Steinberg/Guy Family
Paula met Sharon when she started work at Dr. Egbert where Sharon created a culture of family and belonging between staff and students. This collegial relationship was the springboard to a longtime friendship with Sharon and Keith. Paula has memories of the ‘best eggnog ever’ made from scratch, that the staff indulged in at the annual Christmas party before Winter Breaks in the 80’s. Sharon had students cook the full meal-deal including turkey and ALL the fixings for the large staff. She opened up the Home Ec room to her colleagues like she opened up her home. Sharon sewed costumes for dance performances, provided treats during rehearsals for all involved, and for many other school gatherings.
When we started our family, Sharon and Keith became like a second set of parents or ‘grandparents’ to Jordhynn and Jaxen. They took many pictures and always shared them with us. They looked after Jordhynn for a week when she was 2 ½ years old when we went on a sailing trip to the BVI’s. Sharon outfitted Jordhynn in a stunning platinum attire which she wore as a flower girl for our niece’s wedding, insisting on many fittings to make sure it fit perfectly. As our kids became involved in activities, Sharon would make sure that Keith came with her to cheer them on at soccer, basketball, hockey and volleyball games, including those later at the U of C. A wonderful event our kids attended was the annual Gingerbread Party at Sharon and Keith’s neighborhood block. Jaxen loved sugar and couldn’t get enough of the candies that were within his reach. We were located outside the block, but enjoyed special guest status thanks to Sharon’s generosity. Sharon epitomized the saying “It takes a community to raise a child”. And, over the last number of years, we have been inspired learning about Sharon and Keith’s involvement with their own grandchildren.
Sharon kept us informed about everyone. We got the latest news about who got married, had children and grandchildren, and about those who were having operations, new diagnoses, etc. We were kept in the loop about everybody we knew mutually and sometimes didn’t know at all.
As neighbours and good friends, Sharon and Keith provided babysitting services for our tomato seedlings during spring holiday absences and always volunteered to keep an eye on the house. We would provide a batch of the seedlings to them and later compare how each of us had fared come harvest time. Any visit to Sharon and Keith’s usually involved us leaving with more food or treats than we had arrived with, and conversely, rarely was there a time when Sharon and Keith popped in to our place without raspberries, baked goods or home-grown vegetables. Truly, Sharon’s name could have been spelled “Share-n”.
Always available to lend a hand… last ones out helping with clean-up at the end of the celebrations for Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, retirement parties, and showers…
Jaxen said it so eloquently when he spoke of all the light that Sharon left in this world… and this light will continue to shine within our hearts… We will so miss you, Sharon.
Gerry, Paula, Jordhynn and Jaxen
