Dear Community of Perth-Andover,
You have a special place in my heart. My father, Guilmond Beaulieu, grew up in your town. I have heard countless stories of many of you who were living in the community at the same time as him, and I loved hearing him re-tell these stories, as well as the history of the town. He was so happy when he would recount stories of his youth.
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Playing “Screen ball”, jumping off the train bridge, and organised sports like little league baseball and high school basketball to name a few. I also always looked forward with great joy and anticipation to our annual summer vacation in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick.
For those of you who may not have heard, it is with great sadness that I report last year around this time my dad died from complications associated with a glioblastoma (an aggressive primary brain tumor). It is still very difficult for me to write about this…. Forgive me, I have been stuck on this line for a long while. I wanted to say something about the challenges he must have went through, the challenges and fears all those who loved him had… but I don’t think I can accurately express these things at this time.
When I get stuck remembering the hard times, I try and think of a happy or funny memory. Right now I am thinking about my dad singing to my eldest son while he was swinging in his infant swing. He loved to sing, but he could not always remember the words. Funny, for the life of me I can’t remember the words to the song he was singing, but my son was staring at him so intently, a really powerful moment for me. I am sure some of you also have happy memories of my dad, and I would love to hear them.
This April 27th, I will be participating in the “Spring Sprint” in honour of him. I wanted to do something positive, and challenging in his honour, so I will be doing the 10 km run. Like my father, I also ‘used to’ be an athlete, so I have a bit of work ahead of me in order to complete this 10km run. Every time I see someone has donated in his honour, it is a little easier to get up and train, to get up and try. Every dollar raised by Spring Sprint goes towards the work done by Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and all the work they do.
Thank you so much Perth-Andover. Though I know it will be really challenging to go without my dad, I know I will one day see you again.
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With love, .
Sarah Beaulieu
