Tom's Obituary

SIMPSON, Walter Thomas (Tom), C.D.
Walter Thomas (Tom) Simpson, C.D. In Toronto, on August 26, 2008, surrounded by his family, Tom Simpson, a devoted husband, father and grandfather who served his country, died after a courageous fight with cancer, in his 69th year. Beloved husband of Rosemary; loving father to Diane (Anthony), Alan (Lisa) and Susan (Maurice); stepfather to Kim and Chris; cherished grandfather to Ava, Zara, Kyle, Brandon and Neil; predeceased by his wife of 26 years, Joan (nee Randles); survived by his sister Edna MacLennan (Ted) and many other members of his extended family and friends in Canada and the United Kingdom. Born on November 4, 1939 in Toronto to Alan and Althea (nee Thomas), Tom grew up in McKellar, Ontario. He joined the army in 1958 and served Canada for 12 years as a non-commissioned officer in The Canadian Guards. He was an accomplished marksman and served overseas, including a lengthy rotation in West Germany with the First Canadian Infantry Brigade Group. In recognition of his exemplary military service, Tom was awarded The Canadian Decoration (C.D.). After leaving the Canadian Army, he and his wife Joan moved to her birthplace of Liverpool where Tom served in the British Army with The King's Regiment. Tom, Joan and their children returned to Canada in 1978. He then enjoyed a very satisfying career at Upper Canada College in operations, where he instructed, coached and made many contributions to student life. He retired from UCC in 2004 as a member of the Quarter Century Club. The family wishes to express their thanks and appreciation to the nursing staff and social workers of 1st Floor, K Wing, Veterans/Palliative Care Unit, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. A Funeral Service will be held at the MORLEY BEDFORD FUNERAL HOME, 159 Eglinton Avenue West (2 stop lights west of Yonge St.), Toronto at 1 p.m. on Friday, August 29, 2008. Friends are invited to call one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salvation Army, Cancer Research or the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.  Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Walter Thomas Simpson 1940-2007

That was the man my mom married when she was just 18.

That was the man my mom divorced when I was 2.

That was the man I met for the first time that I remember when I was 19.

That is the man I say good-bye to today.

Tom (my father) passed away this afternoon.

Life is full of "what-ifs":

Like what if I had visited/written/called more?

What if he had visited/written/called more?

In the days since I found out in July that he had inoperable cancer, I have looked back on our relation-ship hundreds of times. It all boils down to the fact that we both missed out on great moments in each others' lives and had to treasure all that we did have.

I will miss having him there, I will miss never being his little girl, and I will miss seeing him at all the milestones' in my childrens' lives.

The great part of all this, is that he didn't suffer for a long time, he was totally surrounded by love right up until the very end, and he is probably sitting with Joan right now watching a sunset.

'til I see you again dad, love you.

Isabella!

Here she is:

boo hoo!

We got up this am, all set to start switching the living room around to accommodate our new TV, but alas a phone call to Leon's told us that it would be the second week of September before Samsung could ship another bunch out. WAHHHHHHHH!

Ah well, we went out anyway, and got the things we will need to hook it up. Cables, a new power bar, that kind of stuff. We also bought some paint to paint the old wall unit. Should look quite nice when done... I'll take some pics.

Only 10 more days til my son's BFF's birthday month. During that month, because she works for Empire theatres, she can bring 3 people to the movies with her for free. Mamma Mia here we come! LOL

On a happy note, I finished Isabella last night, and now I can't find the camera, my 16 year old probably took it to take pics of his BFF's new bunny. Now on to my fairy ornament for retreat and my Trick or Treat Fairy. She is gorgeous!

Off to work in the am, in emergency, then 4 glorious days off. weeeeee

toodles!

uh oh! what did we do! LOL

I called in sick to work today because my eye was almost swollen shut, plus it was running and driving me nuts. It was a bit throbby too.

So anyway, after DH and I got up and around, we started wondering and speculating about a new tv. So then we decided just to go to Leon's and have a look around. Lo and behold, we left with a pending delivery of a new tv, and brought home a new surround sound dvd. Hopefully the new tv will be in on Thursday, then we can bring it home and hook it all up. The kids don't know yet about the tv, so note to my oldest...if you read this blog, don't tell your brother.

So now we are left with rearranging the living room all around to accommodate the new set-up, and wondering what to do with the old tv with the bleeding colors. Plus we had to go get a new digital box from Rogers for the HD part. So right now we have our old tv, and all the new stuff, but nothing is connected together, it kinda works separately.

Well, I'd better go get my uniforms into the dryer and head for bed.

nite

Wow! Can you tell it's Monday

What an awful evening last night and today.

A conversation happened with a family member that had me so upset that I cried for about 2 hours. Sobbing actually. So, therefore, when I went to work today, my face was super puffy...then around noon I realized that the extreme puffy on the left side of my face was due to an infection in my tooth.

Well, luckily, I was working in Emergency so I booked in and got my antibiotics. Then true to form, around 7pm, it got really really busy in Emerg. Allergic reactions, chest pain, and more. I would have liked to stay because I love it when it's busy like that, but I was pooped! I had to stop at the grocery store to get supplies for a dip for my niece's baby shower tomorrow night, and pick up my anti-biotics.

So now, I sit here blogging and still feeling the stress of last night, I think I need an emergency vacation day tomorrow, tears still come to my eyes just thinking about it. I won't go into it any more than that. And no, the parents weren't involved, they're all doing okay right now.

So, nuff said. I think I need some rest.

Thanks for the laughs today for the comments I received on yesterday's blog. Cute, just what I needed.

G'nite.

My first post

ok ok, so now I'm joining the band wagon...

I've been reading everyone else's blogs and keeping up in their lives and sometimes I think I should have started a blog. My schedule at work get so hectice at times, that I go for days and sometimes weeks without connecting with friends. This way I can quickly leave a little blurb and hopefully they will come and read and know what's going on with me.

On that note...(holy, it's hard not to put dot dot dot) LOL if you've seen Mamma Mia, you get the reference! LOL

So I'll have to get going now, 9pm, time to shower and head for bed, working next 2 days.

Take care.