Vancouver Island Cremations

02/20/2026

🤍

🖊️Megan Devine
Refuge In Grief

02/20/2026

02/05/2026

01/19/2026

An important reminder.

Can responders easily see your house address from the street? In an emergency, every second matters.

Make sure your address is easy to find:

• Ensure house numbers are large and visible from the street
• Choose reflective or well-lit numbers for nighttime visibility
• Keep trees, shrubs, and décor from blocking your address

Don't wait until it's too late. Make your home easy to find and help keep you and your loved ones safe.

01/16/2026

One of my favorite lines from a Green Day song is, “I hope you had the time of your life”
I heard it again recently, but it landed differently than it used to.

Not as nostalgia.
Not as a goodbye.
But as a question,

If this was all there ever was, and all that will ever be...
Did we do it right?
Did we live it well?
Did we let ourselves have the best time we could?

I used to think my legacy needed to sound impressive.
That it had to prove I mattered.
And maybe it still does, a little.
But more than anything now, I want my mark to be this:
That I encouraged people to enjoy their lives.
Fully. Loudly. Honestly.
Without apology.

Somewhere along the way, we are told it’s time to behave.
To quiet down.
To dress differently.
To stop laughing so hard.
To trade joy for dignity.
But I don’t believe that’s wisdom, I think that’s fear dressed up as maturity.

Wear what makes you feel like yourself.
Laugh out loud.
Throw the party.
Stay home if that’s what feeds you.
Giggle until midnight or sit in silence and call it holy.
Be partnered. Be single. Be undecided.
None of it makes you broken.
All of it makes you you.

I want us to get comfortable in our own skin, the skin we are in right now.
To stop outsourcing our worth to strangers,
to filters, to magazines, to mirrors that lie.
No number of surgeries can make us younger.
We are the age we are.
And that is not a failure, it is proof we are still here.

I look back at my life and I had a lot of fun.
Sometimes too much fun.
And no, I don’t regret it.
What I regret is believing, even for a moment,
that I was supposed to stop.

Life is fragile.
And life is precious.
And life is an unbelievable gift.

When someone I love reaches the end of their life,
my greatest wish is simple:
that they had the time of their life.

And when my day comes,
I want to be able to say the same…
that I lived,
that I laughed,
that I showed up as myself,
and that I savored this one wild, beautiful chance
as deeply as I knew how.

I am not done yet.
And neither are you.
We are not dead.
There is still life here.
And I, for one, intend to live it.

I hope you have the time of your life...

xo
Gabby

You can find this blog/poem here:
https://www.thehospiceheart.net/post/the-time-of-your-life

01/05/2026

Sometimes telling our story over and over again is the only thing that helps validate that what has happened is real.

12/31/2025

12/26/2025

Sara Bareilles's official music video for 'Winter Song'. Click to listen to Sara Bareilles on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/SaraBareillesSpotify?IQid=SaraBWSAs...

12/24/2025

Sending safe and warm holiday wishes your way. May it be everything you need it to be with the ones that matter the most.

12/23/2025

~ HOLIDAY GRIEF ~

When someone you love passes away, the holidays can be a very tough time of year. Even if you feel like you have made progress in your grief, the holidays present a time of ‘firsts’ -

The first time you realize they are not on your gift list, the first time you decorate the tree without them, or the first time you are responsible for cooking or carving the family turkey. These occasions, and so many more, can make the pain of grief come flooding back, and you may feel as though you have made no progress at all.

While we cannot eliminate this pain, nor do we recommend trying to do so, we would like to offer a few tips to help work through these feelings.

Firstly, take a moment to acknowledge that the holidays will be different and accept that it is okay to feel upset about that. Think about what changes you will need to make to your holiday traditions in advance, and who in your circle can fill some of the ‘jobs’ your loved one took care of. It's important to ask for help and support.

Lastly, create a new tradition in memory of your loved one. By taking the time to remember and celebrate their life, their memory will live on.

12/19/2025

12/02/2025

Compassion moves forward because of YOU. ❤️

Every gift empowers a neighbour, a family member, or a caregiver with the practical skills to support someone through their toughest moments. You are the reason we can break down the taboo and prioritize essential care.

Please keep this movement strong. Make your meaningful donation now: www.chpca.ca/donate