Rainy Hodgson

Rainy's Eulogy
 

My name is Rebekkah Wilkin, and this is my husband, Dylan. I’m one of Rainy’s 7 grandchildren, along with Read, whose partner is Kelly; Natalie, married to Bjorn; Sarah, married to Lee; Carrie, married to Scott; Kimberly, married to Alan, and James, married to Jessica. Rainy also leaves behind her 3 children: Susan, married to David; Mary Jane, married to Mike; and Blair, married to Janice. Rainy also had 5 beautiful great-grandchildren, who are all here today: Read, Marika, Rhett, Kenzie, and William. Also mourning Rainy today are her brother, Joe, married to Doris, and her sister, Mary Jane. We all miss her so much already.
 

Rainy has had a significant impact on all of us; on every single person in this room. We were lucky to have had Rainy in our lives.
 

In preparing this eulogy, I asked our family to put forward the words that come to mind when they think of Rainy. The words her family responded with include: zestful, funny, full-of-life, exuberant, confident, fabulous, feisty, energetic, dazzling, beautiful, vibrant, competitive, inspirational, all-embracing, fun, crazy-in-a-good-way, and wine. Several people said wine.
 

These individual words come together to paint a picture of the Rainy we all knew and loved so dearly. Rainy, who was always up for anything; Rainy, who supported her friends and family to the ends of the earth; Rainy, who loved us all so much; Rainy, who always knew how to have a good time. Rainy, who had “wine time” every day at 5 o’clock.
 

When I think of Rainy, the first thing I think of is her generosity - her generosity with time, with friendship, with hospitality. Rainy enjoyed having people in her life, and she prioritized other people’s comfort and needs over everything else. Rainy would drop whatever she was doing to make time for a visit with the folks who stopped by her house, every single day. She looked forward to these impromptu visits, and she often liked to sit in the garage with the door up, so people could pop in as they went by. She didn’t even really like beer, but she always kept some in the fridge for guests who did. Rainy loved being social, and being part of the community, and I know that having her friends just stop in for coffee or a glass of wine - or a beer - was one of the best parts of her daily life over the last many years. She was beloved in this town of Coboconk, by her friends and neighbors, the gang at the Legion, and the members of her Church community. Please know that she loved you all as much as you loved her, and your friendship meant the world to her.
 

Rainy was, for us grandkids, the best grandmother. The best. She was everything you could possibly imagine the best grandmother being. She loved us all, and our various boyfriends/girlfriends and eventual spouses, absolutely thoroughly and unconditionally, and she supported us in everything any of us wanted to do. Read remembers her for being a confidant, someone you could talk to about anything and not be judged. He also laughs, thinking about how she would not-so-discreetly slip us $20 from time to time, so we could treat ourselves. Carrie remembers how pleased and excited Rainy was, when she found out that her youngest great-granddaughter Kenzie was named after her, with the middle name Lorraine. Rainy inspired all of us, as Read says “in the way she led her life, enjoying every moment and helping everyone along the way.” As Natalie puts it, “we are a strong and successful family, because we had such and inspirational mentor.” Rainy encouraged us to do whatever we wanted, and if we ever got on her nerves or annoyed her - as was probably the case, honestly - she never, ever let it show. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with us, and encouraged us to visit whenever we could. For the last several years, she made it possible for Sarah - and Carrie when she could - to fly in and visit over the Thanksgiving weekend. Sarah will especially remember what fun times she had with Rainy during these trips, baking bread together and hitting up the casino.
 

Rainy also taught us all how to gamble, which is fitting, I think, in her fun-first way of life. For Carrie, Sarah, and me, our first visits to the casino were thanks to Rainy. She showed us how the slot machines work, and taught us that the casino is the most fun when you all share the winnings. Read and Nat recall when she was babysitting them while Mike and Mary Jane were on holidays - they were late for school almost every day, because Rainy was teaching them how to play Blackjack with cheesies. Rainy was a fun-first person, both in the way she lived her own life, and in the way she taught us to live ours.
 

Rainy also loved travel and adventure. Her first big adventure came when, as a young bride, Rainy took a ship across to England to meet up with her our grandfather Bruce, who was stationed there with the Air Force. She arrived on June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Day. Her new husband was so excited to meet her at the pier, on this special day, but he didn’t recognise her, as she had dyed her hair blonde like Marilyn Monroe. That sassy blonde look would be her defining colour from then on.
 

Rainy went on to live in many places, including P.E.I., Newfoundland, Quebec, and eventually Lindsay, Ontario, where Rainy and Papa lived in a beautiful old home on Adelaide St. for many years, before retiring here to Coboconk. Rainy’s love of travel and adventure, and her ability to embrace new places, was something she passed on to all of her family.
 

Rainy’s love of travel extended to a trip to England with her daughters Mary Jane and Susan in 1988, where they travelled the country without a single hotel reservation! Rainy would go on to have other adventures, travelling across Canada with family, to Cuba, Las Vegas with the girls in the family, and extensively throughout the US with her second husband, Bud. The best thing about travelling with Rainy was that, much as in her regular life, she was absolutely unflappable. Rainy would roll with any unexpected event that happened to come up, and she knew how to rise to the occasion as required. My sister, Carrie, recalls a particular incident, when Rainy helped Dad fix our broken-down car, by stripping off her pantyhose right by the side of the highway near Vegreville, Alberta! (For use as a belt of some sort.) My best memories from travelling with Rainy are how she could make friends with everyone - every flight attendant, waiter, groundskeeper, or guy who drove the golf cart became Rainy’s new friend. Rainy had the ability to warmly speak with and engage everyone she came in contact with.
 

And that brings me to my final observation, the one that I think everyone in this room will recognise. Rainy was good at life. She made the most of every occasion. She was passionate about the world, about politics and current events, and about her beloved (mostly) stock market. Rainy embraced new challenges, as Natalie noted, checking Facebook daily, doing all her banking and watching her stocks online. And she had the ability to make every moment memorable. Rainy could sit in a room full of people she’d never met before, and have them talking, laughing, and having fun together in no time. She was ballsy, brash, and hilarious. Rainy knew how to take a risk and have a good time. This is a lesson I know many of us will carry forward for the rest of our days.
 

Rainy was simply the best. We are all so very, very lucky to have had her in our lives.