The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Despite some bad news today, I'll try not to be grim. This morning, my mom got the phone call letting us know our cousin Geraldine passed away after battling cancer for just under a year. The last few weeks have been especially tough for her family who have been taking care of her at her home. Tough in a sense that they could see what was happening, and there really wasn't anything you could do about it. You see someone close to you deteriorate, and you want to help stop it, but there is nothing you can do, except try to make the most of the time you have left together.

When I visited Australia in 1998-99, Geraldine took me out a few times during the time I was working at a movie theatre, trying to get some money together to get to New Zealand. She lived in perhaps the best place you could in Sydney, in a condo overlooking Bondi Beach. Geraldine would take me along the boardwalk and introduced me to the best chocolate mud cake on the planet, and just before that tasty dessert, got to sample my first kangaroo steak. Mmmmm! We got to go out together a few times, and what I liked most about her was her spunk, her quick sense of humour and big smile.

My last day before I returned home to Canada, I spent it with Geraldine. We went back to the same restaurant with the 'roo steak & mud cake, and after dinner she asked me what we should do next.

"Do you play pool?"
"YOU PLAY POOL?!"
"Yes, Benjamin, a woman my age can still play pool."

I'm pretty sure she cleaned my clock when it was all said and done.

It was a weird night for me, knowing that after being away for so long, I'd be back home in 36 hours. I grabbed a coaster from the bar just as I was leaving to remind me of my last night in Sydney, not knowing if I'll ever get the chance to return, and of course as a keepsake reminding me of my fantastic time away.

It's been almost 8 years since I've seen Geraldine in person, and my only regret is that I didn't put any effort in to keep in touch with her once I got back. It took cancer for me to do so, and luckily I was able to send her some emails and have a few phone calls before she passed on. In all honesty, she was much more close to my mom and not as much to me, but still, I have fond memories of Geraldine and I will miss her.