Emily Toews

*** Eulogy Posted Below ***

With broken hearts, the family of Emily Toews announce her passing, Friday, March 10, 2023 at the age of 19 years. A Celebration of Emily’s life will be held Wednesday, March 15, 2023 – 11:00 a.m. at the Mayfair Hall – Mayfair, SK with Pastor Don Unger as officiant. In honor of Emily, please wear happy colors to the funeral service. Memorial donations in memory of Emily may be donated to Kinsmen TeleMiracle Foundation - 2217C Hanselman Court Saskatoon, SK S7L 6A8 or to Presidents Choice Childrens Charity – 1 Presidents Choice Circle Brampton, ON L6Y 5S5. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Eternal Memories Funeral Service and Crematorium – Vanessa Macnab Funeral Director.

Emily Rae Toews. Also known as: Em, Emmy, Sweet Pea, Bugsy, BugsyDoodle, Sweet Cheeks … and Sweet Baby Girl.    Beloved daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, friend.  God blessed us with this beautiful person who was the centre of our universe… everything we did, everywhere we went, we always had Emily in mind.  

This past Friday, after a hard-fought battle with pneumonia, Emily left us suddenly and unexpectedly and was welcomed into glory … We weren’t able to take her home this time.

But in the comforting words of her grandpa …Everything, Will Be Alright.

Emily:  we are here today to celebrate you. Every tear, even in grief, is a celebration of you and everything you mean to us. 

Beyond these tears, we celebrate you with joy and smiles and laughter because you brought so much of that to all of us.

Purple was Emily’s favourite colour, and this little blanket was often her “scarf” - we’d put it around her shoulders while we sat together chatting at the table. 

Emily has a large collection of toys – and lots of fun was had … but Duck is her Fave. Duck has been with Emily through everything.  He’s the perfect size for hugging … and he got almost as many kisses as we did.

Emily loved music and songs … Baby Beluga (by Raffi) was Em’s absolute favourite, but there were many, many others that would make her smile as well.  Cousin Dylan’s music always made Emily happy - she would get all excited and wiggly when he played one of his tunes on his ukelele or when we’d pop in one of his CDs.

We decided to not put up a display of pictures … each of us have our own memories.  We are asking everyone to think of your memories of Emily while we share ours with you now.

We were always a crew … Emily and her entourage! Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, all of the aunties, and uncles and cousins, and of course, the pets - the cats: Jack & Jill, Ace & Buddy, and the dogs: Franco, Maggie and old Buzz.

We are Emily’s people. Emily and her Mom shared that special bond between child and parent. Always together.  Even though Emily’s words were few, she and her Mom were always connected. Mom always knew what was on Emily’s mind by just a look … everything from “Mom, I’m tired, I’d like to go to bed” to “I think I’ll get up to some mischief”… to “let’s sing another song” or “let’s play”.

Emily liked to watch the CTV weather with Mom and Uncle (Jeff and the weather, the weather and Jeff).  Em also liked Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Curling, and Football.

She always looked forward to a bedtime story and her “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” prayer with Mom. If we were at Emily’s place at bedtime, we’d tell her “I love you.  See you in the morning for coffee”.  Emily liked playing cards with us, she was in charge of tapping the deck. Emily loved to play on the floor as well.  There’d be toys – some of them being flung around, or books of bird or animal sounds, music of course, and songs – so many songs! Emily loved getting and giving hugs.

Emily teased us all - with a twinkle in her eye. She would stick out a leg to trip us, or she’d throw a blanket over her head and hide. Or while playing on the floor, trying to sneak up on us to pull at our socks.  She liked to tease old Buzz (the dog). She would try sneaking up on him to grab his tail, but she get all giggly as she got closer and Buzz would have just enough warning to get up and out of the way. Emily loved to tease.

And Uncle Marty – always around - playing with Emily – singing her the ABC song and watching sports together, and the driver for one of Emily’s favourite pastimes.  One of Emily’s words was “Hey” and she would call uncle over for a goodnight kiss or if he walked in the back door and took too long to come into Emily’s view, Emily would call him over.

She enjoyed fast wheelchair spins or twirling while suspended in her lift “cape” – and would throw her head back and shriek in fun.  She loved dancing to Old Time music with Auntie Michelle. 

Emily liked a lot of funny sounds - loons, frogs, kildeers, trumpets, the sound of paper tearing or chairs scraping on the floor or the cats meowing while they played with her.  She often laughed right out loud so we could also pay attention to the funny noise and appreciate the way it tickled her. 

She liked to be outside either on one of her swings or the trampoline… and she loved to go on walks in her all-terrain chair with Mom and the pets (and anyone else who was around). Constant companions on these walks were Franco, Maggie, Ace, and Buddy. Buddy would always hitch a ride, and would jump up on Emily then ride along while draping himself over Em‘s shoulder, enjoying snuggles and pets.  But each of these animals had their own “thing” with Emily.  Right from when Em was a little girl, Jack’s job was “bedtime cat” – he would lay near her head and meow for her because it made her laugh.  We’d often see Emily sound asleep, gently holding Jack’s tail. Emily liked all kinds of animals: One day, Emily and her Mom drove into a pasture to check on some cows.  The cows came right up to the van - Emily thought they were hilarious!

She liked to look through the flyers (or the Princess Auto or Avon catalogues) with us. Or just hang out and visit. 

Emily liked people and loved to have a full table at meal time.  She would look around at each face and listen to our stories.  She loved to be where there were extra people. Whether it was going to school on the bus, hanging out with her classmates, going to work at the Mayfair Library with Mom and Auntie Michelle, or going to church (more people and more songs) or some other gathering.  And … she liked going to Walmart. There was always a little squeal of joy when we pulled up in front of that store.

When Emily was having fun, there was no way to keep her quiet. For example, the pool in North Battleford was full of her shouts of laughter when she went swimming with her Mom. Most of all, she loved going for bumpy rides in the pasture, in the front seat of uncle’s truck, laughing and squealing all the way.

♥She truly was a blessing. Amazing how she stole everyone’s hearts with just a look or giggle. She taught us what unconditional love means and showed us how love always wins and can help you persevere. She was a fighter and the bravest little girl. As painful as it is to feel the void that she left, we are also left with many wonderful years filled with memories that surrounded her and the life she lived with all of us. 

Emily. We will love you ALWAYS and will miss you every day. We will miss your beautiful smiles: your dimples and the joy you gave so freely.

The purest joy. Joy that you shared with everyone. Joy that was never burdened by judgement or jealousy or greed.  A perfect joy that was never selfish or vain or full of malice – only love. 

Emily you lived life in its fullest sense, and today we celebrate you.

We know you are safe in Jesus arms, with Grandma and Grandpa and can just imagine the laughter and happiness at being reunited with the heavenly members of your entourage. 

It’s so hard to believe that we have to be apart . . . for now.   We wanted to keep you with us always but until we meet again, you will . . . as always . . . be right here - in our hearts.

EMILY, ♥ We love you so much.

Card of Thanks

Thank you to Heather Welsh and the local friends and neighbors for organizing the lunch.  Thank you to Don and Naomi Unger for their kind and loving support for the service.  Thank you to Eternal Memories for their kind support during this difficult time.  Thank you to all our family, friends and neighbors for your hugs and prayers and support.