Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away

Uncle Hank's LifeThat's what I prefer to focus on.
Not the final chapter, but the journey.
The world lost an exceptional human being yesterday, Canada lost a hero.
A son, a brother, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, husband to my late Aunt Hylda. 
If my feet seem leaden, my face grim, it's because I'm remembering those losses.
Goodbye Elmore Llewelyn Hankinson...Uncle Hank. :iconsadplz:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?n=elmore-llewellyn-hankinson&pid=172071761&fhid=10828







Craig's Struggle With Impulse ControlFuneral stories are so much fun, aren't they?
So here are a couple of probably wildly inappropriate moments from Uncle Hank's memorial, at which I had the honour of being a pallbearer.
When I first saw wee Bree, I couldn't help but make silly noises to make her smile, different popping sounds I have learned to do over the years, which I followed by saying "It's wrong to do this here, I am a terrible person" to Justin, her Daddy.
During the proceedings, the person doing the ceremony*, referred to my late Aunt as "Heidi May Craddock", Instead of Hylda May Craddock.
Not only was I angered by this, but I was also stifling a derisive giggle, because I know how my Aunt Hylda would have reacted.
Can't fill in all the details here, personal stuff, but I will do the punchline, what I was reminded of...
I can recall hearing my Auntie whispering, for all to hear, in a very quiet chapel with magnificent acoustics, "I'll kill him".
So off to the cemetery, where the Master of Ceremonies, or
Are Slippers the Answer to Immortality?As children, whenever we stubbed our toe, my dad would say "Should'a been wearing your slippers".
Over the years, this comment has often been used to comedic effect, even when it was clearly ridiculous to think the slippers would save you from, say, falling down the stairs and getting hurt (another favourite meme of dad's)
So, no, slippers are NOT the answer to immortal life, but there may yet be a solution.
Lately, I have been made aware of the power of Bounce, the fabric softener sheets.
One can use them to deter mice in a trailer or cottage over winter, apparently.
Put a bounce sheet in your pocket, and it deters mosquitoes, allegedly.
It got me thinking, aloud, as we rode to Uncle Hank's funeral, does this product ACTUALLY have these properties, or do the Bounce people have a clever marketing person who is snowing us about the value of the stuff?
That was the jump off point. The decision that the 'ad men' were responsible for this campaign, then :iconhorace-bulregard: and I took th
The Coins are for LUCKJohn Craig Eaton told this story at my Uncle Hank's memorial service. I will do my best to remember and retell it as close to how he said it as I can.
The hole had been dug for Toronto's Eaton Center, it was time to pour cement.
John Craig got a call from Uncle Hank (Elmore Llewellyn Hankinson), asking him to attend this occasion, and bring some coins with him, to put in the foundation of the building.
John Craig trekked down into the hole, easily five stories underground, and met my Uncle.
As my Uncle told him where the coins should go, John Craig asked him "Why are we doing this?"
My Uncle told him a story about a disaster at another sight, how millions had been wasted after a pour went south.
They poured the cement the one day, the next, it had been swallowed up by the ground.
Apparently the sight was over an underground river, watery sandy soil, or something like that.
This was BEFORE any equipment that could be used to peer through the ground, like they have today.
John Craig was

Photo of a balloon man display thingie in Glenwoods Plaza....smiling through.