Super excited to go out with all my friends to celebrate New Year’s!

He said

With all that was going on in December – including the absolute worst start to the month ever, it is no surprise that we came to Boxing Day (Tuesday) this week before it struck me that we had completely missed our weekly update here. Normally when the Sunday falls on a holiday we kick over to the Monday and do the the post then. But, with it already being the Tuesday and given all that had happened over the last few weeks, we decided that it was okay to give ourselves a week’s reprieve from sharing what was going on. And, given that this was the first Christmas without him, and so close to him passing, it was the right thing to do.

Quickly after Greg passed we decided that we would be resilient as a family and hold true to the family gathering that was originally planned with him being at it in mind. Testza was one of the first to suggest that it was important to us as it would have been important to him too. So, on Saturday the 23rd we all got together at Oakcrossing with Mom & Dad had a festive meal together. Sure, it weighed on us all as we know how much he would have wanted to be part of it Christmas being his favourite time of year, but that was part what made it more important that do just what he would have wanted. There was some laughs, there were lots of smiles and there were lots of happy memories shared. It was good for all of us.

Christmas Eve and Day came and we got to spend it at a much quieter and relaxed pace than year’s past. We had a quiet dinner together Christmas Eve with the plethora of leftovers from the day before. We watched a few Christmas movies together and then were off to bed at possibly the earliest we have as a family. But, given all that we had been through the perfect balm for our souls. And, even better was, another first for our family, Danielle and I were up before Emelia and we all didn’t make it downstairs until after 8:30am! We opened presents slowly and enjoyed the morning together relaxing and enjoying the time with each other. Later in the day, we got over to spend the afternoon and dinner at Testza’s with the girls & Vaughan (and his girlfriend Naomi), Matt & Shawn, and David & his kids. It was the perfect amount of family that we all needed.

I was back to work Boxing Day and through the week, which busy and hectic. The remedy to all that was the unseasonably warm weather that allowed for a lot more outdoor bike rides with Danielle. In fact on Christmas Eve, I started something I wasn’t sure I would be able to complete but wanted to try: The Rapha Festive 500. It is an 8-day challenge to ride 500 km outside or indoors (or both) going from the 24th to today, New Years Eve. I set early the goal of hitting 62-½km every day in order to make it happen but started out with a couple of big days of 83km and 93km combing outside rides with Danielle and inside rides on Zwift. It turned out I did enough early front-loading to my totals that by the time I came around to yesterday & today I only needed single rides and today I only needed 23km to finish the challenge. And, that I did, finishing out at 513km.

Obviously today is about saying goodbye to 2023 and to be honest it was a year of remarkable highs and equally some almost unbearable lows… On one hand I have a lot to be proud of in my cycling and fitness—the proudest would be closing out riding outside every single month this year, as well as riding 9,294kms this year which is 3,294kms than last year. There is also seeing Emelia through all the big milestones she has—be that levelling up in Cheer and competing, getting back to Softball, Wrestling and soon Rugby. Or watching her grow up and become a licensed driver! But, this year was also about the challenges of seeing your big brother and one of your closest friends be taken away from you as he fought a terrible disease.

Through it all this year I am reminded to focus on finding time to appreciate it all because you never can appreciate just how truly sweet the special moments are, without the sour ones that truly suck. Which is how and why I would like to say goodbye to this year: thank you for the sweet and no thanks for the sour.

2023, smell ya later!

She said

The last few weeks have been very heavy for us as a family. Just a few weeks ago we watched our brother loose his battle with cancer. It was hands down the worst year of our lives. We watched Greg battle every possible complication and never gave up—he fought to the end. We watched our sister in law become a widow at a painfully young age, we watched our nieces and nephew loose their father, we watched Helen and Doug outlive their child, and we watched as we lost our brother and my husband’s best friend. It has been gut-wrenching. We have been surrounded by so much love from family, co-workers, friends from all stages of our lives all rallying around our family to help us through the worst time.

This year also had some highs, John and I were able to get out a lot more together for longer rides thanks to adding my e-bike to our rides. John and I spent as much time together as we could this year, it meant using riding as a healing way of dealing with all that we had to this year. It meant we had to focus on those who we love. It has been one of the hardest years and we came out closer than ever.

Throughout 2023, we saw Emelia overcome massive obstacles to not only do well but thrive. She has grown her friend group to this massive group of incredible and supportive girls. She has been built up by this amazing group of friends and to be seen as for the giving and loving person she is. She hasn’t always had a lot of confidence but now she knows and sees her worth. She is not only thriving socially but also with school. Once again she made the honour roll at school and this time with excellence which meant she raised her over all average even higher vs grade 9. She balanced all of this with a demanding work schedule at time while still staying very active. She added rugby to her school sports and just feel in love with the sport. She moved up a level in cheer to move the team she had been hoping for. She loves her team and is still loving cheer. She balanced that with softball again this summer and returned to wrestling this fall I don’t know how she balances it all but she does. She is living her best lift and we could not be happier for her.

For me my year was focusing a lot on work. There have been a lot of changes at work, it has made things interesting to say the least. I have been able to work with some incredible people and have been put on some big projects. I have been loving all of it. There are going to be more big changes for me in the new year and I cannot wait. As the year wrapped up I was told my position would be changing for more growth opportunity. For the first time in my professional career I have been really valued and using my skills to their fullest. It has been a long road to get there and I am proud of the work that I do.

So this year has been the biggest rollercoaster of emotions. We had some of the highest highs for Emelia but the crushingly lows of loosing Greg. With a long road of recovery for our family ahead I know that 2024 will be a year of healing, time together as a family and prioritizing and protect those we love.