John K B Sorensen

I believe I am the youngest of the nieces and nephews of the Lilliputian contingent. Changing of the Guard - how appropriate in the sense of the last of a generation and it’s now us. I don’t know that if it was just me that I didn’t take the time but I never “really” knew John. He was always the guy reading in the corner, the guy taking a textbook, the guy saying very little, the guy being bigger than anyone I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t until, surprisingly, unfortunately this last Christmas that I got to know John more than I ever knew him in my life. Mark and John came to our house for dinner with my wife Bonita and I learned so much about him at that time. How he came to Canada, when he came to Canada, what he did on his first job etc etc. It’s really unfortunate that personally I didn’t take that time and get to know him more throughout my life. But we had such a great time, such a great evening, it ended all far too quickly and we forgot to take a single picture. But nonetheless it was a time that I will always remember and it was a time that even after that we thought Oh next time we get to talk to John, because we had so many more questions that were unanswered, and that time didn’t come around. Maybe that's a lesson for all of us, to spend more time with those that are near to us, that are dear to us because life is short. Not so much in John’s case when it’s 94 years but life can be short. So maybe that’s the encouragement in the message that John leaves with all of us. It’s to stay close to everyone that’s around you, stay close to your family, your friends, your cousins, your neighbours. To John on such a fantastic life of 94 years from the youngest and the smallest of the Lilliputians.