The Grand Farewell: Keys 2145 - 2151

The day my dad died I was lying in the backyard soaking up the very last of the summer sun and thinking maybe I should call him…nah I thought; I’m tired, I’ll call him tomorrow after my son goes back to his home in Montreal.

I don’t remember the last conversation we had. I don’t harbour any guilt for not calling him on that September holiday day — which is pretty amazing considering I was raised as a Catholic — there’s no way I can change my lack of action. His death was sudden and perhaps shocking but in hindsight not unexpected; another indication that I am not fully seeing the signs in front of me.

It wasn’t long before the women in our family talked about seeing dad in their dreams — sometimes laughing, sometimes sending his love; always in a way that was meaningful for the dreamer.

Eventually he appeared in one my dreams — a cracklingly poor audio conversation he was having with someone else.

Shortly after a memorial with my dad’s family and my siblings out in Vancouver (where he’d lived the last 28 years or so) I did dream about him. I was in a house that I knew from previous dreams (pretty sure it represents my life) and he was in the basement tucked in for the night with his wife and my mom and two newborns (they had more kids in another room). I was having a party upstairs and assured him that it would only last an hour and the noise wouldn’t interfere with his night.

More happened in the dream but the main thing was that he got out of the bed he was in and showed me his new outfit: a white tunic over white cotton pants, decorated with thick purple ribbons of embroidery and studded with sparkling rhinestones outlined in black. Initially I thought it looked like something I would wear but it was clearly designed for a man, for him. A royal outfit with a yogi flare.

He was so happy.

Delighted really about his outfit and what lay before him.

He walked away then to new lands with my mom, they were holding hands. Partnered together after so many years divorced.

A voice I realized later wasn’t his instructed me “You have to say goodbye now.”

A Grand Farewell.

Key 2145 is an altered photo of Key 1964 (the year I was born).

Key 2146 is an altered photo of Key 1963 (the year my older brother was born).

Key 2147 reminds me of my dad - larger than life, rich, bold, optimistic, and at the centre of it all. The “beads” dotting the ribbons are copies of the rhinestone at the bit edge of this key.

I’m not sure what this key represents (if anything) — possibly my dad’s youngest daughter, possibly his wife.

Key 2149 is an altered photo of Key 1969 (the year my youngest brother was born).

Key 2150 is an altered photo of Key 1966 (the year my middle brother was born). The bow of the key is made from a necklace my mother wore in the 70’s.

I’m not sure what this key represents either — possibly my dad’s middle daughter, possibly my mom.

I’m happy with how this poster turned out. As my dad would say at the end of a conversation:

“Good then. Bye.”