Thank you for celebrating our wedding anniversary with us today.
Thank you to our family and friends who were here 50 years ago.To my brothers and sisters who have never been more than a phone call away, I say, aren't we fortunate & thank you.Thank you to those who joined us along the way;- friends, nieces, nephews, and our beautiful grandchildren. Thank you to our children......... if I could give you any gift at all, I would give you my vision so you could see through my eyes just how truly magnificent you are.
Missing today, but here in spirit is my beautiful sister, Jane, and her husband, David.  50 yrs ago,Jane was my Maid of Honour. She was quite excited about attending today's festivities....but it was not to be. For the past 5 months Jane has been challenged with leukemia. She is progressing well and has a KICKBUTT attitude (thanks Steve for that phrase). If all goes as planned, we will see her in November, and the celebration will continue.

Well, according to GOOGLE, and therefore it must be true, a 50th wedding anniversary is a rare event. Some possible reasons for this are that in 1964 the life expectancy was 69.7years••.•you can do the Math on that. Also in the 70's, people were busy 'finding themselves' and went out on personal quests, so marriage was often postponed. Or it may be that in order to be married for half a century one has to be old. I'm certainly not ready to admit that••

August 22, 1964, was the last time I was in this room. 1964 was a memorable year:

The Beatles came to North America and wrote their "love" music............our music went from Do Wah Diddy Diddy and lolly pop lolly pop to 'Can't Buy me Love' and 'I want to Hold yourHand';

A new house cost$13,000;
Average income was$6,000;
Eggs cost 34 cents per dozen;

Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.....and,best of all,

Tony and I were married.

In1964 I was at the top of my game. I had all the answers; I owned the world and the road ahead was paved with gold. I was so in love.
Now I'd like to move ahead to 2014 and talk to my husband.
The Beatles are no longer a group but John did write one of my favourite songs, 'Imagine'.-·
The cost of living has certainly changed; and with any luck the Leafs will own the Cup for this coming hockey season;
But I must confess, I don't have all the answers. I have learned that in order to have all the answers you have to first know the questions; the questions can be complex and the answers not so clear & at times,just confusing;
The road we voyaged was not always paved with gold......there were many bumps, mountains we had to climb and sometimes we had to find our way where the road was completely washed out. We were challenged with tests that we weren't prepared for and we have learned lessons we never wanted to learn;

Most importantly though, we are still married. We have been lucky.  In 1967 our beautiful daughter, Jennifer arrived followed 18 months later by Stephen and Michael our curious and rambunctious twinbangers. When one is living with Irish triplets you learn patience and tolerance; occurences like broken down cars, or which bills need to be paid become inconsequential. In 1973, Stefanie arrived on the scene;a talented little gymnast who could go to the fridge and help herself by the time she was3. From early on she was able to light up a room and make problems disappear. We all miss Stefanie, we know she’s also here in spirit; losing her  was, and continues to be our sadness. Robert followed in1976 and taught us all that's good about being human. He embodies the essence of goodness.     We welcomed Nancy to our family in 1984 as a spirited teenager, whom we had to teach the importance of education•••••one has to go to school every day and one needs a license in order to drive a car. By 1992 we had five children in University. In 1994 the first of our 16 wonderful granchildren arrived.

As you can see, life has been busy and often challenging. We had no time to think about finding ourselves,  and if we fell down, we just had to get up again and move forward, which we did and the road ahead has brought us to today's celebration.

We have been so fortunate.      There is something to the saying that " the harder you work, the luckier you get". We did work hard and we had many challenges, but we also experienced much joy and we lived many "high”moments. We also had all of you as part of our world. Thank you all for being part of our exciting journey.

And to you, my dear Tony, Thank you for travelling this road with me. I love you more today than I did 50 years ago.

Ann’s Speech on 50th Anniversary

JENNIFER MacDONALD FOR STEFANIE ​

Tony at 10​

Tony at 10​

Tony Fiorini

MY BELOVED STEFANIE

Daughter Jennifer MacDonald’s Tribute to her Mother 

24/11/18

​COUSIN AUNNIE AND HUSBAND DAVE

WELCOME TO MY HOME PAGE. DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THE TRIBUTES BELOW THE  PICTURES ON THIS PAGE

MY BELOVED STEFANIE
SO MANY DAYS I MISSED YOUR SOUL
AND  ALWAYS SEARCHED THE SKY
IF LOVE ALONE HAD KEPT YOU WHOLE
YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE SAID GOODBYE

IN MY HEART YOU HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE
AS DAYS AND CLOUDS ROLL BY
I FEEL YOUR STRONG UNRIVALED GRACE
AND MEMORIES MAKE ME CRY 

YOUR PICTURE NEVER FAILS ME
YOUR CHILDREN NO DISGUISE
THE LOVE THAT YOU ALLOWED TO BE
IS WRITTEN IN THEIR EYES

YOUR DRAMA SCIENCE AND SPORT SKILLS
WERE ALWAYS FUN TO WATCH
WHEN FACING ANY TAXING HILLS
YOU KICKED IT UP A NOTCH

ANY CHALLENGE MET DETERMINATION
WITH NEVER A TRACE OF QUIT
NOR ANY SIGN OF INTIMIDATION
ONLY STRENGTH RESOLVE AND WIT

YOUR MORTAL HEART STOPPED BEATING
BUT YOUR SOUL DID NEVER REST
MY WORLD KEEPS ON REPEATING
YOU SURELY PASSED EACH TEST

DAD

​Dear Auntie Ann
And Uncle Tony

The sky here is dark to match our sorrow. Everything looks, smells, tastes different. People walk by and I hate them for their ignorance that the world has cracked and gotten scarier.

When I was young, I followed  Stefanie because she was leading me somewhere magical. We stayed up imagining queens in castles, sparkling fairy lands, shiny purple ribbons and lacy white gloves. When I was older, I followed her because all the boys followed her and I wanted to know the secrets of the world’s most beautiful girl. (and dance with her!)

When she became an incredible wife and mom, I finally realized that I would never stop following her because she would never become less astounding. 

I remember a warm sunny day when I was in college, She pulled up to the house in her tiny, gleaming white BMW convertible. –fresh dewey makeup, shiny high heels giggling and clapping with beautiful white haired boys in the back.

I realized that Stef was marvelously still a kid.- She stayed young and stayed magic, forever the princess of our intense affection.- my heroine. Curled up in her dad’s lap she fit perfectly. She alwas had a tanned arm dangling tenderly over Her mom’s shoulder.

Even in mischief, she was endearing. She had an endless supply of love and devotion. At the beach, the silhouette of the Kinley family jumping and holding hands, caused the neighborhood to stop and watch their intimate beauty.

I thought Stefanie and I would grow old together on those wooden porches watching our kids grow up; however, things feel blistery and confused and every few moments I feel a precision of emotion, of pain that startles me and bleeds out. I know that feeling is a thousand times magnified for her beloved parents and I can’t imagine your ache.  

I am not going to say, “ she’s in my heart forever”, or, “The ceremony/service for her will be a celebration of her life”, or ask, “that God give you strength. These are things we say about ordinary people. This was more. This was something horrendous, something catastrophic. Nothing can fix this!

  The years are short but the days are long. I hope the universe provides moments of respite in the coming months. Let’s watch these kids pull some light back in.

We love you both and miss you,
XOXO Aunnie and Dave

Eighteen hours is how long it took from our home in St. Andrews to 201 Louisa St..

Since 1995 we made the trip faithfully every summer piling one, then two and then suddenly five into a dodge caravan.

With a minimum of four car seats, a roof rack and bags of toys and snacks for the trip our children jumped in the van excited for the journey. Not one fight! Not one complaint!

The journey itself would be broken up sometimes with a layover in Hummarock, hotel in Montreal with a swimming pool, maybe an overnight at Uncle Lornie's, promise of a St. Hubert chicken dinner and at least one breakfast at Cora's.

It was also hot, too much traffic especially on the 401 and getting around Montreal was in and of itself a tremendous source of stress.

The anticipation of arriving at Nonna's front door made the obstacles bearable. We all knew that at the end of the drive, mom would have food and beds ready for everyone.

With her beautiful, welcoming smile my mom made it all seem so easy. That sleeping and feeding 16 grandchildren with their parents in one house was a piece of cake.

Nonna's rules were simple,

1) play outside and if you come in then it must be bedtime

2) No crossing Nonna's road unless you are with an adult

3) You get one towel and it has your name on it so at the end of the day hang it up outside with your wet bathing suit and

4) The kitchen closes at 8pm!!!! At the end of a trip to Nonna's everyone was so filled with fun, laughter, food and love that it sustained you for the long trip home.

Both my parents provided all of my children with such wonderful childhood memories and were instrumental in supporting the strong foundation that allowed them all to grow into successful young adults....

but mom was the love...she was the magic that made it all possible and I miss her terribly.