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Yesterday 28 September I got a call from my cousin Gilbert in Montreal letting me that his mother, my aunt Laurence had died aged 92 after a very long illness. She was the elder sister of my mother and my little sister reminded me that our mother had died 5 years ago on this day.  What a strange coincidence, both died in their sleep after long illnesses. I have two aunts left on my maternal side, one is 93 and the other is 88.

My aunt did not want any funeral service and her ashes are to be buried in the same cemetery in Saint-Laurent beside her son Louis and her ex-husband Jacques. There will be a memorial service some time in the future.

Such news brought back a lot of memories of childhood and it seems almost unbelievable that aunts and uncles all aged and now are gone. In my mind though time passed I never really thought of them as getting old, they seemed frozen in time.

I remember my aunt Laurence coming to visit me in Chicago back in 1994 when I was working at the Canadian Consulate in the Prudential building. But I do not remember much more than us going to a steakhouse for dinner.

Today more of the same, only 38 days left in the campaign. I can’t wait for it to end. I fear the vote will be very split with 4 candidates on the ballot. Two of the Mayoral candidates opened their campaign offices today with sandwiches and cake, photos and a few speeches. The weather is still pleasant for canvassing, some people are interested in the elections other could not care less. Apathy is out there and it is difficult to counter, there is a belief that voting is meaningless. A lot of young people are either mildly amused or indifferent to the elections, I am trying to point out to them the difference they can make by getting involved, not an easy task.

Win or loose, I want to take a vacation afterwards, we are discussing where we might go. Lisbon, Portugal came up as a possibility. Just a week might do a world of good.

Thanksgiving in coming up on 8 October, I think we are doing turkey, no stuffing, some vegetables, a pumpkin soup to start and apple pie for dessert, lots of apples this time of year.