Galina Pembroke
July 24, 1975 - September 12, 2009

I want to offer my deepest gratitude to the Mid-Island branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association for putting on Galina’s memorial service. They did an incredible job. It was very difficult but I managed to say a few words at her service:

When I was a kid my friend Galina told me to reach for the stars and not get distracted by the mud on the ground. It was the best piece of advice anyone ever gave me.

When someone dies it’s so easy to imagine what might have been if they were still alive. But with Galina’s passing it seems only natural for me to celebrate and honour what was.

Sometimes we remember someone who had so much potential. Indeed, Galina had great potential. But unlike most people I’ve known none of Galina’s potential went to waste.

She made full use of absolutely every gift and strength that God have her.

She had the best work ethic of anyone I ever knew and she applied it to every area of her life: her writing, her volunteer work, fulfilling her personal goals, her relationships and her spiritual development.

Galina is proof that kind and gentle people can accomplish great things.

I take comfort in the knowledge that God must have needed her extraordinary energy and gifts somewhere else.

Indeed, Galina helped me see the stars and I hope she knows now wherever she is that she’s the brightest one up there.