It was a good thing that Brian was driving when we got to the mountains just past Canmore. I was in heaven. There was more rocks and water than I had ever seen in my entire life. I was so happy we had our little discount coupon book and away we went.

Banff was absolutely beautiful. We stayed at the Caribou Lodge that had a Keg restaurant. Every day we were out walking and enjoying the beautiful fall time weather and the beautiful mountains. Spaghetti Factory. Little Irish Pub. And like all tourists, we walked in and out of the souvenir shops, found things to buy the girls and found things for us to take home. We were going to go up to the Summit by gondola. But on the way, we found this little grassed area that had deer just wandering all over through it. We could see Banff below us and the huge mountains that surrounded us.

As we sat in the peaceful morning sun, holding each other, and just each of us in our own thoughts, watching the deer walk slowly through the trees. Brian looked at me and said, “I have some thing for you, hon.” He reached into his pocket and picked out two $5 jade souvenir rings that he had picked up at the souvenir shop.

And then he said one of the longest speeches I’ve ever heard that man say.

“Carol Hunter, I love you more than I ever dreamed possible. You are what makes me smile every morning when I wake up. I know we planned on a very very long life together but I want you to know that my love will last forever in our hearts. I will always be watching over you and the girls.” And with that vow he placed the ring on my finger and gave me the other to put on his.

We both sat there, holding each other, slow tears running down our faces, but unbelievably happy with the person that we were each with.

We decided to go back down to the town and have a lunch and Brian could have a rest. The gondola trip would happen later in the afternoon. As most people that are familiar with the mountains in October, it can be extremely nice and warm and comfy down in the valley, but on the top of the mountain, it can be pretty chilly and frosty. As we got up to the top of the summit, Brian looked at the long staircases that reached up to the tallest looking point possible. I said, “Hun be careful. This is a tough go.”His response was, “No I want to make it to the top.”

So we did it slowly, he rested often. I could see that he was getting cold which meant that he was getting more achy but I was there to support his goal of getting to the top and that is exactly what he did. He looked so proud of himself. But all I could see was a very sore man in a lot of pain.

We went back to our hotel room. I ordered in supper and put Brian in a bathtub. We were going to move on the next morning to Armstrong to visit a friend. But in the morning Brian looked at me and said, “Honey I am so sore. I am so so hurting. And my response was, “And it’s a good thing that I have my little discount book. Apparently there’s a really nice hotel and hot mineral spa in Moose jaw. I’ll give them a call right now.”

That morning we were off and heading for Moose Jaw.

Brian loved the luxury. He had a good nights sleep and rested most of the day. That night he sat in the hot in-suite mineral spa tub. A rubber ducky floated around him. The hockey game was on the tv and he had a cold beer in his hand. As I came out of the bathroom he was smiling from ear to ear, “I’m pretty sure this is what heaven will be like.”

And that was Brian. After all the anger. After all the why me. After all the guilt of putting me, his girls, and his family through watching him die. After all that, Brian summed it all up with a little speech that he again surprised me with.

I was washing dishes, and he was drying dishes, when suddenly out of the blue, he says to me, “ I have finally figured out why God chose to give me cancer. God goes along and randomly kind of picks people that are going to have cancer. But as God was going along, God got me and God went oh I didn’t mean to do that. I can’t change it now though, so what should I do? At that moment, God said, I can’t change it but I can give him Carol.”

I threw my arms around him and held him close, and I said, “Honey that was so beautiful. How many times did you have to practice that?” He said like twenty. We laughed and laughed and hugged each other and remembered that we were just happy to be.

The next part of the story really will be me getting to the point I started working towards. It will be the conclusion.

To be continued…

May I be safe. May I be healthy. May I be happy. May I live with ease.