Seven years have passed since Mark was with us at the ALS walk.  We walk every year in his honour now.

And although he is now gone, in so many ways he never left.  We were together for over 25 years, long enough to build a life that felt steady and familiar.  

Mark was never one for big speeches or grand gestures.  He didn't need them.  He showed love in quieter ways - fixing what was broken, showing up every day, making sure we were ok.  This was his language.  

He was a millwright for over 20 years and carried that same quiet dedication into everything he did.  There was always a pride in his work, not loud or boastful, just steady.  He believed in doing things right, even when no one was watching.  His hands were always busy, fixing, mending, building.  He built a life for us that felt safe and grounded.

The outdoors was where he seemed most at peace.  Canoeing, camping and fishing.  He didn't talk about it, but you could see it in the way his shoulders relaxed and the quiet moments teaching the kids about the wild.  No adventure without a misadventure was the family motto.

When ALS came into our lives, it felt like something impossible - something that didn't belong to our family.  Mark faced it the same way he faced everything else: quietly, with strength and without complaint.  Even as things became harder, he remained thoughtful and concerned about his children, his extended family and his many friends.

Our 3 children were watching the whole time, even when they didn't realize it.  They saw what it meant to be strong without being loud, to be committed without needing recognition, and to love without condition.  Those lessons didn't disappear with him - they are still here with who they are becoming.

Grief doesn't fade, it changes shape.  It becomes a part of you, woven into your days.  But so does love.  And Mark's love  - steady, quiet, unwavering - is still with us.

And now that love carries us forward in a different way.

On Saturday, June 6, in Barrie at Sunnidale Park, we will walk in his memory.  We will walk for Mark - for the man who gave so much of himself to his family, his work and the life he built.  But we will also walk for something more.  For awareness.  For hope.  For the families who should never have to hear the words we once did.

ALS took so much from him, and from us.  But it did not take his impact, and it did not take our voice.  Each step we take that day will be for him and for every family still facing this disease.  It is our way of saying that his story matters , that his life continues to make a difference, and we will not let ALS quietly take from others without being seen.

Seven years later, we still feel him in the small things.  In the outdoors he cherished.  In the work ethic he lived by.  In the family he held together with such care.

Every step we take on our walk, we carry him forward, turning love into action and memory into purpose.

If you can, please donate to ALS, or feel free to join us on the walk.

Thank you!  Big hug!