had to work until closing on Sunday, but otherwise they’ll be here with us for at least this week. One of our goals while here is for our kids to see Tracy’s parents, who are now living in a home, and we wanted them to have the opportunity to see their grandparents while they’re still with us.
The trip has a lot of emotions around it, for many reasons. It was difficult for Tracy’s parents to have to be put under care, and for them to move out of the house that Tracy’s father and his brother literally built themselves, just the two of them, in the mid-1960s, at the crest of a hill in the village of Echo Bay, Ont., which is just a 15-minute drive east of the Soo.
(Fun fact: Echo Bay is famous for being the home of the artist of Canada’s loonie dollar coin.)
It’s odd, and even a bit surreal, being in the house, where we’re staying during our vacation; not only are Tracy’s parents not here, but about 90 per cent of all their things are gone too. There are a few things left, such as photos and other keepsakes that we’re going through, and a few things we can make for meals and so on – but everything else that I associate with the Golders and their life here is simply gone.
There have been many occasions when we’ve visited for a summer vacation, and before I married Tracy, I came out and visited with her family here at Christmas-time. There have been some nice relaxing times on the deck, watching hummingbirds at the feeder, drinking coffee on a still, sunny summer morning.
It’s hard for Tracy to be in to the house she grew up in and shared many happy times with her family, and to know that after this, once the house is sold, she will never again be able to come here. We will spend part of the time with her brother Blake and his wife in the Soo, and we will drive out to the town where Tracy’s parents are and have a visit with them. I’m hoping also we can do family photos with all of us here at the site where we had our outdoor wedding 30 years ago, on St. Joseph’s Island, at a place called The Sailors Encampment.
And, I suppose a part of the time we’re spending here is to help us come to terms with the changes that come with aging, in this case, as Tracy’s parents deal with dementia as well as some physical ailments that have combined to make outside care a necessity for them. I’m hoping, too, there will be a personal connection with family that will make this trip memorable and worthwhile for all of us.
