Lisa was a loving, wise and beautiful woman who always believed and consistently proved that anything was possible with hard work and dedication. She was a dedicated planner and an unwavering perfectionist that led her life by a set of rules and values that encouraged everyone around her to be the best person they were capable of. But don’t let that lead you to believe that she was boring. On the contrary, Lisa defied convention and was brave and fearless in all of her pursuits and especially through her three year battle with brain cancer. She was a person who was always calm, cool and collected even in the most challenging of situations. Lisa had a way of bringing order to chaos by spreading her warm and positive energy. She never rushed past the details and never sweated the small stuff. She will be remembered as a selfless soul who travelled through life leaving everyone she touched better off than before they had met her.  

I believe that Lisa and I were destined to meet and share our lives together. Fondly reminiscing I can vividly remember all the conversations Lisa’s name was brought up in with others long before our introduction. As fate would have it we finally met when she was hired to work as the Sales & Marketing Director at Glenway Country Club. From that point on our relationship grew from a strictly professional business relationship, to a wonderful friendship and finally to a deep love and respect for each other; and it wasn’t long before we knew we were meant to be together forever.

Lisa is the strongest and most independent woman I have ever met. There are many true testaments to her strength but my heart, as well as all of yours I’m sure, will forever be warmed when thinking of how Lisa always considered others feelings far ahead of her own. Regardless of the situation Lisa always found a way to be inclusive and welcoming. She was the best listener I have and will ever meet. I think it’s because she was so good at asking the right questions that she always knew just how to help and get others involved. The numerous emails and messages received and your attendance here today is a tribute to her ability to build communities and create lasting bonds wherever she went. While she had her share of challenges in her pursuit of happiness, she inspired those around her as a beacon of light and positivity. Personally - She helped me through some very difficult times and did so selflessly and with the greatest kindness.

As a professional salesperson and business manager she continually proved herself to be the best of the best - outselling all of her staff combined and creating new successful marketing initiatives out of thin air. Her calming, non-combative, okay mostly none combative, problem-solving nature shone through in every interaction she had and she earned the respect of everyone who had the true pleasure of meeting her. As a competitive person, Lisa would set new and lofty personal goals no sooner than overachieving her previous ones. And yet, this was always accomplished with a sense of poise and grace, but most importantly - never at anyone else’s expense.  Upon realizing her to be an outstanding and astute business woman I was even more impressed to learn that she also excelled at being a loving mother, homemaker and partner in life.

Lisa’s persistence, attention to detail and fun loving nature was not only directed towards her professional pursuits, it also shone on her two wonderful children, Corbin and Lara. Whether it was the time she took when packing their lunches for school to write customized “I love you messages”, or her commitment to creating the world’s most challenging and rhyming clues for Easter egg hunts, Lisa always went the extra mile for those who mattered. And let’s not even get started on her award winning handmade Halloween costumes or the time she actually set up a tent for the finale of Survivor.

She was committed to nurturing relationships and because of our time together I now have two strong, independent and mostly well behaved step children who I love and couldn’t be more proud of. And because of Lisa we all know that you should push in your chair once you stand up, how to properly set a table, that your spice drawer is best organized alphabetically, never make unnecessary noise and for god’s sake don’t fight, don’t climb on the counters and be extra careful with anything fragile. Lastly, anytime you are in doubt whether you should say something, imagine grandma is there and if you say anything followed by “just kidding” you probably shouldn’t say it at all.

Once our lives melded into each other’s, we shared nearly every minute of every day together. And it wasn’t just work, although we both loved our jobs and working together; as they say, all work and no play is not the best game plan in life. So we balanced things out by doing things we loved to do together, and learning to love the things that we learned to do from each other. Our passion for golf took us on many adventures playing at home and on vacations and always learning from each other. The sharing of this passion allowed us to once again to better one another as golfers, people, and lovers. Lisa was an accomplished golfer and brought the same passion and approach to golf as she did her garden; she was methodical in her commitment to improvement and knew that all great things took patience. Just like her flowers, Lisa was as bright and beautiful on the course as she was in life.

Lisa was never one to shy away from a challenge. She was excited to learn how to snowboard as another way of us sharing our deepest joys and most precious time with one another. Her courage to try new things is something that Lisa portrayed to all she met, and I am very grateful for this influence in my life and our lives together.

This would be a pattern to be repeated many times over the 12 years we have known each other. On one trip to Whistler we tried zip lining, but not just regular scary high zip lining, but zip lining at Night; which seemed only appropriate for a woman who was never afraid to explore the unknown. On other occasions we went horseback riding, sailing, scuba diving, wind surfing and had countless other “firsts” that we experienced together.

After riding as my biker babe on the back of my motorcycle she proclaimed, “enough of this, I want my own ride!” So she took the motorcycle training course and passed her exam and was riding her Can-Am Roadster with me on her flank and barely keeping up within a few days. Naturally, we had to have communication devices built into our helmets so that we could talk to each other while riding. We never ran out of things to talk about and I will always be fascinated, motivated and enthused by the Lisa’s intellect, omniscient wisdom and the beautiful way she viewed the world around us as we would ride through the most beautiful of vistas. We never tired of listening to what each other had to say and at times respectfully disagreeing. She loved her ride and the freedom she felt from wonderful trips through scenic landscapes. Our relationship often felt like when we would go geo-caching on our motorcycles. No matter what direction we took or how winding the road was to get there, there was always a pleasant surprise to discover and often the journey was even more fun than the destination.

We shared so many adventures and laughs together and supported each other through tougher times in both our personal and business lives. I have Lisa to thank for so many things but making me the happiest I’ve ever been is absolutely the pinnacle. I know that I tried everything possible to return the love she gave to me and to constantly show her the inspiration she provided me with on a daily basis to be a better man, father, business person and partner.

I was once told that there is no sense of self without the empathic connection to others and we can witness the truest form of Lisa’s character because it is contained in all of the people that she brought together in her life, including those here today. This room full of loved ones is a perfect example of her transcending love, compassion and care in being able to attract us all to her.

Lisa had a favourite song and rock artist. Aerosmith’s “I don’t want to miss a thing” sung by Steven Tyler was definitely her favourite and to this day he’s the only guy I felt I should watch out for. But who can blame her? I’d like to read you a few verses of the song as it nearly perfectly describes the feelings Lisa and I had for each other.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

Don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Lying close to you feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming,
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together
And I just wanna stay with you
In this moment forever, forever and ever

I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss
Well, I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this

I just wanna hold you close
I feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time!

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
and I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Thank you for coming here tonight to honour the memory of Lisa. Let us all celebrate Lisa in sharing with each other the love that we shared for her. From the bottom of my heart, I hope all of you will experience the love that Lisa and I shared with each other. Now I know she would be wondering when I’m going to wrap this up, so I will leave you with a few reminders that I learned from Lisa. Explore and experience life fearlessly, push yourself because you can do anything you put your mind to, listen carefully to others, love unconditionally and please, no unnecessary noise!