Society

Visiting Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon

There are several kinds of cemetery visitors.

There are the history chasers. . .

There are the ones who find peace among the dead. . .

There are the visitors who are compelled to drop by every relative’s grave that they can find.

And there are those who are not comfortable visiting at all.

I find all of these valid, but I appreciate visiting accompanied by elders who tour me around, especially since I left my birth/home city over 40 years ago – – and have never lived there since.

I spent an hour wandering Woodlawn in Saskatoon, SK, a few weeks ago with an aunt.

There’s my father.

There are my maternal grandparents.

There’s an uncle.

There are folks who babysat me when I was a child.

There are people I grew up with, parents of girlfriends of my youth.

Parents of friends. Folks I knew from church. Folks I knew from Ukrainian circles. Folks I knew through youth choir. . .

There’s a lot of history there. Personal history.

History that will mostly disappear in a few more decades.

But that’s fine.

We put names in stone.

Not many generations down the line will remember or recognize them.

But for those who had personal relationships, a quiet afternoon among the stones can mean a lot, eh?

Society

Shoutout to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon!

I just spent a week in Saskatoon assisting with an aging relative who has been diagnosed with dementia.

A huge thank you to nurses, social workers, doctors, and other staff at Royal University Hospital who have been so helpful, thoughtful, and considerate.

Also a big thank you to family and friends who helped out, gave me and my sister beds, fed us, cheered us up. . . .

It’s wonderful having such a supportive community!

There’s still lots of work to do, but it’s comforting knowing the help is there.

Society

Russia Keeps Up the Disinformation Barrage

Dear Russia,

You keep claiming you are fighting Nazis in Ukraine. Yet you signed a pact with Nazi Germany.

Your disinformation, which is constant, constantly sucks.

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,[1][2][c] was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, with a secret protocol establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Eastern Europe.[8]

The pact was signed in Moscow on 24 August 1939 (backdated 23 August 1939[9][10]) by Soviet Premier and Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.[11]
Society

In Memory Of Cousin Stacy

We lost our cousin Stacy to cancer recently.

Here we are in Saskatoon in our teens. Stacy would come out from New Westminster to Saskatoon for Ukrainian summer school at the Petro Mohyla Institute.

Writing usually comes naturally to me, but that’s all I can share for now. It’s a shock that’s still sinking in.

He was a year younger than me.

Stacy at Ukrainian summer school

Stacy and Paul at Ukrainian Summer School

We’d attend the school for several weeks, and then go fishing and visit the family farm. . .

Damn, I’m going to miss you bro. . . .

Вічная пам’ять

Memory Eternal

UPDATE:

I was Stacy’s wedding photographer. Here’s a shot from the church, him looking serene and confident, along with his lovely bride Julia.
Stacy was not much for social media, but I know lots of relatives love seeing such photos.

Stacy and Julia wedding

Streamkeeping, sustainability, community, business, photography, books, and animals, with occasional forays into social commentary. Text and Photos © Paul Cipywnyk