About a few years ago on Father’s Day our extended family got together for a big pool swim and BBQ. It had been a few years since Poppie passed and Nannie was moving out of the same house she had lived in since my mom, my aunts and uncle were teenagers. Nannie was going through a tough time and she wanted to see her family out east.

I had just come in from a swim when I saw Nannie in the kitchen preparing the rest of the food while my Uncle Gord slaved over the Grill outside. I asked how she was doing and she said she was fine. Normally I would have just stuck with small talk, but on that day something prompted me to talk to her, and it felt good.

Not only was I able to get a lot off of my chest with what was going on with my life, but we started talking about life; the good and the bad. That day I felt like an adult to her and I could talk to her about anything.

I looked out the window and saw my family having fun swimming and joking around, but all that seemed unimportant.

I was talking to Nannie.