Friday morning my grandpa, Peter Kopytko, passed away surrounded by family peacefully.
Grandpa, in my eyes, was a hardworking farmer, accomplished pipe-fitter (the plumber I always called for advice), father/grandfather/great-grandpa, a faithful man who went to church Sunday mornings. He taught me many things, but a few stand out as the value of hard work that he a had taught me and my siblings. No job was beneath me, was one that he instilled, as those little jobs are what make one stand apart. Another lesson that comes to front of mind when thinking of Grandpa ‘Petko when thinking of working hard would be to also make time to have fun. Get out & go camping with family or trip to somewhere warmer or countless times of going to Countryfest with grandma, or simply getting together around their dining room table for a good game of spoons.
As my mom wrote,
‘You lived your life the way you wanted to, with Mom by your side, Family was your center of concern. You always made time for us with fishing trips, camping trips, cards, games, road trips, visiting children, grandchildren and great grandchildren! You taught us to be fair, help others and look after each other. You were our example, Your time came and you had to leave us. But you prepared us for what we needed to face in life. You will be greatly missed, and will always be loved & remembered.’
I was lucky enough to grow up a few miles from my grandparents place & find it really hard to remember any memories that do not include grandpa (& grandma) in them somehow. Really blessed. Will say that grandpa does play a large part in my hard work ethic & taught us that farming comes with love, togetherness, laughter & loss. I recall always looking forward to morel mushroom hunting with grandpa in Alonsa and along the way, fencing with grandma & him, countless hours helping mow the grass at their place at Norgate and later getting to participate in farming alongside him when was needed, fishing – summer or winter and always looked forward to camping in the summer. Always over at their place for any reason to get-together the whole family for food, fun & games. Will always cherish all the times together, which always seemed to involve grandmas amazing food.
Grandpa will always hold a special place in my heart, in which he will not be forgotten. Will cherish the time we lived with grandma and him, while my dad was in Winnipeg getting a bone marrow transplant. I cannot imagine the patience it took to have teenage me, with all my crazy teenage girl antics, along with the ump-teen the sports teams to drive me to, not to mention I played the tuba in band.. I can now appreciate why he had me practice outside on the deck once the weather was nice enough, ha.
Always patient, always there to offer something for me to do or how to practice my throw, teaching us to fillet fish or letting me practice driving to get my license. It didn’t matter what he had going on or where you met him, he always had time to stop what he was doing to catch up for a little chat.
Not going to lie, when grandma passed we all were heavy hearted, but none more than grandpa. It took him a long time to not ask me how grandma was – completely understandably as they had been together since 1959. This past year I made time to stop by to say hello & give him the ‘farm report’. Was nice to slow down in our hectic life to share memories & any little thing I could for him to be comfortable. Oh & to bring him a little taste from home – a Saskatoon tart or a bit of battered pickerel.
I cannot say it is easy to spend time with someone you love, knowing that their time is near its’ end. Was important to make time to spend with grandpa, even if he was napping & my job was to keep that foot from getting stuck in the foot holder, ha. Or making sure your thirst was quenched with some good ol’ thickened OJ and making sure your back and head itches got a good scratch.
Huge thank you to the staff at McCreary PCH, who always went above and beyond to care for grandpa & whoever was there with him. One of his last nights I spent the night & the staff made sure that I had a chair that folded to a bed to have a good ‘sleep-over’ with grandpa. Spent the night making sure he was comfortable & remembering what an impact he had on my life. Not to mention all the other grandkids/great grandkids, his nieces/nephews, cousins, friends, etc. He had lived a life well lived, as he showed a lot of love and was loved by many.
Still hard to believe that he is gone. I am sure he is with the love of his life & I know is no longer in any pain.
Grandpa, you are so very missed & you will never be forgotten.
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Well said, my darling Daughter. Grandpa loves each and everyone of his Family, and will definitely be watching over us to see if we listened and are all looking after each other!