Today Jordon, Lee, and I went to Waskesiu. It is a town in Prince Albert National Park, about three hours north of Saskatoon. Think of it as Martha’s Vineyard for Saskatchewan sans the drunken Kennedys. It was grey and raining which meant for bad pictures but Jordon and Lee shared a lot of stories of Aunt Beth, Marion, Waskesiu, and growing up. We went into a store and Mark saw too special rocks he wanted so I bought them for him. Jordon was going to purchase me a bracelet in another store but the clerk was so snarly that we didn’t get it. That couple hours in Waskesiu was our holidays this summer. Not much and it is hard to believe that summer is almost over but it was good to get away.

Once we got home, Jordon went upstairs and got a jewelry case that Marion had given to him as a boy. He cleaned it all up, vacuumed it all out and called Mark into our room. He asked Mark to get his two special rocks and after explaining to Mark that his mom had given it to him when he was about Mark’s age, he gave Mark the jewelry box and they put the rocks in it. Mark was almost crying at the gift and so was I. I don’t know who was more suprised at the gift, Mark or me (Jordon hadn’t mentioned it to me). Jordon and Mark found a special spot for the box and Mark’s rocks and then Jordon tucked Mark into bed.

In talking to Jordon, it all made sense. First of all he had purchased a small chest last year to keep some family keepsakes and one of them is an antique catcher’s mask of his grandfather and mom and that was too large to keep in a jewelry box. While in Waskesiu today, we went into the store that Jordon had been going into every trip since 1985 when they first went up there. Often Waskesiu was the only vacation that the Cooper’s had. In the store they would buy a trinket for the trip and they were special. When Mark was all excited about his purchase, it was time to pass not only the tradition of the store but also the box as well.

It was a bit of an emotional way to end a good day.