Caribana 2012: Paying Homage to a dear Uncle

So this blog post is a little late but I figure better late than never.  I had the pleasure of heading up to Toronto over the summer for Caribana.  I have always had fond memories of being in Toronto with my Canadian family during this time of year.  My uncle Tommy who passed away a few years ago was always the centerpiece of our visits.  He would always prepare for us by opening his home, turning on the sounds of Calypso/Soca, flaming up the barbecue and setting up the drinks!  Somehow, the last couple of visits to Toronto haven't quite been the same.  I kept getting the feeling that something, or someone was missing.  Surely he was the missing piece to the puzzle.  So me, my husband, mom, brothers and cousins decided on a very last minute trip to Toronto over the summer.  Part of the decision to go was for Caribana, one part was just to getaway and see our Canadian family but a part that we didn't realize initially was to pay homage to Uncle Tommy!  We took time out from the quick and busy weekend to visit his grave, tell him how we felt and that we missed him dearly.  I think those moments gave us some of the closure that we needed.  So we decided to hit the town hard as if Uncle Tommy was still with us and did we ever!


We ended up staying at different parts of town.  Some stayed with extended family about 15 minutes to Toronto in the town of Scarborough and we also stayed with family nearly an hour out in Brampton.  It was an interesting weekend with all types of idiosyncrasies that only the Francis family could possibly get into.  My brother Tony jokes that he could almost hear and feel Uncle Tommy laughing at us as we got into so many crazy situations, from car rental issues to family quarreling to missing the Caribana parade to a cool lakeside lunch with an inevitable 15 minute torrential downpour, a car accident, oh and how could I forget - a townhouse fire!  That's the crazy thing, when the Francis family gets together, there's no telling what we're going to get into. None of this was nearly as bad as it sounds but to be completely honest, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant that I would get to make memories with my family.  There were a few amazing moments - two great moments of bonding at gas stations, a really nice party that originated from Trinidad Carnival called Shine and more bonding at the cemetery when we went to visit Uncle Tommy's grave.  The reality is that Toronto will never be the same without him. It was a fun trip, with it's peaks and valleys, family quarreling, trying to squeeze everyone's expectations/goals into a group dynamic but nothing at all serious.  I'm not sure if we will all make it up to Toronto in 2013 but I am sure that we will find some way to link up and get into some sort of trouble.  That's my family and I'm so grateful to have them!  Check out some of the pictures from our adventure: