Month: October 2025

Each and every day I pause to remind myself who and what makes me thankful and grateful. These last few years have been challenging as my family has become smaller. I lost my Opa, my cousin Tessa and I had to put my dad in a home. Each left a hole in my heart that I still struggle to fill. Letting go of my people sits heavy.

My dad’s mental health journey has tested my mental health in ways I never knew existed. Putting him in a home and parting with his belongings hurt my heart. I still question if I made the right decisions even though I know in my heart I did. I always dreamed of what it would be like when Papa retired. The boy and I had many fun plans dreamed up. While I am grateful my dad is alive I am saddened by his quality of life. I live for the small moments during our visits where I can see the man who used to sit beside me on fun road trips. The glimpse of the dad I once knew. The happiest passenger in a Caddy! We struggled our whole lives to build a relationship, we both didn’t always agree on each other’s decisions but at the end of the day he is my dad and I did my best to have a relationship with him. I am thankful he still knows who I am and no matter the day he always hugs me and tells me he loves me I will never be ready for the day I no longer have that.

This year for Thanksgiving I didn’t see any of my actual family. Everyone had different plans. We ended up going to see the in-laws for an amazing country day that filled our hearts and stomachs. As I sat around the table I am so thankful for my new family, for the laughter, good food, and never ending views.

With each year that I age I am more and more grateful for those who love and support me and those who gather for meals. This started with my grandparents and I hope it continues long after I am a grandma.

I tried to show my thanks and how grateful I am for my people when wedding planning. Weddings are labled the brides day but I wanted to share how grateful I am for each and everyone who showed up. 

When I wrote my vows I think it summed up my thankful heart. I started my vows by making a joke at my sister Shelly. I adore my sister and I couldn’t imagine life without her. When I was a single mom she was right there with me figuring it out, when I needed help with dad she never complained she always showed up. She planned the funnest bachelorette party with our other sissy Sarah and it was the perfect day. I am thankful for the years we have been sisters. I laughed when she tried to help me write my vows to be fair I was behind. I had an idea of what I wanted to write. I just had not yet sat down to write. We may have had a few drinks when she attempted to help me. She kept writing Dear Allan and then she didn’t know what to write so when I sat down to write without thinking I wrote Dear Allan and started to laugh. They went from tears of laughter, tears of sadness to tears of my heart not being able to contain the love I feel. I will share with you the vows I wrote and said without messing up!  Some of the things I said only my husband would understand and I knew they would make him smile.

“Dear Allan (I just want to admit Shelly helped me write that part of my vows but the rest is from my heart)

You are my unicorn, the same brand weird, my soft place to land and I have never felt so secure and more at home as I am with you. I am able to fully be myself when we’re together. I appreciate all the time you put into our relationship. I love you soy much!

I grew up watching my Opa and Gran overcome and build what I think was the most amazing and cutest love story. They embraced all that came their way with open honest communication and they never gave up on each other; they always worked things out. This was always something I wanted and something I never found in another person until you came into my life. My Opa always told me looks fade but personality and the way someone treats you is forever. I have always been terrified of spending forever with the wrong person but with you I am confident and I know I am making the right decision. I happily take you as my forever.

The way you not only added to my life but the way you bonded with D and have become BOYS! warm my heart to a level I never knew existed. You came into our little family like you always belonged. You didn’t just get my heart, you got Dans too.

Thank you for refinding me! I am still shocked after all this time that my person is Allan, Allan from PA who would have known! Our lives crossed paths so many times over the years from childhood into adulthood and I whole heartedly agree that this is our time and we are making our dreams come true. I can’t wait to spend forever with you as my husband. To always communicate openly and honestly to never stop learning and growing with you. To always hold hands through whatever comes our way together. I know with you no matter what life throws at us we can figure it out together. I choose you today and every day forward in every lifetime. Here’s to all the memories we’re going to create hand in hand.

We the Davis’ are excited to become the Mitchell family.”

I am thankful for all the years as a Davis and I am excited to experience the next years as a Mitchell. I am thankful for my son who always signs up for the next adventure with me. I am thankful for my family and friends standing beside me throughout my life. I am thankful for my new family who just feel like they have always been family. I am thankful for all the heartbreaks and lessons learned to make me into the wife I always wanted to be. I am thankful for good health and my memories. I am thankful each and every day I am given to live my purpose. I am thankful for the small moments each day that allowed me to reflect on how thankful and grateful I am to be living this life. Thank you all for being a part of this journey!

 

Last Tuesday, September 30th, I had my wedding day, which people have described as the best day ever.

Since I was a child, I always dreamed of my wedding, and this was just as I had dreamed, only this dream came true later in life, when I least expected it. I have been engaged many times in life. I love hard. I have planned a wedding or two, and I never show up. In this life, I could have been married and divorced many time but in my heart it never felt right. I had this overwhelming feeling by thirty that I had met my husband, but I messed it up. I could never explain this feeling, it just sat heavy in my heart. I met and worked with Allan almost 20 years ago (before I was thirty). He reached out and I never would have expected that a message last summer would have me married. How quickly life can change. I was happy to have found my person but heartbroken that my dad and my Opa would not be there to walk me down the aisle.

We planned our wedding doing our best to honour those who couldn’t attend. September 30 is my dad’s birthday, and it just so happened to fall on a Tuesday. I was born on a Tuesday and married on a Tuesday. We contacted a few places trying to coordinate this special day, but we were not having any luck until the perfect place agreed, and I knew in my heart it was meant to be. Life has always had a funny way of working out perfectly when I least expect it. I got married at Kinsip, a distillery that backs onto my grandparent’s farm. We immediately thought that we should have someone in our family marry us. Family is everything to us. This turned out to legally be harder than we thought. This again worked out perfectly. My Gran knew a gal from a horse group who is an officiant, and from the moment we met her it was like a family member marrying us. She fit it just like she belonged, like she was family. We had two ceremonies in the same hour. One legal and one by a loved one, both with views of a red barn. We were legally married at my grandparent’s farm, something my Opa always talked about and something I had dreamed about my whole life. Cue the waterproof mascara. I framed a picture of my Opa and brought him with me throughout the day. I can be seen in front of the red barn in a pretty dress, full on ugly girl crying because I know you would have loved the day. Opa I could see and feel the smile you would have added to the day. I know you were right there with me. I could feel it, and I picked up on the signs you left me.

We left the farm in a bright yellow VW bus, thank-you Westy Wine Tours. We made the short drive around the block, but all three of us my son included, can agree that was one cool bus. We arrived to twenty-two of our favourite people. We were married by my mother- in-law in the cutest ceremony filled with loving words and hugs. We were married in front of their red barn, and yes, the farm does have a peacock. I was terrified to read my vows. I love to write, but I have never been a fan of reading out loud. When I sat down to write my vows, I knew I had to include my grandparents they are the reason I believe in love. I had to read those pages several times in order to stop crying, but I felt like I tied in what it was like growing up watching, waiting, dreaming and finally getting to experience it for myself. I have never been loved the way my husband loves me.

I added my grandmas and my cousin Tessa who have passed and who I know would have loved the day into my flowers. My grandma Davis (my dad’s mom) always had marigolds, and my dad always planted them every year and I have kept that tradation going. For Grandma Davis, I added marigolds. My Oma (my mom’s mom) forget-me-nots were always something she loved and my something blue. For Oma, I added forget-me-nots. Tessa loved lilacs, and while I couldn’t find purple ones, I did find white bridal ones. For Tessa, I added lilacs. I had the flowers facing my heart, and on the front of the bouquet I had three little pictures of the girls coming down the aisle, and all around the wedding, I know you ladies would have loved the day.

While I did my best to honour those who have passed, I also had tears looking out at our guests, to my family and friends who showed up for me, who have always been there for me through it all. I have lived a life! I am honoured and thankful for my new family and friends that blending our lives has given us. While I have lost a few, I have gained some of the best people, and my heart has never felt this full.

Thank-you to everyone who helped make our dreams come true with the best day ever. Thank-you to my mom for all the dress alterations and the amazing decor set up and take down. Mom, you honestly should be in the wedding business. Thank-you to my mother-in-law for marrying us and making the most beautiful and delicious cake, with each of us getting to pick our own flavour layer, it was perfect. Thank-you to my brother Jesse for capturing gorgeous pictures and admitting that even he loved the wedding. Thank-you to my stepsisters Sarah and Shelly for the bachelorette party of my dreams, for coming to the hotel and helping me get ready the hair was perfect, for all the pictures, the rides, also for all the years we didn’t have to be sisters but we chose to stay together, I love you girls! Thank-you Auntie Kirsten, for helping me into the dress and not melting down when it wasn’t done up right, for help setting up, taking down and recommending the whiskey sour. Thank-you Gran, for being my biggest role model when it comes to love, for allowing me to live out my kid dream and be married on the farm, for always knowing an officiant and a witness or two, for holding the Opa picture and always knowing what to say. Thank you to my son who held my hand all day. When I cried that I didn’t have my dad or my Opa to walk me down the aisle, without a moments hesitation he said, mom you got me. He looked so grown up in his navy blue suit walking me down the aisle not to give me away but to join in becoming a Mitchell, it was perfect.

Our day, while it was loosely what I dreamed as a child, it was everything that we are now as adults. It was no stress, no pressure besides the public speaking, but even that went smoothly. It was on a farm with the people we love. Great food, Bike Mike’s BBQ, you outdid yourselves. A simple bonfire with marshmallows, excellent drinks, and even better company. It is true that the day goes by in a blink of an eye, but the memories we will keep in our hearts forever. As I look at my wedding ring, I know this is exactly where life was taking me.

I am in the process of changing my last name, something I said I would never do. Never say never, because it could always happen. I hope I never win the lotto ha. I have spent my whole life being a Davis, and I feel like I will continue writing under Davis because this gift given to me, the gift of stories, is from my dad. I hope to get back into the Tuesday writing flow!