Head Tale

Death was a dark cloud haunting our summer in a variety of ways.

In August, I lost a great aunt who lived in Weyburn at age 86.

Earlier in the summer, I drove up to Warman for the funeral of one of my favourite cousins who was only in his 50’s when cancer took his life.

He wasn’t someone I knew well but a family friend of both Shea’s and my parents died in August, only a month after we’d seen him at a fair in Shea’s hometown.

And, perhaps most shockingly, a young woman whose mother I worked with in my first post-MLIS job at Southeast Regional Library was hit by a train and died a few days later, just after her 17th birthday (and as her mother later shared in a viral post, the accident was because “My SMART, sensible, beautiful young lady was looking at her goddamn fucking phone.”)

The accident happened on a Thursday night and Shea and I passed the scene on our way to our campsite though we didn’t see the accident, only the large number of police cars at the scene, likely already beginning their investigation.  It wasn’t until I looked at Facebook the next morning that I learned who had been in the accident.

I didn’t know Kailynn personally though, as happens these days, I felt like I knew a bit about her from her mother’s social media posts.  In fact, there’s a chance I even interacted with Kailynn at the Weyburn Pharmasave where she had a part-time job and where our family stopped occasionally throughout the summer.

Anyhow, there was a celebration of Kailynn’s life on Sunday so I thought I’d post the video tribute that they showed at the ceremony…

“Dancing in the Sky” – Dani & Lizzy