For Michael

Another Article

http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=32614&sc=93
Taylor gathered ‘friends, memories’ 
Halifax woman was fount of knowledge at Sam’s music store

My Cousin Remembers

Posted on Facebook:

Sunday May 13th was the worst day of my life. I was in a car accident with my aunt and cousin. My aunt didn’t make it, and my cousin and I were rushed off to hospital with various injuries.

Ive read some news reports of the accident, which helped to fill in a few holes in my memory, and explain the impacts that i felt while in the car. we apparently drifted over the centre line, but everyone on that stretch of highway was complaining about the strong winds pushing their vehicles around too, so this will hopefully help to ease some of the guilt that my cousin michael is feeling. he mentioned the other day that he was really fighting the wind while driving. we didn’t see anything coming, but felt an impact and the windshield shattered and we began to spin; a couple more impacts and then the pain started. people came running towards us asking if we were all right. michael seemed alert and able to move, and kept saying “no mom, please wake up, come on, wake up mom”. i couldn’t move (and actually had the presence of mind to know that moving might make things worse), and was worried that i might be paralyzed, when in fact my guardian angel had just wrapped me up in a sort of cocoon. my head was resting against the edge of the visor, my legs were stuck in the crumpled front end, and the rubber around the door was holding my (broken) arm in a sling at just the right place.

My recovery time won’t be nearly as long as michael’s, but right now i really can’t do much for myself. my humorus bone was crushed just below my right shoulder, so after waiting 4 days for surgery, i am now sporting a lovely metal plate & screws inside my arm, and have to keep my arm in a sling. luckily there’s no bulky cast or other external junk, just a couple bandages covering the stitches. aside from that my body is just all-around sore and easily tired out. through physio i have just regained the movement in my right hand, and can lift my arm from the elbow. my face has also returned to its normal size & colour (i think my cheek hit the window, because it was super swollen and green for 4 days. very attractive.). i’m going to name my new hardware, right now trigger and nutsy are at the top of the list, although one friend suggested that i give it a stereotypical terrorist name so that i can have some fun in airports when i go through security (ie, “oh yeah, don’t worry about the beeping, that’s just osama”). feel free to weigh in on the issue. i’m on dilaudid and tylenol, alternating so i don’t get totally hooked on the big guns. the worst effects of the drugs are hot & cold flashes, which seem to be unavoidable.

As for cousin michael: from the bottom up, he has a compound fracture in his left leg, so it’s being held together with rods & pins. a second surgery is planned for friday. he also has a bruised heart, which is a big reason behind the postponed surgery. he dislocated his left shoulder, which i think went through the skin because when i saw him the first monday night there was some sort of bloodied damage. when we saw him on monday his colour was much better and he could move a lot easier, and he has been taken off the big drugs and been moved down to tylenol 3.

My mom and brother spent last week in halifax with me, and dragged me back to nb with them for some r&r. the 4.5 hour drive was neither fun nor pain-free, but there’s no way i could stay somewhere by myself right now.

More Photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21180&l=7e68a&id=610445178

Big Pictures

Enjoy the following big pictures of Susan Jane

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2237/200703300101tr9.jpg

and

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/2032/momcatob6.jpg

Bulletin & Sermon

I’d rather not make a bulletin for– and preach at– my Mother’s funeral: but what’re you gonna do?

Everything felt like it was in slow-motion.

The gospel-choir was amazing: full volume, filling the room. The Spirit was there, giving comfort and grace. Fr. Thorne was wonderful.

Thanks be to God.

---

The Bulletin
MS-Word — bulletin2.doc
http://www.mediafire.com/?eu2t99gmd33
Adobe Acrobat — bulletin2.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/?4nd4txnzcg5

---

The Sermon
MS-Word — serm final.doc
http://www.mediafire.com/?9dj3xg1xdxv
Adobe Acrobat — serm final.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/?4dygckwzsdv

The Obit

The second-hardest thing I’ve ever had to write (along with help from brother Ian and my father). It’s surprising how much detail & dates are a bit fuzzy without the person who knows them all first-hand to remind you.

Free advice #1: Get your will done and/ or updated. Do up your own basic obituary (or those for your loved ones) and pop the thing in with your will-papers– along with a note about particular dispersals of the estate. Afterwards is too late, and thoughts and memories get scattered by grief and busyness.

For the love of good taste, don’t make the an obituary a short novel, nor a pagan eulogy.

Text & Screen-Cap Here

Curiouser….

For what it is worth, an e-mail we received after the car accident which killed my mother:

To the Family and friends of Susan-Jane Taylor: The loss of a loved one is always heartbreaking and difficult to understand, and I send my sympathy.

It might comfort you to know that someone saw angels near the scene, shortly after the accident.

There is a three-year old boy in Falmouth named Geoffrey Foley, and Sunday afternoon he was at the store with his grandmother, Martina. They got back in the car to leave, when Geoffrey saw policelights out on the highway. They decided someone had been picked up on the highway for speeding.

Then he cried “Look at that!” She looked around and up, and saw nothing. Then he called, “Back up, look up there.” She still saw nothing.

Then he said ” ‘Tina, you didn’t look. The angels are gone now. They came down.”

She was pretty shaken up when she heard the news some hours later that a woman had lost here life in an accident. She didn’t tell Geoffrey about that, but he still maintains that he saw three angels. They where white and blue.

We don’t know why or how there was an accident, and your dear one was taken from you, but she knows. And maybe she wasn’t alone when she left.

I do not know Geoffrey or Martina, but Martina’s mother is a dear friend of mine, and I believe it.

With my sincere sympathy,

Helen Myers

---

All night, all day,
Angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day,
Angels watching over me.

Sun is a-setting in the West;
Angels watching over me, my Lord.
Sleep my child, take your rest;
Angels watching over me.

All night, all day,
Angels watching over me, my Lord.
All night, all day,
Angels watching over me.

Coming soon

The obituary, the service bulletin, the homily from the funeral, pictures, and much, much more!

Reportaging

Mum was busy and well-known in Nova Scotian arts, music, & theatre circles. The local Halifax newspaper carried the following articles regarding her death and life

This is journalism as it is supposed to be: no sensationalism, bad taste, or misinformation.

* Crash Story One: newspaper – the text & screenshot

* Crash Story Two: newspaper – the text & screenshot

* Crash Story Three: newspaper – the text & screenshot