Saying Goodbye

Abram Dietrich Thiessen

December 5, 1925 - May 29, 2013

My father-in-law died the end of May and we buried him on Tuesday.  He was a quiet man, never boisterous, but always he quietly loved those around him.  He was always very generous, with his time and money.

I have so many memories of Dad.  I recall one of the very few times he came up to Yellowknife to visit us.  He was there for only a short time before he became very ill, his kidneys shut down for awhile, and he ended up in the hospital in ICU.  When they discharged him from the hospital, he insisted on driving back home again, the very next day.

When my children were very small, Rose was three and Bram was about three months old, I drove south with the children by myself.  It was a long, long trip to Eyebrow; about 28-30 hours driving.  For the last hour and a half of the trip, Rose had found a box of cereal and was throwing it by the handful throughout the car.  By that point I didn't care; she wasn't crying and it was keeping her entertained.  When I arrived in Eyebrow, I handed the kids off to their grandparents and went to lie down and sleep.  While I was sleeping, Dad took the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed out the car.  He saw that it needed doing and so he did it.  That was the way Dad was; he continually showed his love for us by noticing what needed to be done, and doing it.

Whenever we went out to eat at a restaurant with Dad, we had to make arrangements to pay the bill when we made the reservations, otherwise he would be sure to grab the cheque and insist on paying.

Dad had lived all of his life in Eyebrow; first on the farm and then in town.  He had served on the municipal council for years and later as the reeve.  He knew everyone, and the state of their crops.  He loved to go visit with everyone at the coffee shop.

I was sorry that I wasn't able to visit with Dad before he died.  We had gone to Moose Jaw several times to visit with Mom but she was in the nursing home and our visits hadn't coincided with Dad's visits.  However it was good to visit with all of the family at the funeral.  All of the children and grandchildren were there.  I hadn't seen the great grandchildren before (there are now six of them); it was also good to visit with Aunt Edna, Mark and Florence.  It was so good that they were able to come up from Texas.

Although Dad is no longer with us, his legacy lives on in his five sons, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  He lives on in the love he showed us all, quietly, without many words.