Friday, April 1, 2016
I didn’t know Annie personally but she sure made me laugh. The first time I heard Annie’s voice was on my parents voice mail. An elderly woman’s voice talking to the message machine like it was going to talk back… “Laura…. Laura… you there? Where are you? You’re never home! You must have a job! Call me back… its Annie Ekland”. I said to my parents, “Who in the world is Annie?”. My parents are in their 70’s and live in rural Nova Scotia. I know everyone they know and I had never heard of this obviously spunk lady, Annie Ekland. They instantly started laughing, my dad just shook his head. He laughs at my mother but I know he enjoyed Annie’s calls as much as she did. They had a chance encounter last year, where my mother had attempted to call her sister-in-law in Regina and misdialled. She ended up with Annie. Typically people say, “oh, I’m sorry I have the wrong number” but in this case when my mother hung up, Annie called back and wanted to talk. From there it lead to months of random and frequent phone calls between the two. An old fashion pen pal friendship of sorts began. Randomly my parents would talk about Annie and the conversations they had. They learned of her life, listened to her comical stories and her music. She would play guitar and sing over the phone and my parents would listen. Some, myself included, might think this was a bit odd however, not my parents. The overly friendly, salt of the earth, east coasters loved their chats with Annie. This past summer Annie asked my mother to send her a picture of the Atlantic Ocean. My parents, obediently responded with an envelope including pictures of themselves and the local beaches. They sent their return address in hopes that Annie would return a photo of herself. Today I spoke with my mother and she said that she had called Annie a number of times but hadn’t been able to get in touch with her. This morning she called and the phone number was no longer in service. She said that she was worried something may have happened. My parents are not interested in computers or the internet however, after they realized “the internet could do that”, a quick google search revealed that Annie had passed. I thought I was fitting to tell you this story and the joy that Annie has brought to my parents over the past year. She will be missed. Our sincere condolences. The Hirtle Family – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
Assiniboia Chapel