It's all RELATIVE!

"When there's a WILL there's a way"
… or as my cousins say…
"When there's a WILL there's a RELATIVE!"

"The love of family is life's greatest blessing."
-Author Unknown

"A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another."
-Buddha

I was happy to help do the set up for my Uncle Charlie's funeral last week.
He was always such a fun lover… like a kid at heart…
here is one of his famous signs he made…
with 3 of his many windup toys in front!

My 3 cousins… Bev, Pat and Gwen
Rocking on while doing the set up
for their dad's funeral last Wednesday.

My cousins bequeathing my uncle Charlie's sticker collection
to me… he and I share the love of stickers!!!!…
it's all RELATIVE!!!

The sun was shining brightly the day we lay my dear Uncle Charlie to rest.

Jana and Mariah just before my uncle's funeral.

Uncle Charlies 4 precious great grandkids all dressed up fancy
at his funeral.

Mariah and my dear Auntie Mary at the lunch following Charlie's funeral

Mariah trying on some silly glasses on display at my uncle's funeral…
she said they were the year she was born… 2006!

Mariah snapped this photo of me and my brothers at my uncle's funeral…
I love that the power point behind shows Uncle Charlie looking over us!

Cousins, John and Gwen following funeral, at the lunch.

Cousin, Bev with Auntie Betty and Auntie Mary.

My nephew, Jeff, and cousins Dawn and Steve along with my Aunt Betty.

Mariah enjoying Uncle Charlie's display at the funeral …
she enjoyed strumming his guitar!

Cousins, Bev  and Gwen with their brother-in-law, Dennis…
at a family supper at" Jerry's Food Emporium"
following my uncle's funeral.

More family fun at Jerry's restaurant!

more RELATIVE fun at Jerry's!

Another table filled with relatives at Jerrys!

More Relative fun at Jerry's!

Some pics of the display at Uncle Charlie's funeral

More RELATIVE CELEBRATIONS… at a pizza night here on Friday!




This blog post revolves mostly around a week spent with RELATIVES!

My dear Uncle Charlie passed away on Friday, March 21st, and last week we spent much time gathered with family to celebrate his wonderful life. Uncle Charlie was my last living uncle…and my favourite one, too, I might add!
Because I spent a lot of time with him and his family in my growing up years I got to know him so well. He was my dad's big brother… and he was always the family clown!


It is always hard to say good bye to family members, but it is comforting to know they are reunited with family who passed before them. We will all reunite in the end!

I love the chances we get to gather with relatives… and I say this often, but it seems to take the out of town relatives coming to town to bring the in town ones together! I so enjoy the times we can spend together as family… I think we have such a fun family to spend time with, too!

My cousins, Pat, Bev, Gwen and John gave such a lovely tribute to their dad at his funeral last Thursday. All of their speeches were once again reminders of just how important good family values are in life. It is nice to recognize that, too.


I feel so blessed with the relatives I have and feel so many connections to them on so many levels. I think Uncle Charlie and I shared many similar passions… such as the love of life… humour, music, entertainment,… and of STICKERS!
I felt so blessed to receive his famous sticker collection, when setting up a display at his funeral last week, too. I will cherish it and think of him when ever choosing one from his collection to use on whatever special project I am using it on!


As we say goodbye to March and head toward April…it now becomes busy with dance competition season.
This week I will be attending two local competitions, and next weekend Mariah will compete for her very first time, too!


I am thinking of my dear friends, Vern and Brenda today.
Vern's father earned his angel wings just last night…
I am sending them lots of love and support through this sad time of loss.


My cousin Bob Horvath posted a video called
Uncle Charlie to youtube… such fun memories from their home movies of RELATIVE times of us growing up.
The little dancer near the start of it is my daughter
(at age4)…so fun!


Cousin Bob has a Birthday coming up this week, too…
so wishing him a Happy Birthday!


I wrote a little poem in honour of my dear Uncle Charlie,
which will be my poem of today's blog post…


Who is Uncle Charlie?… to me, a favourite one,
He was a clown… a character… and always such fun!
I spent lots of time with his family and him,
Those times were filled with memories to the brim.
Montgomery Place was like a second home for me,
I spent so much time there, happy as can be.
Charlie always loved to be front and centre stage, 
Regardless of the time, the occasion or his age.
Windup toys and stickers… and big smiles were a part
In his life, he truly was a great big kid at heart!
Birthdays… Christmases… Anniversaries, galore,
We celebrated many together and much more.
He loved a celebration and even more than that,
He always was so very proud to wear a party hat!
Family was important… to him, his was so good…
He was a socializer… did some travel when he could.
He had a lot of collections… of which he took such pride,
He shared with great enthusiasm, which he couldn't hide.
On my wedding day, I was honoured and must boast,
And thank my Uncle Charlie, for the lovely bridal toast.
It truly meant the world to me,
 the kind words that he shared,
It really was a testament of just how much he cared.
He meant the world to many, and I am only one…
He gave his life the very most until his life was done.
His memory will linger on… for many, many years,
The songs he sang… the hats he wore…
the times he shared with dears.
It takes a very special guy, to make those impacts last,
I know we all have moments from his long and loving past.
Today I want to celebrate a life lived with such zest…
My dearest Uncle Charlie…
oh he truly was the BEST!