My wife of 19 years passed on September 20, 2022. Below is a collection of memories. Subscribe to be alerted when new posts are added to this page.
My Red-Headed Sunflower: About My Wife: My personal tribute to my wife and all she did for me.
My Sunflower Has Blown Away: An account of how she consciously chose to embrace death and her final days.
Sunflower Memorial Service: The full recording of my Nicole's "sunflower" memorial service at St. James Church on Oct 15, 2022 in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It includes a reading from The Bhagavad Gita, short talks from Nicole's friends and family, several songs she selected and two live recitals by our son, Jonah.
Memorial Service Programme: The lyrics to all the music selected for her memorial service, along with an excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita and many photos.
Obituary: A summary of her life, family and passing as it appears on the website of Rutherford Cremation and Funeral Services.
3 Surreal Signs From My Wife in Heaven: Three "happenings" that took place after her death, showing that she is still with us.
An Owl From Heaven: Nicole promised to send an owl within 40 days of her passing — boy! did she overdeliver.
Sunflower-Pinocchio Painting: A short post sharing how Nicole commissioned an artist to create a painting as a parting gift for me.
Rest in Peace: A four-minute video by Monika Andrekovic with footage of Nicole's body, the first day after her passing.
People Who Talk With Dead People: A quick review of Laura-Lynn Jackson's The Light Between Us — a book which was of great comfort to my wife, son and me, supporting our belief, with scientific evidence, that the drama of life continues after death.
Butterfly Release (Video): My Wife's Last Day of Dialysis: A video of Nicole releasing monarch butterfly on her final day of dialysis.
My Son Singing "You Raise Me Up" at Nicole's Memorial: 15-year-old Jonah Manley plays on the piano and sings "You Raise Me Up" at his mother's memorial service. He introduces the song by sharing the ten reasons he loves his mother.
I Danced in the Morning: In this six-minute video, our son Jonah sung and played on the piano one of Nicole's favourite religious hymns, "The Lord of the Dance" at her memorial service.
Day of the Dead Bride and Groom: A puppet show my late wife and I put on during her first round of hospice care in Mexico. This was taken after nine days without food or dialysis treatment.
Scattering my wife's ashes in a maze of sunflowers: Eleven months after her passing we were able scatter Nicole's ashes in a large field of sunflowers. The informal ceremony included music, poetry and the release of five monarch butterflies.
"Ride Forever": Nicole had asked that we play "Ride Forever" by Paul Gross at her memorial service. I created this music video with compilation of footage from her life to commemorate the one one-year anniversary of her death.
Mysterious things my wife told me
before (and after) she died:
