People, this is a difficult guest post for me, I dissolve in those watery things that run down your face! So I am going to take the easiest way to talk about Randy, whose life ended in tragedy in 1998 after impossibly complicated heart surgery. I am going to submit pages from my photojournal, which pretty well says it all, except possibly the well-known saying “Kids aren’t supposed to die before their parents!” I am grateful that we had him for 38 years, and he was indeed, such a joy to us. I was able, after a few years, to put my thoughts and some of the details of Randy’s Time on Earth on hard copy in pictures and text, and that’s what you’re going to see here. Doing so was definitely therapeutic.
Remember, these are very large files…you won’t be able to read the small print unless you’re VERY short-sighted. But all you have to do is click on the picture pages and they enlarge so you CAN read them. Enjoy Randy in his young years….I am not going to post the death and funeral pages, BLOG should be fun, uplifting, inspiring, full of good memories, and let the painful memories fall by the wayside.
WOW, must be hard for anyone to say anything. I can say I miss him always. I see his face in Kristen and Karina. I remember the way he kept us laughing. He was so funny with his crazy accents and his take on people.
ReplyDeleteMe too.
ReplyDeleteHis dirtbiking affection must have passed on to Kyle, who wishes for a new one daily.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I never met Randy, but I have heard so many good stories involving him. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to lose my sister at such a young age. I hope I never have to.
Yah, He loved his motorbikes...David got that thing too. Not me, i'm enough of a danger to myself riding a bicycle. I do remember riding a three wheeler motored something, back of Linda and Stuart's place when i was younger.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm! Jeff, seems to me I recall PAYING YOU TO LEARN TO RIDE A BICYCLE. Must not have been enough shekels. Highway robbery!
ReplyDeleteREALLY? I don't remember that, if true, that's FUNNY. Sounds about my speed.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe, I just wrote out a long post, previewed it, realized a mistake, tried to correct it and lost the whole thing! I'll try again...
ReplyDeleteI am new to blogs, but this week I have caught myself up on all the entries on here, and love it! I read about the Naylor kids, all up to Debbi, and knew Randy would be the next-Mom N. let me know today that Part 1 was up. I have the same wonderful pages from the photojournal that she posted-they are very dear to me. Unlike her though, I haven't been able to scrapbook about that time in 1998 yet-I fully intend to, it just hasn't happened yet. I have done various pages about our early lives together, before we were married etc, and some reflection-type pages, but actual documenting about December 1998, I guess it's not the right time for me yet.
Randy and I met when I was just turning 15, and he was, well... a little bit older shall we say. But age didn't matter, he never looked or acted it much anyway! We actually first saw each other at Wheelies RollerSkating Rink in Sherwood Park-my friends and I would go on the weekend nights and he would go with Dave and their buddies. They caught our eye right away; they wore collared shirts with cute bow-ties-hence they were dubbed by my friends and I, "the bow-tie guys"! Randy wore a red shirt with a white tie. He was so cute-of course, he had his moustache back then too! We used to make sure we were all at the "all-nighters" and that's where we first got the courage to talk to each other. Soon we were seeing each other, and then dating, and it wasn't long before we were head over heels! He was my first love.
He was so kind and loving, funny with a great sense of humour. Those crazy accents of his, Debbi you're right, he had us in stitches before now with all the different ones he could do. I loved his British accent, his Indian accent, and his "Hans & Frans-pump you up" ones especially! And you know what, Kristen has inherited that talent... her accents are so good too, just like her daddy's, she has the same sense of humour. Both Kristen and Karina are funny, but Kristen has the knack of the accents for sure.
I soon learned after we started dating of his love of dirt-biking... he passed it on down to my younger brother too, who was only too eager to purchase his older, smaller bike off him when he bought himself a newer, bigger, faster one! And of course he loved the other kind of bikes, too, the street bikes-how he loved his black and red shiny Honda street bike! I worried sick about him on it, but he loved to ride and he was a good and safe driver.
He could fix absolutely anything-and if he didn't know how, he'd fiddle around with it until he'd figured it out! Didn't matter if it was a car, motorcycle, toilet, electronic device, washing machine, putting something together, if it was broken, take it to Randy and he'd fix it!
He loved to eat, oh how he'd love to eat! I remember when we'd go out to a buffet-style meal, he had his own system going, he'd layer his plate in such a way that he knew how to maximize the most food on whatever size plate it happened to be... and the bun always went into his pocket!
One time, at the end of January, I was in highschool still in the middle of final exams, and my favourite group, Duran Duran-it was the 80's- was playing their one and only concert in Alberta in Calgary. Well, we lived in Edmonton, slight problem. No problem for Randy. We left with Randy driving in the little orange/red Datsun 510 after school that day with me and my 2 Duran-obsessed friends to Calgary for the show! During the show, he even volunteered to take photos for me so that I could just enjoy-what a guy! And then of course he drove us all home that night so that we could get up and go to school for exams the next day!
He loved pocket knives, he never went anywhere without one. I have a collection of probably at least 4 or 5 that he had when he passed away.
He would be so proud of his daughters today, and the strong, beautiful and talented young women they are. They are good girls, and they have a strong moral character,and they are funny. Even though I have a great life now, There's not a day goes by that I don't think of him or am not reminded of him in some way. Sometimes it's just a look on either Kristen or Karina's face, or something they've said or done. But we will forever have that part of Randy with us in them and for that I am so thankful. Even though his earthly life was cut too short by our standards, I believe that everthing happens for a reason, and sometimes we may not know that reason this side of heaven. God needed him and his time on earth with us was done. I am just so thankful that he was the strong and decent man he was thanks to the way he was raised by his parents-who he thought the world of, and you could tell in the way he was always checking on them-and that God allowed me to be his wife for the years that we had together and have 2 wonderful daughters together.
Wow, this is some first post isn't it, now that I've finally got this thing figured out. Randy loved his family-he loved his parents, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and he'd be so excited with all the little ones that are running around right now! And I know he loved me and Kristen and Karina, and that is something all 3 of us treasure very dearly in our hearts every day.
BRAVO, Jackie! How very, very interesting! I had litte or no memories about your early dating days, the roller-bowl and all, the trip to Calgary to Duran-Duran. (As parents, we would not have been privy to his innermost thoughts and desires!) I just knew that this young girl, Jackie, was the love of his life, and he knew it from the start! And when his kids came along, well, the sun rose and set on them.....but you know what, they weren't spoiled! He loved them to distraction, but still he was firm with discipline, and don't they reflect that to this day...(even when they purloin your make-up stuff, you say! Hah!) They are a great tribute to both their early upbringing and to the excellent parenting you and Russell have provided over the years since. Thank you so much for that.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such kind words; I am so blessed to have the time with Randy that I did, and still being blessed to have his wonderful family to connect with still! Can you imagine the days before the internet!
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