Our second Christmas without Nora… We spent a quiet time at the cottage with short visits from Jackie & Derek, and Sophie, Chris & Fisher.
We stayed up at the cottage until it was time to return to school. Kate & Dylan joined Jackie, Sharon & Aaliyah on a visit to the Ottawa Parker’s.
This is not a happy time of year for us, with remembering how our worlds changed at the end of 2016, and having to ‘welcome’ in a new year without Nora.
Kate & I spent the week leading up to the one year mark of Nora’s death together at the cottage. Dylan came and met us later in the week. We walked into Bon Echo park in the snow to the narrows.
Meanwhile, Shirley Street School remembered Nora by wearing green ribbons (made by Ms. B-D) and with a special morning announcement (written by Lisa and read by Tristyn):
At this time last year, we lost a very special student of Shirley Street School. This student was Nora Parker. Today is our day of memory in dedication to Nora.
Nora’s favourite colour was green, so today many of us are wearing green to remember her. Your teachers are wearing green ribbons. If you would like to wear a green ribbon too, please ask your teacher.
Today – and always – we remember Nora.
Kate & I did the Scotiabank 5km Run together to fundraise for Dr. Jay Children’s Grief Centre, where both Kate & Nora received councelling.
Camp Ooch continued to be amazing for Kate. She went to another Teomul weekend at camp, and took Ukelele AND guitar lessons.
Our family started attending Lighthouse at the end of September. This is a peer support centre for grieving kids in Oakville. Kate is part of the sibling loss group, and Dylan and I attend a facilitated group with parents. I can’t emphasize enough how much this group has helped Kate.
Lighthouse gave out tickets to a Blue Jays game at the end of September, so Kate & I attended with some other Lighthouse families.
We commemorated Nora’s 10th birthday at her grave site with some close friends and family who would have normally celebrated with her.
Afterwards we went to the cottage with Karen, Jackie & Derek.
Nora’s Nook, a beautiful corner reading area in the Shirley Street School library, was officially opened on September 14th. Kate cut the ribbon.
Many of Nora’s favourite books are on the shelves above the bench, each with the label “Nora’s Picks”. Tristyn added a book as a birthday present to her BFF.
The nook perfectly represents Nora with its beauty and coziness, and being surrounded by books. Thank you to the parents (Lisa, Mark & Paulina) and staff (Ms. B-D, Ms. Moschonissios, Ms. Turco & Bob) of Shirley Street who spent many hours during summer holidays designing and putting it together.
September came, and we were back in Toronto to get ready for school. This transition was very difficult, with the neighbourhood buzzing with parents and kids excited with back to school, knowing how much Nora loved this time of year yet wasn’t starting Grade 5 with her peers…
I couldn’t bring myself to go over to the school, and so we didn’t even take a picture on Kate’s first day of Grade 2. Instead, here’s Kate after getting her back-to-school haircut from Kelly, and back in 2015 after her JK and Nora’s Grade 2 haircut:
Lots of summer days were also spent at our cottage with games, exploring, music, visitors and always thinking about Nora… On some clear and calm nights we floated the lantern that Kate had made at Camp Erin.
We joined the Abernethy’s at their campsite in Algonquin Park for a night.
Kate started the summer with a week at Camp Ooch; their Teomul program is always the first week of the summer. She had lots of fun doing what Nora did up there.
After Ooch we spent a few days with Mary and family on Lake Joseph, an annual summer event we’d been doing with Nora for years.
Back at home, Kate, bear & baby modelled their Camp Ooch braids, with Nora’s included too, of course.
The end of the 2017/18 school year had the first graduating class at Shirley Street School to have the Nora Parker Student Excellence Award handed out.
This award was created in the fall, 2017, by the school staff. Nora had wanted to know what award she would have received if she had lived to graduate from Grade 6, and she also had expressed a wish that she was remembered. She was its first recipient in October. Sloane Howson received the 2017/18 award.
The award plaque was not ready when Nora received her award in October. Mark and I designed them prior to the 2017/18 graduation ceremony, so we received Nora’s at the same time as Sloane.
Kate spent another weekend at camp; this time at Camp Erin, which is put on by Dr. Jay Children’s Grief Centre for kids who have lost an immediate family member.
Kate met some new friends there — twins Nora & Natalie — who she saw again at the Camp Erin Reunion at a Blue Jays game.
SickKids Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) held some memorial events in May & June for kids that had died from cancer.
Dylan & I attended a memorial at Camp Ooch downtown, where we put together a display of Nora — our beautiful student, sister, author, athlete & best friend.
There also was a picnic that we all went to with Poppy & Gramma where Kate released a butterfly.
