Obituaries

Life is a little bit like a CN train ride! Fairly easy to know where the train ride has begun its journey, difficult to say where the last station will be or when the train will finally arrive at destination. But, between these two points, there is a whole bunch of people that hop on our train ride, this is what makes the train ride interesting. Some will travel with us for a few stops, some for a great many years. I am not sure if I hopped on Werner's train ride or if he hopped on my train ride, but I am pretty sure, we ended up on the same track a few times. The first time was when my brother Guy Jourdain shamelessly decided to use his little brother as a mule. I guess, Guy must have been unaware that there was a company called FedEx so absorbed by law he was. At the time, I was in University in Montreal, and Werner was working for a few days at a CN office downtown Montreal. I can't recall whether it was the head office or not. But my mission was simple, I was to meet Werner at that office, and pick up or deliver a package, one or the other. I could see that Werner was a kind and friendly man. The only hick was that Werner did not speak French and I did not speak English in those days. So, not sure if it was an encounter of the third kind or not (movie reference), but it sure was a short one. I guess that must have finally convinced Werner that Guy was not kidding when he said he came from the backwaters of Quebec. Another time the train switch did its magic is when it was Guy’s fiftieth birthday celebration in Winnipeg. At the time, I went with my son Felix whom was around maybe 13 years of age. By that time, I had gone through many mutations, some were favorable, and as a result, I could now speak English and truly enjoy the man that Werner was. Felix and I, met a whole bunch of characters that had decided to hang out and had been with Werner on his train ride for a long time. And by God, characters they were. This is when I first heard of a fabled place called Ottermere. During the celebration, we met the man whose beard was as long as Santa, and I do believe when the train arrived in Ottermere, he would greet people with a Christmas hat or a Christmas costume during the Holiday Season on an ATV or something. There was the retired Mountie whom told us about young adults going to party in running shoes half an hour from where they lived and if their car broke down, it would be awful, such is the cold in Winnipeg. Anyway, Werner world with his friends was so warm, so welcoming. They were all so happy, full of beans, jovial fellows. For Felix and I, that visit in Winnipeg was an enchanted time. What a special moment it was. On October 2017, Tessa my eldest daughter moved to Edmonton and we loaded up the minivan with all her stuff and we drove from Toronto to Edmonton. I did not know what flat was until we hit Saskatchewan. On the way back, I stopped and visited with Guy and Ulrika. I was then invited to go to the mystical Ottermere cottage. This time, I was not on the same track as Werner. Well, yes I was, but it is more like I was on the same train. This is pretty much the only route to Ottermere by train unless you want to do a portage (pretty much anyway)! How cool is that. In Ottermere, I could see how the beautiful life Werner, Theresa, and their children had spent so many years surrounded by all their friends. I recall vividly walking in a shed with Werner and him removing a tarp from two ski-doos and Werner starting the engines just to see if they were running. He was happy, and I was fascinated by what must have been the white wilderness of Ottermere in winter. I hope they have ski-doos in heaven so Werner can tinker with something. I would like to present mes sympathies to the Birkholz family, and to say that I can be counted as privileged to have been on the same tracks as Werner. Paul Jourdain.