There is a poignancy to the Last Chair Up, of a ski season. It represents, the end of one season, that moment when what is, becomes what was, it is a moment of reflection on the season, and the daring to anticipate the next, should we, by grace be lucky enough to partake.
But this particular Last Chair Up was to be something that at once no one would want to take and in its pain held great love and joy, all from a stranger, whose name we did not know.
We asked to take the Last Chair Up, so that we could say farewell to our son Robin’s ashes, which we had recently lay at the summit of our beloved Mont Tremblant. Robin, our robust, athletic, ski loving, handsome and loving boy had recently succumbed to glioblastoma after living with this deathly cancer for 17 years.
Our request was met with honour, respect and I dare say love, from a stranger. As we waited, sadly and tearfully for the moment to come, we heard wafting through the air Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah Chorus, the very song we had played at Robin’s Celebration of life. We tearfully boarded the chair and as we passed the lift attendant station, he placed his fist on his heart and up we went to the summit with Leonard Cohen in our ears and hearts. And when we dismounted the lift at the top, the lift attendant bowed, with his fist to his heart.
We skied past the place where Robin’s ashes lie, we gave thanks for his life and then we skied down the whole mountain, all alone, just Martin, and I and grief and love.
And now we return almost every day to that lift. and every day we smile at the stranger we now know to be Mathieu. And in the pain of our grief is, born over and over again the beauty of The Last Chair Up. And the gift from someone who did not know us, nor us him, but who knew about love and loss. And as time goes by, the mix of pain and grief and love changes.. more love less grief….. and as far as The Last Chair Up goes, our hearts will remain forever grateful to Mathieu.