I’m in Toronto, Canada, at the moment, which is somewhat of a second home for me. My lovely partner Linda is a born and bred Torontonian, and although we both now live in Sydney, Australia, we try to travel back here at least once a year to visit friends and family. Our current visit was unplanned and not for the usual reasons we like to be here though… Linda’s father Ron passed away a few days ago. He’d had a number of health challenges for quite a while, and although he always maintained a positive outlook and a cheery disposition, things had been getting increasingly difficult for him over the last few months. Early on Wednesday morning Toronto time, the day before his 82nd birthday, Ron decided enough was enough and passed away quietly in his sleep. May he rest in peace.
Although I never got to spend as much time with Ron as I would have liked, he was a lovely gentle man, and every time I met him he was always smiling, always taking an interest in those around him. He was always curious and interested in the world around him – I used to say to Linda he was like an excited little kid trapped in an older person’s body. We spoke on the phone every so often, and apart from always asking about the weather (he was, after all, a Canadian!) he always took a great interest in what was going on with Linda and I, where we were travelling to and what was happening in our world. As we Aussies would say, he was a genuinely good bloke.
I found this timelapse video of Toronto called Toronto Tempo, and I think it’s rather beautiful. I’m posting it here as a bit of a tribute to Ron. We’ll miss you mate.
Toronto Tempo from Ryan Emond on Vimeo.
The Ron in Toronto by Chris Betcher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.