This was the table of specially selected memorabalia from Bob's life which were displayed in the foyer of the church--things like family pictures; a treble clef; books we read as a family; Bob's cap and gown and framed pictures of CBC/CTS in Regina; books on leadership, board governance, mentoring, spiritual growth, and of course "Roberts Rules of Order"; a gavel given to him by the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges; a wood carving of an elephant (which is a story in itself--the large ears symbolic of Bob's unique "listening skills"); his Bible; a pot of our precious "Rosebuds"; and then a book we gave our grandchildren a year ago entitled "Someday Heaven"--to help prepare them for Papa's passing; and finally the bold assurance of the reality of his presence now in HEAVEN.
Glenn Brooks, former CBC grad and friend, created the Pictorial Tribute which was shown at the service and can be seen on the "vimeo" recording. That was a wonderful "museum of memories"--especially for our family.
We made so many wonderful new memories as a family as we gathered together for many days following the Memorial Service. Some good friends made available to us a large home on a ranch just 20 minutes from White Rock. All of our children and grandchildren slept there and every evening for five nights anywhere from 14 to 45 of us gathered there for dinner and the evening. Ladies from our church provided fabulously delicious meals for us every single evening!! We felt so loved and blessed!!
Our daughter-in-law Ann's parents, Mun and Esther Park, even came from Toronto.
The Thiessen family--Bob's sister Lois and her husband Duane, son Matt and Rachel with their two little girls Gabby and Sophia, and daughters Alison and Anita
The Becker-Bouma family--Bob's sister Vi and her husband Jerry, Vi's son Bart, and Jerry's son Burke and his wife Tanea, and his daughter Carrah
Bob's Auntie Ruth Thomas and two of her children--Wendy, and Ian and his wife Glenys and three of their five children--Bronte, Rhys, and Eliza
Bob's cousin Lyle Gabrielson and his wife Elaine with Lois and Duane
My cousin Bill Parsons from Gibson's
What wonderful memories we made as we ate together, played games, and shared our lives and dreams with one another. We have an amazing legacy that we want to preserve for the next generations, so have decided to plan annual family gatherings from now on!!
These are just a sampling of the wonderful time we had together.
But . . . we so much missed our dad, papa, brother, uncle, cousin, friend, and my beloved Bob!! We couldn't help but wonder what he was experiencing in heaven at the same time--whether he could see us and feel a part of the gathering and feel our love. We all certainly carried him in our hearts.
Just two days before Bob passed away, we were talking about heaven with our nurse friends Jill and Chris, and also the home care nurse who came to visit for the first time. The Bible gives us glimpses of what heaven will be like and we were imagining what God has prepared for us. At one point Bob mentioned a quote from the concluding page of C.S. Lewis' book "The Last Battle", the final book in his Narnia series, that alludes to heaven. I went to take the book off the shelf and found the section Bob was referring to and read it aloud:
"And as He (Aslan) spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the thìngs that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever; in which every chapter is better than the one before."
Wow!! The wonder that awaits those who know Jesus. Bob's experiencing that right now--and it's even better than our family gathering last week!!
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