I felt the urge to share some thoughts with you again this weekend, as I have found myself awash in memories of Easter celebrations from the past. This year it will be quiet again, and I am fine with that. I have become a more private person in the last two years so a quiet Easter weekend should not be too surprising.
First though, my apologies - again - for not resuming my arts reporting duties in this space. I had hoped to get back on the arts beat for some time now but to be perfectly honest with you, I have not found the passion I once had. I hope to reclaim it again as the year goes on but for now, occasional memories in this space are about all I can manage. Sorry about that.
I was thinking today I cannot recall much at all about my last Easter with Sophie in April, 2020. We were all in lockdown of course, so you couldn't go anywhere. I know Sophie would have created an amazing vegan Easter dinner, happily enjoying her break from her regular work routine. And yet, totally unawares of the cancer that was to claim her just four months later.
But I vividly remember our first. It was Easter 2001, also likely April, and Sophie and I were in that wonderful happy state that courtship and new love brings to a couple. I had lost Mom in February 2000, so Dad and I were making our way through special occasions together for about a year at that point. But Sophie offered to make us Easter dinner at her house that year and Dad and I both readily accepted.
I still remember now Sophie telling me she got up about 2:30 in the morning to start preparing her feast, as everything had to be perfect. She planned for us to have an early afternoon Easter dinner, shortly after the noon hour as I recall. This was long before she decided to pursue a vegan lifestyle, so being Greek she made what many Greeks make for special occasions: lamb. It was the most amazing meal I think I had ever had!
Afterwards the three of us took a drive for a late Sunday afternoon, and I remember we went to Niagara Falls for a visit. It was one of those early spring days not unlike today; cool and partly cloudy, but just fine by us. Driving Dad back to his apartment afterwards we both thought Sophie was a pretty amazing cook...and woman. And indeed she was.
Sophie I am sure, slept early and well that night.
My second Easter memory was 2009, and it would be Dad's last. He had grown rather cantankerous about Sophie's formality at dinner in his later years, and I know that caused some friction between them. But Sophie once again created a memorable Easter dinner at our home, being the ever gracious hostess.
Taking Dad back to his retirement home after dinner it was evident his frailty could not be ignored. It was a real effort to get him down the front steps and into the car safely, but we managed. That Easter, also in early April as I recall, proved to be mere days before tragedy struck. Dad took a bad fall at the retirement home and was sent to hospital with a punctured lung due to his ribs, and it was not long before he got pneumonia and he never recovered. His funeral was late April.
Moving to my third Easter memory, I vividly remember early April 2017. I was well employed with Canada Post, we bought a new car in January and had paid off the house the previous year. So it was time to do something daring.
Now, I have to back up a moment here and explain to those who did not know the details of our earlier years together, our marriage actually never happened. Oh in the eyes of the law it did of course, but that never pleased me. We had intended more than once to make it official but for one reason or another it just never happened.
When in the fall of 2016 Sophie dropped a broad hint what her engagement ring should look like, I felt I had my chance. With great secrecy I had her engagement ring custom made to her exact specifications and my plan was to propose on Easter weekend 2017 when we spent the long weekend in downtown Port Hope.
All was in readiness when we departed for our weekend away, and on the Saturday night we stayed at the historic Waddell Hotel right in the heart of downtown Port Hope, with a room overlooking the rushing Ganaraska River. On my afternoon walk prior to dinner I found the perfect spot I would propose that night. There was a newly constructed viewing platform and gazebo directly across from the hotel, overlooking the river.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the hotel restaurant and then, both in need of a walk, we strolled the main street after dark looking at all the storefronts. My hand was jammed in my overcoat pocket protecting the precious cargo.
Returning to the hotel I suggested before we go in we cross the street and view the river from the new viewing platform and there, on bended knee, I proposed and presented her with the engagement ring.
Her first reaction was laughter.
Mirth notwithstanding, the reaction was positive and wedding plans were to go ahead for the next year. But again, for reasons I will keep to myself things were delayed. And then it never happened.
To say I was heartbroken is an understatement. It was all I ever wanted, to fulfill that dream and it was lost forever in August of 2020 when cancer claimed Sophie. And to this day I think of that glorious moment in Port Hope in the late evening of Saturday of Easter weekend. I will never forget it.
So I have plenty of emotions swirling around in me this weekend. Will there be new experiences on a future Easter weekend I will remember fondly? I hope so but right now I just don't know. I still tear up this weekend and I can't imagine that changing anytime soon.
Oh sure, we had lots of Easter weekend trips over the years, including Collingwood more than once and in 2012 a memorable trip to Utica, New York. But none will compare to that golden weekend in 2017.
Five years ago tonight.
I miss Sophie so very much.
Thanks for hearing me out, and I hope you have a very special Easter weekend with you and yours.
Happy Easter!
April 16th, 2022.
