Naps, sleeping all night, cooking bacon, socialising, mopping the floor, stacking the dishwasher (though not pre-cleaning the dishes), rearranging the living room, reading, watching hockey games, painting walls, swimming, eating complete meals, loving friends and family, watching West Wing episodes back to back, Settlers of Catan, scrabble, studying, smiling, catching swedish berries in her mouth, tossing swedish berries at me, talking on the telephone, eating chips (or really, pretty much anything potato-related), cooking noodles, cooking vegetables, sitting outside on a summer morning, going for walks, her career, travelling, finding excellent hotels to stay at, shoes, playing the drums for Rock Band, drinking beer (regular beer, not fruit-flavoured beer), bettering herself, picking good gifts for people, golf, wearing scarves, playing the piano, getting into the Christmas spirit (including tree and lights), the nose beeping game, sewing, dancing, eating McDonalds, You Don’t Know Jack (but only the PS3 version, not the computer version), finding time, being happy.
Last week, I signed off on the headstone for Ailish’s grave. I had initially ordered it back in August, but it takes a while to get a(n accurate) rendering. It reads:
O’CONNOR
AILISH RUTH
April 13, 1983
April 20, 2011
A Chuisle mo Chroí
The last bit is an Irish expression which means, literally, “Pulse of my heart”, but it also means “my love” or “my darling”. Ailish was the love of my life. But more than that, Ailish loved her family and her friends so very dearly, and was loved in return. I thought it was a very appropriate sentiment.
It will be installed when the ground thaws in the spring.
The last three times I visited the cemetery, I noticed a rabbit who appears to live about five feet from Ailish’s grave.
We bought our house back in late August, 2008. That winter was particularly cold, but we often noticed a rabbit sitting, shivering, in our back yard. We couldn’t figure out why he didn’t dig himself a hole in the snow; he could at least get out of the wind. He was far too skittish for us to feed him, but he did seem happy to take up residence out back.
Around that time, we decided it must be good luck to have a resident bunny. What better judge of a house’s back yard could one ask for? We didn’t even mind when all the snow melted and we discovered how much poop a rabbit generates.
We fenced the back yard (and boy, that’s a story for another day), and the bunny visits reduced significantly. Still, we’d occasionally see rabbits in our neighbourhood, and so declared any day with a rabbit sighting must be a good day. When we were deciding on a location for our wedding, we visited the University of Alberta, which seemed all but overrun with rabbits. This was certainly not a deciding factor, but it helped.
I am happy to see that Ailish’s grave is bunny-worthy.