As I unpacked a box which I’ve held onto since my childhood years, I uncovered old school records and Boy Scout items such as my original beret along with souvenirs of the jamboree held on PEI in 1977. As the memories came rushing in, my attention was suddenly drawn to a tie with a knot which I remember committing to never breaking.
I went back to that year when my uncle Alphonse first got married, I remember the panic in not knowing at the time how to make a proper tie knot and the person who came to my rescue was his bride to be, Veronica. With her tragic passing just a few short years later I decided that I could not undo what she had done for me on that day.
For me, this was symbolic of much more than a tie knot, but a symbol of who she was as a human being. Her ability to make you feel so special that you knew instantly that only from God and through her could such a person emanate such a presence. I still to this day cannot seem to shake off the loss of such a wonderful human being and believe it to be truly a blessing that knowing her for just that small period of time has enriched my own life.
How a person makes you feel being memorable was true in my case. Her lasting legacy and this tie with its knot still very much intact will stay with me until I and everyone else who knew her gets to meet again.
