Someday I'll Figure Out What This is About

My grandfather, Samuel Henry “Harry” Price passed away on the 4th, which is why Cressa and I were in Owen Sound this week. He was 98 (almost 99!) and had been in declining health for a while so it wasn’t a surprise, but obviously sad nonetheless. He’d had his ups and downs over the past year, and I think his body just finally got tired enough and let go. Visitation was on Tuesday night and the funeral took place on Wednesday.

The funeral was nicely done, although not everyone who wanted to come was able to make it because of the snow. Some members of the Owen Sound City Band (including my uncle) played, as my grandfather had always loved brass band music. He, my dad and my uncles played in the Oakville band growing up. My aunt Joan put together some nice displays of pictures and memorabilia from his life, and, as a side effect, we ended up looking through a lot of old photo albums containing some embarrassing pictures of myself and my cousins.

The thing said during the funeral that struck me the most was about how positive and outgoing my grandfather always was, despite an early life that could have turned someone into a bitter person: His mother died of TB when he was very young; He was sent to live at an orphanage while his father was away in the war; At 11 he and his brother Ernie were sent away from their remaining family in England to live in Canada as indentured farm workers; He and Ernie were separated, and didn’t always get to work for the nicest of people. He was eventually reunited with his brother as well as his father and sister who moved to Canada, but it was certainly not the easiest of childhoods. “Positive” was just the way he always was to me; until that speech at the funeral, it hadn’t occurred to me how easy it would have been to be anything else.

Despite the obvious sadness of his death, it was a good week. It was a good chance to visit with family and tell stories about Grandpa’s life. Unfortunately I don’t have nearly the number of stories (or the memory) that he had, but maybe if I get to live to be 98 I’ll be able to catch up.