Carousal of Life

A couple of months ago my mom's two aunt's inquired about planting a tree in memory of my dad instead of doing a donation.  After some discussion we decided to have a tree planted in the park beside the old carousal in Port Dalhousie.  We've all been there with my dad at some point and the park and beach will be there forever so there is no risk of the tree being cut down in the future. 

My aunt's selected a Little Leaf Linden and it was finally planted a couple of weeks ago.  Mom, Geoff, Dawn and I headed over to spend a few quiet minutes together and then we went for lunch, just the four of us. 

We are all still struggling along.  His death has left us with a huge void and feelings we don't really know how to address.  But the simplicity of a tree, to me anyway, is magnificent.  It's just a tree, and I know it's not him and he's not likely to be hanging around it, but for some reason I find comfort knowing it's there.  We haven't buried my dad's ashes yet.  My mother is comforted by having him with her at home.  So aside from the tree (or my mom's house - where I think it would be awkward to just show up to and ask for some private time with his ashes so I could talk to him) I don't have a place yet where I can just go and sit and talk to him, even if I just talk in my head.  So for the next while, until a decision is made on whether or not we're burying him, I'll pick the tree as our meeting place.