Soon after Terry’s disappearance, my life became very busy.
In January, our son became engaged. In February, we bought the catamaran in
which we planned to sail around the world. In May, we flew to Florida to start
the fit-up of our new boat. Throughout the year, we liquidated many of our
assets to prepare for a life on the sea. This included selling our home and
moving into a small apartment. In June, we returned to Florida and sailed our
boat to the Saint Lawrence River so she would be closer to us (about a
two-and-a-half hour drive away from Ottawa). In August, we attended a
pre-retirement seminar so we could get our heads around all the implications of
leaving our jobs early. In September, we were in Red Deer for our son’s
wedding. On Christmas Day, a little over a year after Terry’s disappearance, we
volunteered at a soup kitchen and served Christmas Dinner to the homeless.
I have no idea what the Regina Police were doing with
regards to investigating Terry’s disappearance. A few emails were being sent
back and forth, but their key contact was Terry’s wife, who was no longer
communicating with the Sagal family, so if anything was being done, we were in
the dark about it. But I don’t know if there was anything they could be doing.
I continued to mourn the loss of my big brother and continued to shed tears as
I shared the story with close colleagues and friends. That is what I will
always remember … the sympathy and understanding and shared frustration and
love extended by so many of my friends, and especially the love and comfort
provided by my husband.
In 2003, Darrel’s father passed away and then it was my turn
to help Darrel deal with a huge loss. Then, in September, new life came into
the world. Our sweet little granddaughter Tehja was born. In October, we flew
to Alberta to hold her and love her and celebrate life. Joy began to win over
sorrow.
In 2004, Darrel and I sailed our catamaran “CanKata” to the
Caribbean and lived on her for six months, making sure we were comfortable with
the new lifestyle we were choosing. In December of that year, we had another
beautiful addition to our family: our grandson Taylor was born. More joy! Then,
in 2005, Darrel and I retired from our jobs and became “yachties”, living
full-time on our boat and planning to sail around the world. Before we left
Canada, our son and his family visited us, so we were able to share some
precious moments before heading off. We gave Dylan some memento’s from his
grandfather and some pottery of Terry’s. At this stage in my life, I felt that
life was wonderful and full of hope, as I still do, but from time-to-time a
dark cloud comes over me as I wonder if there is something I should be doing to
find out what happened to Terry.
