Pour ma chère Momo...

On February 6th, 2013, my soul-mate, Monique Harnois, passed away. It is difficult to find the words to express how wonderful a woman she was, how many lives she touched, and how greatly she will be missed.
Friends of Monique (Mo) knew that one of her greatest passions was fashion. She began studying fashion design in secondary school and, by the age of twenty, she was working as a fashion consultant at Ultravox, an upscale clothing boutique in Granby, Quebec. Not long after, Mo purchased the store with her associate and remained owner/operator of Ultrovox for nearly thirty years. She was proud of this achievement and felt very blessed that she was able to earn a living doing what she loved. Three years ago, Mo retired and we moved to an earthly paradise on the edge of Lake Porter, inhabited by a wonderful bunch of Lovely Nova Scotians. It was not long before the Double Lake Road community fell in love with her.

Mo was a master of living; she passionately and fearlessly embraced every moment with a radiant smile and a "joie de vivre" that was highly contagious. Whether playing in her flowers, collecting and burning branches on the property or enjoying any other activity, she did it with a love, passion and appreciation that could only be expressed by someone who took not one moment for granted.

Mo never lost sight of her inner child. She understood that life was about living with your heart and giving of yourself. She had her heart in her hand and would have given her soul if she thought it could have made a difference. Mo taught us that life’s greatest treasures are not those which can be weighed or measured; their value is simply in our ability to recognize them, cherish them and share them with others. She received each new day as a gift, greeting each morning with a beautiful smile and a playful demeanour. During the past eight years we’ve shared together, Mo often expressed her happiness in a dance, hereafter named “la danse de la joie”. This dance can only be described as a surcharge of positive energy needing to be shared with the universe.

Monique was extremely courageous. During the past two years, despite her illness, she continued to greet every day with a smile and never once complained about her situation. She even made a continued effort to regularly call and encourage three other women in the area who were ill. Even at the very end, when her illness made it extremely difficult for her to communicate, she managed to leave us with grace, dignity, peacefulness and of course, her beautiful smile.

God asks us to live with love, joy and selflessness. Mo embodied each and every one of these qualities. Furthermore, she encouraged those around her to do the same, and to meet life head-on, passionately and without fear as if each day was the last. She successfully completed her mission.

At the time of her final diagnosis, Mo had been unable to speak for some time; however, the day she learned that she would not be with us much longer, she miraculously spoke: “I have had a wonderful life and I have been fortunate to finish it happily here, in Nova Scotia”. These were her last words.

Monique leaves behind her mother Carmelle Turcotte, her brother Antoine Harnois, her niece Jessica Harnois, her dear friends at Porter Lake, her dear friends Chantal, Manon, Colette and Yvon in Quebec, and myself, Fernando Lavoie. Mo, we will miss you dearly and you will never be forgotten. Ton LouLou qui t’embrasse. xoxo