Janet Lorna Jacobs - Rest In Peace

Janet L. Jacobs
1928 - 2020

Early this morning, we received a call from Extendicare York that Sandy's mother Janet had passed away in her sleep. Jan had been a resident of the Long Term Care home since late 2016 due to progressive dementia. The COVID lockdown had taken a heavy toll on her and, by the time we were finally allowed to see her mid-summer, she was unresponsive and did not recognize us for the most part.

Jan was a nice lady, well liked by all who knew her. With Sandy's father Harry leaving us in 2014 and her brother Malcolm passing away unexpectedly in 2019, Jan was the last of her immediate family. Dementia is an insidious disease that steals loved ones a bit at a time. Now Janet is at rest.

Janet Lorna Jacobs Obituary

Wasn't That A Summer.....

 We had planned a lot of traveling this summer:

• May - SEVROC in Maggie Valley, North Carolina
• June - WWR in Mountain View, Arkansas
• July - VROC rally in Deadwood, South Dakota
• July - An eight day ride with Zeke through Montana and Wyoming
• August - Twins Days in Twinsburg, Ohio

And still to come,

• September - VROC Reunion in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
• September - Outer Banks, North Carolina

But we were locked down instead. In March, the Canada/US border was closed to all except for essential traffic. Some inter-provincial borders were closed as well, a violation of the Canadian Constitution. People stayed at home, ordering food and groceries to be delivered. Politicians all somberly addressed us every day. In April, there were heated arguments about whether it would be right to take a motorcycle out for a ride. Masks and distancing were the order of the day. 

Then, as the infection rate declined, things opened up a bit. Restaurants and bathrooms opened up, albeit with restrictions. Golf courses opened up as well and we got the motorcycles out. But the US border stayed closed. Only limited size gatherings were allowed.

So the summer was a series of not-to-far motorcycle rides and golfing. That was until I blew out the tendon in my left elbow in mid-July. Then it was just riding, once I could squeeze the clutch lever again. Here are a few images from this period:

May 23 - Leo and my first ride

June 5 - Leo eagles #13 at Cedar Green

June 15 - Bear on #3 at Cedar Green

August 7 - Kevin, Mon Onc & Leo in Field, Ontario

August 7 - All masked up at Burger World in North Bay, Ontario

August 7 - Burger World - I should not have eaten this

August 14 - McKerrow, Ontario

My blood sugar went up just looking at this

August 14 - Rick looks happy

August 14 - Mon Onc and Kevin in McKerrow, Ontario

August 15 - Freedom Riders in Mattawa, Ontario

August 15 - North Bay, Ontario

August 18 - Old friend Ray Ward and his son

August 18 - On the Bill Small Memorial Bridge

Since the US border will remain closed through September, we have cancelled the Eureka Springs and Outer Banks trips as well. It was a strange year but we have made the best of it that we could.