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Friday & Monday



As I had written in my last blog post tenant Judy Ashkewe had passed away and I was waiting for an announcement when and where the funeral will be held.  Finally I got word on Friday morning from tenant Joanie the service will be held at a local funeral home and we had a few hours to get ready.  Wow!  Talk about a close call.  Anyway I showered, shaved, slapped on some cologne and retrieved my black suit from the closet.  I want to look and be respectable as I say goodbye to a friend.
After the funeral I heard the ladies planning a traditional native luncheon on Monday in memory of Judy Ashkewe at the KMHC community room.  Will UNH’s put up a fuss!  I sure as hell hope not or there will be an uprising.  The idea is to invite all tenants to the luncheon without saying it’s a potluck affair.  As most people of the world know when you go to a post funeral gathering you bring food.

Fast forward to Monday morning.  I’m not much of a cook so I decided to rely on the frozen food section at Food Basics grocery store.  I bought a large size lasagna popped it in the oven for 90 minutes and Voila!  It’s was done.  It was still piping hot when I delivered it to the community room.  The ladies were in the process of food display so I left the lasagna tray with them and went outside.  While sitting in the courtyard I invited staff members Teresa Workman and Mellissa Wissner to join us, Phil the maintenance guy also showed up.  There was some confusion UNH’s staff member Elizabeth wanted to include her program with the luncheon.  I didn’t think that was a good idea it would ruin the luncheon mood but I didn’t say anything.  Native spiritual leader Yvonne Maracle begun the event with kind words and a prayer to honor Judy to a full capacity community room.  The food tables were full of goodies ie: salads, sandwiches, desserts and of course my lasagna.  Judy’s son Scott and his wife arrived and sat at our table.  Excellent food and good conversation was abundant at our section.  I mentioned to Scott that I’ve known his family since I was a wee lad and promise to e-mail some amusing stories I remember of his grandmother and aunt.
The luncheon is probably the best social gathering I’ve had since moving to KMHC.  Everybody was in a friendly mood and no outbursts from Dean that would have ruined to occasion.  At the end of the feast we all went outside to the courtyard for a Native smudge ceremony.  A special thank you to Native spiritual leader Yvonne Maracle for being the perfect hostess, she now has a new admirer by the name of Tony King.  :)

Tk


Location: Hamilton, ON, Canada

Comments

Happy said…
Yes, it was quite lovely. It reinforced what ive felt all along which is that our place has huge potential.I for one think we need to capitalise on these nice feelings and hang tigether
May 16, 2017 at 9:41:00 PM EDT
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