I’ve started writing this blog many times and didn’t know where to start.  I decided to simply use words that come to mind when I think of Les.  She is a musician, a person of strong faith, a teacher, a caretaker, a lifelong learner, a maker of killer salads and casseroles, but most importantly, a rock in our family.

Les was the little sister for many years to 3 older brothers.  I think this made her mom’s favourite as she is quite honesty a reflection of who my mother was.  I think she was the apple of my father’s eye because of her incredible talent as a pianist.  There was always music in our home as dad always had some classical concerto playing on a very complex stereo system throughout the house, or it was Les playing on the grand piano in the living room.  As her talent grew, she graduated from University of Ottawa in their music program and is still to this day, teaching a few select students and leading the choir at her church.

She must have been an amazing daughter as it led mom and dad to think little girls were the way to go!

As you can see in this photo where we were featured in the Ottawa Journal (competitor back then to the Citizen) as Family Of The Week.  Les always had Donna and I down by the river we grew up on in Manotick.  I can remember her plucking the petals off if the daisies reciting time and time again, “He loves me, he loves me not.”  I’m pretty sure that was about Ian, her husband now of almost 50 years, or maybe the picture she had of Davey Jones under her pillow.

As we grew up just a few doors down from the Manotick pool, we spent quite a bit of time there swimming and my older siblings swinging from the Tarzan rope under the bridge.  Leslie then moved from swimmer to lifeguard at the pool.  I know this is why I became a lifeguard because I was so proud that it was MY sister in the lifeguard chair and chilling with all the other cool staff in their office.  There was one person in particular I know she loved being with, and that was Ian, the pool manager.  Wait?  Did my sister actually marry her boss?  Indeed, she did.  When I was a wee 6 years old, I got to be one of the flower girls in her wedding.  Married now for almost 50 years, what a tribute to the love story we sometimes only get to read about.  

When I think of Les and how she was such a fun sister, she was also an incredible mother to Jon, Heather and Andrew.  They were raised by a parent who was always teaching, a patient listener to many trying to master the piano, but also a mother who truly understood children.  I remember I had just come home from visiting Les and tucking my kids into bed.  I looked at Blain and saw he had lost a tooth.  Being a 6 year old boy, he pondered where it could be.  “It’s under aunt Leslie’s couch!  I thought there was something hard in my sandwich, so I spit it out and threw it under the couch!”  A quick call to Les and she retuned to excitingly assure that the missing tooth was indeed under the couch.  She found this quite funny and knew the importance of a return investment to the tooth fairy!

To try and describe her talents is impossible.  I can remember going to what I think was her final exam/performance from university.  I would have been about 10 years old at the time and we all went down to the university listen to her performance.  You could feel the pressure in the room as we all sat so quietly in anticipation.  She came out on stage, sat on the bench and began to play.  It was at this point that I saw her incredible talent and strength.  The hours of practice and years of study were played out that day.

As dad passed and then mom, I feel like Leslie really stepped in as the matriarch of the family.  She makes sure that we get together to share in a meal and get caught up on family happenings.  I’ve always relied on my older sister throughout my life and she truly kept the roll of older sister for Donna and I.  She is always caring, thoughtful and quick to laugh and be a silly sister to all of us all!