I just got back from a trip to Bathurst, New Brunswick to spend 4 days with my brother's friend, Lorraine. When my brother Johnny passed away last month, my dear friend Maureen insisted I use up her air miles so this enncouraged me to set up the trip. This is the first time I have ever used air miles and was pleased with how easily it worked. I was able to book online, change seats and arrive at the air port with my boarding pass in hand.
Flying from Hamilton rather than the stressful Toronto Airport turned out to be a breeze. Getting there was a pleasant drive through countryide that took the same time; about an hour and a half. I am NOT a frequent flyer, so this was my first experience with small airports and small planes. My first surprise was having to walk out on the runway (no covered hallway) to get on the plane. Since I was sitting in seat 13C I thought I'd be part way down the plane, but I ended up right against the back wall. I was a tad nervous in a plane that seated only 48 people but everything went quite smoothly. When we arrived in Montreal I was worried about finding the next flight but it ended up being on the same floor just down the hall. I had studied the Trudeau air port floor plan on the internet the night before!!! When I got on the second plane, my seat was 5C so I figured I'd be up near the front, but this plane was even smaller. I ended up sitting in about the middle and was able to see the huge propellers out my window. Did I mention the noise!!!
Total flying time from Hamilton to Bathurst was only 2.5 hours but the whole process from door to door took about 8 hours. The cost was $650.00 but a third of that was because of the additional link into the small airport in Bathurst that will accept only Air Canada planes - those being twice a day!!! This is such a boon to the town that they are talking about building a larger air port that would be open to additional air lines. When I came back there were about 30 people on the plane and it took 10 people to admit us in the air port!!! Good old government staffing..... seemed like there was a person about every 5 feet. Some poor old lady in a wheel chair practically got a strip search. Well I was proud of myself for handling the flight alone, having done that only once before when I went to Europe in my early twenties.
When I stepped off the plane I was immersed in a winter wonderland of snow. Lorraine wasn't kidding when she said I was coming to the North Pole. Bathurst has had a record of over 15 feet of snow this winter. It was quite amazing, the most snow I've ever seen. It sure took me back to my childhood days of walking to school along the highway snow banks almost touching the telephone wires. With snow reaching to the eaves you could barely see out her kitchen window. Notice the picture from the garage door to the back yard; Lorraine had to kind of dig into the hill of snow so their dog, Cocoa could climb up into the back yard for a pee!!!
It was wonderful to have 4 days away from home with no responsibilities. Lorriane and I just vegged and visited and watched movies. One night we watched the entire Thornbirds series (4 VCR tapes, 8 hours) and ended up staying up til 5:30 am!!! It was quite funny. We kept saying, "well maybe we'll just start the next tape". I finally found a worthy night hawk match.
It brought a tear to my eye to step inside the front door and see my brother's dwarf slippers, as if he was just out for a few minutes. It was kind of healing and sad to go through the house seeing his train set up and workshop, war collections and many little treasures. I felt his personality and presence and was comforted to see that he had a full and happy life there inspite of his health issues.
Lorraine talked a lot about their wonderful trips and excursions. Johnny had set himself a goal to see certain things and accomplished that goal. This map on their fridge shows most of the states they had been in over the years.
It was so nice to spend some time in their home and meet their friends, Pierre and Jeannine who will accompany Lorraine up to the funeral May 24th. It was great to see that Lorriane is in good hands and handling things OK. She's a real fighter and quite independent. It was also nice to meet her son Timmy and his family. The kids were quite loving and Timmy is a great help to his mom. I saw this first hand as the roof developed a leak while I was there and Timmy crawled up through a small hole and lots of insulation to assess the situation and mop up the water.
I'll be glad when the burial is over, May 24th at Lakehurst Sanday Lake Cemetery. I've pretty much gotten over my anger with Johnny for not telling us of his illness..... something I just have to accept. Johnny will be finally put to rest with his much loved mother, father and sister in a peaceful place, in a wooden box he had made himself. It is comforting to know that he will rest in a place of his choosing in a box he'd made, conquering his battle in the end. I miss this brother of mine but am grateful for his presence in my life and find comfort in the memories that remain.
