this morning, as I sat at my desk trying to stay composed, my colleagues all gathered around my desk, and before they could say anything I was crying…  they were all wearing something purple, from clothing to pieces of jewellery… one had on a blue top which reminded me of how she mentally holds people in a blue blanket when they are in need of prayer…

colleagues each wearing at least one purple item…

now you don’t see many pictures of me, but I am a bit purple-crazy… I nearly always wear something purple – have purple highlights in my hair, purple glasses, shoes, jackets, tops, etc, etc…

I was wearing a new top that one of them had given me the day before and she shared the story of going to one of her favourite stores and telling them she was looking for a purple top to wear for this day at work… everyone in the store went on a hunt to find her just the right piece of clothing, and then found something for me as well… and to top it off they gave her a bag of purple jewellery, in case someone didn’t have anything purple…  so now I have a collection of purple jewellery at my desk for days when people have a need to be purple-y…

it was a lovely gesture of solidarity on the part of my colleagues… I already knew that they were all thinking of me… it was a touching moment…

my kids picked me up from work and we stopped to get milkshakes to have with our dinner… George did enjoy a good milkshake… while we was warming up the leftover roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing – and pepperoni pizza – a couple of the boys were outside snow blowing and shovelling…

leftover chicken and pizza… with milkshakes…

Cyndi joined us by FaceTime from Calgary and we all had roast chicken leftovers for dinner… Ron joined us after we were finished by phone from Courtenay…  we gathered in the living room and remembered special things about Grandpa…

everyone would have given anything to have had him with us… we remembered his grumbling, playing in the garden without a shirt, cleaning up after dinner, snow blowing and shoveling, the way he could figure out exactly what was needed to complete a project, and just having him to talk with…  some could barely talk…

Cyndi and Ron with us to remember George…

it was a wonderful collection of memories, and a great way to commemorate this day…