Gus Lives Here

This pretty little barn belongs to a wonderful piece of property owned by a Supreme Court Judge who happens to also be one of our clients. Just behind the barn is a small apple orchard where a good friend of mine is buried. Well, sort of.
Gus was in his eighties and as vital and strong as a man half his age. He still worked, almost full time, as a master carpenter and 'jack of all trades'. He was befriended by the judge and used this barn and an adjoining workshop as his base of operations because he lived in a condo and needed space for his carpentry projects. Gus took ill one day, and several days later died in the hospital during surgery for a bowel obstruction. It was sudden and very sad.
He only had one daughter, and she cared little for her dad, so the judge took it upon himself to have Gus cremated and arranged a small memorial service on his acreage. Some of his neighbours at the condo were invited, as well as a few of the people who he called his friends, myself included.
Gus loved to pick the apples from the orchard in the late fall and certainly had his favourite tree. It was there that Gus would be laid to rest. We gathered round the small hole that had been prepared ahead of time and the judge and his wife said a few words and had a prayer. It was a very hot July day and all of us were trying desperately to crowd under the tree to stay in the shade. Just as the jar of ashes was tilted to put Gus in his final resting place, a sudden gust of swirling wind caught the ashes and spread them over all of us, and into those who could not hold their breath in time. It was an awkward moment as perhaps half of the ashes finally fell to the bottom of the hole, there to be immediately covered before the next gust came.
Gus loved that little orchard, but he also wanted to leave a little bit of himself with each of us, and he succeeded.