Memories

Jocelyn Hanna

Memories

Entries in order of author's last name... E-H:
Enright, Joey                         Froese, Nik                                 Gascoyne, Owen                       Gascoyne, Sim
Gibb, Gemma                        Greenfield, Elaine & Oliver         Hamilton, Lex                          Hamon, Rich
Hanna, Jocelyn                      Hanna, Paul                                Hayes, Krist                             Hayter, Jeff & Viv

Joey Enright

Owen Gascoyne

Sim Gascoyne

Gemma Gibb

Elaine & Oliver Greenfield

Lex Hamilton

Krist Hayes

Nik Froese

Rich Hamon

Jeff & Viv Hayter

Paul Hanna

So I�ve finally sat down to write something.  Wilson and I were good friends.  I remember he was always there to help...he would just show up in summer and help us work on the deck, without being asked to.  Any time my sled was broken, he'd give me a ride home, whether he was busy or not (anyone who's laughing about my sled, please punch yourself in the arm for me).  We spend countless hours in his and my basement working on the archives and listening to music, or trying to get cd's done for people.  Or we'd be fiddling with some piece of junk computer hardware we'd picked up somewhere.  When we weren't doing that, we were trying to get decent speakers working properly, or rewiring the sound system in his car.  And trying to teach him to read the manuals for his car was always fun, too - we once spent an hour and a half trying to figure out why the idle speed wasn't changing on his car when we adjusted the idle screw, only to discover that he was convinced it was the wrong screw.  Another thing we had a lot of fun doing was fishing.  Whether ice fishing at Katz�s cottage, or waxing his boat in spring and getting ready for a good summer of lying in his boat listening to music on his customized radio (and never catching a damn thing, except weeds), we always had fun.  I went to the city with him on two occasions, and we had a lot of fun both times. Even if he did almost run some red lights and the same stop sign twice.  We�d either be battling the rest of the people in the car for the radio station (power 97 rulz!) or making them listen to the queen tape we found in his basement (bohemian rhapsody rulz too!).  The dance he and I assisted on was a lot of fun, despite the very hectic last-minute preparation. And, of course, youth group was always a blast, with him using josh as a shield, and playing "4 on the couch."  Plus, the notorious "goat-monkey" term erupted from youth, as well.  And I have to add the scary dirty old man that yelled at us during the scavenger-hunt thingy, on one of the first youth's he went too.  We�re still making jokes about that today.
   These are only some of the memories; I�d be here for days if I could remember half of the things we did.  Every time I�ve gone to send this, I�ve remembered something else I wanted to add.  No matter what I was doing, when he showed up, it was twice as fun; no matter what mood you were in or what you were doing, he'd show up and "make it all good". He was always in a good mood, and was ready for anything.  I�ll never forget him, and I�ll be waiting to see him on the other side.  I miss you, Wilson.

Wilson was a great friend. He was always over helping Nik fix my snowmobile, he gave me rides home from school, and he would always go snowmobiling with me and almost never broke down on the trail, which was very good. One particularly fond memory I have is when Jason and I went snowmobiling last year during semester break. We went up T1, past old Pinawa, down the 520 and back in less than 40 minutes. That was the best ride I had ever had and Jason and I had a great time. He was the kind of person made things fun when he was there. Another great memory is from this past summer when Nik, Catherine, Wilson and I went sailing on the Reid's boat. We got the jib's pulley at the top of the mast stuck and we ended up pulling the boat over in a swampy marsh area up Sharky's to fix the problem. When we let the mast go the boat almost floated away without us. We recovered it, sort of, but had to walk along a surfboard to get to the boat. Wilson decided that he'd go last across and he held the board stead for everyone else. He let others have a dry walk and so he'd be the only one wet. These little things made him so good of a friend and so well liked. Thanx for everything J and I'll see you on the other side.

Jason was a good friend of Nik, who is our neighbour and hangs out a lot, with Owen and Trevor, our sons.  Therefore, Jason was on occasion in our house, usually his presence had to do with something mechanical such as snowmobiles and cars.  But another reason for his presence was watching movies or doing something weird and (in my eyes) scary to Mel's computer.  On one particular Saturday night (I believe) in early Spring 2000, the boys (Nik, Jason, Owen, Trevor) were going to watch a movie in our basement, but they never got that far.  Somehow they discovered the two huge boxes of Construx (a building toy our boys liked very much but was hard to get because it was off the market when they wanted it; to make a long story short, we got most of our Construx on expeditions to Value Village and Garage Sales, so it was very valuable to us).  Anyhow, they all started building racing vehicles and the movie was forgotten. They also discovered that someone had some firework rockets somewhere.  You guessed it, the two were put together and they took the cars outside on the road to race, at least they had that much sense (remember, we lost the snow very early in 2000).  I believe the plastic of the Construx vehicles melted somewhat, but the fun they had was incredible.   As a mom, I was particularly touched by the fact that these big boys were still kids at heart, despite their lives full of computers, snowmobiles and cars.  It warmed my heart and I still smile when I think of it.
   Another sweet memory of Jason is his face peering from the hood of his dark snowmobile suit at our front door, having rung the bell to see if any of our boys was game to go out.  Those were such friendly eyes smiling at me at the door.  I also remember his shiny shirts he wore sometimes, very different from the usual teenager t-shirts.  He was his own person, even in the clothes he wore.
   My last memory of Jason is from the Sunday before God called him home.
Everybody in my house was doing something at the arena and I was wrapping
Xmas presents.  There was a knock on the door and a call from Nik, if I knew where 'Mr. Gascoyne' was.  I said, "At the arena, why, what do you need?" If they asked about Mel�s whereabouts, it was usually because they needed tools, a towrope, some muscle power or whatever.  This time it turned out they needed gas because I believe Jason�s snowmobile had run out and the gas station was closed.  I said, "Do you know where 
Mel would store this?"  Of course they knew, they know my garage better than I do.  So I said they could borrow some, which they did with many thanks and a promise to come back with some money. Honesty is another characteristic I love so much in these boys. So off they went and soon after I heard the roaring of snowmobiles.  That was the last time I saw Jason's smiling face.  Trevor spent time with him at Nik�s garage on the Tuesday night before he died, working of course on someone�s mobile.  Snowmobiling will never be the same again for our boys, and our community is poorer now it is no longer lighted by Jason�s smile and beautiful character.  However, his legacy makes many others smile, so his light has not been extinguished, but grows stronger as we remember even the smallest memory of him.
   God bless you all.

There are not words to describe how incredibly special Wilson was to me and everyone else.  He had the biggest heart and I don't think anyone thought otherwise.  He was an amazing guy.  What I like most about Jay is that fact he never judged anyone.  He ALWAYS made sure he knew everyone to a certain extent. I miss how he was always there for me to make me laugh and smile when I was feeling down.  I miss him so much.

In our memories you live 
In our memories you thrive
Though you�re gone right now 
Your spirits still alive
Your face is in our memories
We think of you each day
There�s so many things I wanna do
There�s so many things to say
I can't wish you back
But I wish I could say goodbye
And hear your voice again
I miss you already
You were the nicest person I knew
Even though you�re gone right now
That will always be true
Angels looked down at you 
And took you away
They brought you to heaven 
Though I wanted you to stay
I think of the good times 
I think of the past
You were gone to quickly
You were gone to fast
There are so many things I remember
Good things and bad
I think of them everyday
They make me so sad
That they took you away
And brought you to sleep
All I can do right now 
Is sit here and weep
My heart feels empty inside
I can't shed any more tears
We were so very lucky
To have had you those 16 years
On that winter day in December
Angels laid you down to rest
They broke our hearts to prove to us 
They only take the best
Even though I met you 
Only 3 and a half years ago
I will always ask myself
Why did you have to go?

I'm a r-e-a-l-l-y slow starter at writing stuff, especially when emotions are involved, but at last here's my best shot ...
   I knew Jason mostly in a BACK-handed sort of way:
  -  He was the guy I saw from the BACK playing trumpet so well, as I pounded tunelessly on various things behind him.  He always made playing look easy.  No sweat
  -  He was the guy who took a ride to Millennium Band practice in the BACK seat of my car.  He had lots of fun bickering with his companion.  You'd think they were married already!
  -  He was the guy who stayed to the bitter end, even though he was desperate to get BACK from International Band Camp last summer.  I never heard him complain, even when he was obviously so tired, and so tired of the food.  A real trooper.  The sort of kid you'd like to have.
  -  But mostly, he was the guy who was always near to and looking BACK at Catherine.  Thinking BACK to my boyhood days, I understood why, and it made me smile each time, remembering agonizing loves of long ago.
   Well, I guess Jason was always a step ahead of me.  First to do so many things and then to stop.  It's very sad to see such a talented young man leave just before he has his own fair chance to screw up!  But people live in the hearts and memories of others, so we will never really be without him.  I sometimes still hear an extra trumpet echoing softly in the
Community band.  So thanks for the good memories, Jason.  And thanks for leading the way.

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