Farewell

Ramont and I last visited with Oma Toews in January 2009. Loma Plata, Paraguay.

Last Sunday evening my grandmother, Helena (Schroeder) Toews of Loma Plata, Paraguay, passed away. She was 91 years old, and had suffered bad health for some time already. It was an answer to prayers that she was able to slip away home, as she did.

This woman was a pioneer. When she was five, she moved with her family from Canada to the "green hell" of the Chaco, Paraguay in the 1920s. She and my grandfather Cornelius raised 13 children (one daughter died at one year old), and she is survived by 30-some grandchildren and 50-some great-grandchildren. When we last visited her, in 2009, she knew all their names and most of their birthdates. I am grateful for the stories she told during our last visit (including that they very much hoped this American Gordon would forget about their daughter, Eva, once he went home from his MCC assignment!!), and will always wish that I had had more time close to her.

We couldn't, of course, attend the funeral. But we did get the next best thing: live internet-streaming of the funeral from Paraguay. My mom, Jonathan, Anna and I drove to Steinbach, Manitoba on Tuesday and were there to watch the funeral take place on Wednesday.

We watched it at the home of my aunt and uncle, David and Lena Funk, together with my aunt and uncle (Peter and Louella Toews) and two of my grandmother's siblings.

The trip to Canada was really a good one. We got in some good visiting with quite a few different folks. It was a bit stressful to manage two active toddlers, without Ramont, in the midst of lots of people for so long. But everyone was very gracious, and very very kind to our kids. Jonathan asked a bit worriedly during the drive there whether people would speak German, which they almost all did.

Here Anna makes a bit of mischief with her second cousin, Lily Funk...

We even went to some garage sales - and finally found a tool workbench for the kids. Here they are, workin' away...

The weather was gorgeous, if a bit cool. However, it was warm enough for some nice ice-cold terere on the ride home.

Our kids are quite stellar travelers. A wee bit of whining after about seven hours (9.5 hour total trip), but no major outbursts and lots of contentedness. Like I said, it was a good trip.