Earlier this month I was fortunate to spend , what I now know were my brothers last few days of life, together here at the condo. I am pleased that I took the opportunities to reflect on some happy memories that he and I shared as brother and sister. And I realize how very lucky I was to have such a patient, caring and truly genuine guy as a brother. He never made me feel like he was stuck with me, and actually the opposite, we had a lot of fun times together. The picture on the slideshow that says love you Richard was taken when we went Heli skiing in Whistler BC. That was a phenomenal day on so many levels and it was him that made that happen! He suggested I go again and take Jack and Grace, which is an awesome goal now for my future. We also shared some laughs during that time when I reminded him of the joy he got in trying to teach me how to ski western powder when I was a young eastern Ski racer I was rather frustrated and had no sense of pressure control with an extremely wide stance, and so it took ricks talents to manage all that! He was also the lucky sibling to try and teach me how to drive a standard car I can remember laughing so hard that I was crying when the car was jumping in and out of gear and we got halfway up the Thistledown hill and I popped the clutch and started rolling backwards I ended up registering in young drivers of Canada, which I'm sure Rick was rather happy about. Always good for a laugh, is when Rick and I reminisce about my level IV CSIA essay that I entitled "I am woman hear me roar"...I decided to take a very clear stand on female role models within the alliance Funny, I never did pass that course I realized during this time of reflection with my brother that the last time I had gone to the western islands in Georgian Bay, which was over 20 years ago now, was also with Rick. We used to own a tri-hull Grew, which was darn near impossible to ride Georgian Bay waves effectively with, but Rick also had the JOY of teaching me that skill. And so that leaves me with another goal for the future, to return to a happy place of my past. Obviously my stories could go on forever Those are just a few that he and I actually got to share with each other and his last week of life. I know with all my heart that he knew I loved him and the best part was when he would would also respond with the words "I love you too, Lara"...which were indeed his final words to me on January 24, 2018 less than 24 hours before he passed. I miss him