Alec and Judy were my in-laws and the beautiful grandparents to Blain and Brooke.  Little did I know that the first day I went to their home in Greely, that I would end up being their daughter-in-law, living in my first home across the street.

Alec is from Maxville, Ontario and is one of 5 siblings.  Leaving school at a young age to work on the farm, Alec left for Ottawa to make his own way.  He worked on building roads in the Georgian Bay Area.  This work landed him building a road into a small village named Britt.  When he arrived in the late 1950s, Britt was a booming Coast Guard post with large ships arriving.  I could imagine a young Judy and her sisters filled with excitement, dreaming that maybe her prince was on one of the ships or on a construction crew that had just come to town.  Well, indeed he was.

Alec and Judy started dating in 1959.  When Alec’s work was coming to an end, he proposed to Judy and they married on June 17, 1961. They moved back to Ottawa together to build a life of their own.  I remember Judy telling me how scared she was because Ottawa was far from home and so much more developed than Britt.

 

As they settled in the neighbourhood called Green Acres in Greely, it was time to start a family.  First born in 1962 was Alexander, commonly nicknamed Sandy for a Scottish boy.  Next was Norman, born in 1964 and tragically died at the age of 3.  He was one of the first children in Canada to die from Reye’s Syndrome.  It is a syndrome that occurs after a viral infection or by treating viral symptoms with Aspirin.  With the family needing to grow and heal, Donna was a welcome addition in 1968.

While raising a family in a close knit neighbourhood, Alec and Judy were always making their home a hub for friends and family.  Whether it was welcoming all the kids to the pool, helping build a deck for a friend or enjoying their extensive travels.  They ventured annually to various Caribbean locations and Las Vegas and did so with kids and close friends.

One of my greatest honours in life was delivering the eulogy at Alec’s funeral in 2007.   I got to speak about the incredible generosity and kindness of my father-in-law:  how he took care of me after a vicious dog bite, how he came to the hospital with the biggest teddy bear for Brooke when she had pneumonia or how he also brought me McDonalds for dinner when Blain was in an oxygen tent for croup.

I mentioned before that both my mother and Judy died within weeks of each other in 2015.  I felt like I had missed out on saying a proper good bye to her.  She had 7 long years without Alec.  After retiring from her lifelong career at Canadian Revenue Agency, she continued to find purpose with her beloved grandchildren and always made family a priority by showing her genuine excitement when they stopped by for a visit.  Judy would have the front door open before you got there with her usual greeting, “Hi Babe”.

I spent many times and holidays with Alec and Judy and both of their extended families.  I cherish that my kids got to have them as grandparents and hold all those memories of times spent together.