Wednesday, March 27, 2024
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Audrey since my father, Mr. Douglas Mossop, met her and fell in love with her in 2015. Their love story is “one for the books” and I will do my best to briefly share this with you now.
Doug became Audrey’s new neighbour at the Red Oak Retirement Residence in June 2015, for 3 months, while he recovered from an illness. I witnessed Doug’s transformation from sadness to joyful with this new beautiful person in his life. Both Audrey and Doug shared with me that it was as if they had known each other forever… they just clicked. Everyone around them could see and feel the love that they had for each other, and they became inseparable - the best of friends. Fortunately, Doug’s home was near the Red Oak, so their love story continued after his departure from the Red Oak. They spoke on the phone several times a day, chatted about everything, and played music for their mutual enjoyment. In addition, Doug walked the 30 minutes to visit with Audrey a few times each week. There was no amount of wind, rain, snow or ice that would deter Doug. He bundled up, put on his ‘best’, and set out to spend time with his dear friend. I always looked forward to hearing of the events that took place… there was always a story, a chuckle, and praise for Audrey. When it later became time for Doug to live somewhere with support, Red Oak was the obvious choice and they became neighbours once again. They continued to make many special memories together, until illness and circumstance physically separated them in 2022.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Audrey’s amazing and beautiful daughter Karyn, and we’ve been friends over all of these years. We believe that Doug and Audrey had each other in their hearts during this 1 1/2 year separation. As fate would have it, and by coincidence, Audrey and Doug became neighbours once again at Garden Terrace in 2024. Although their reunion was brief, I believe it was special. On March 1 2024, they held hands, smiled their beautiful smiles and stared lovingly into each others eyes.