'We are celebrating his life': Couple giving friends and family the chance to say goodbye
An Airdrie couple held a celebration of life after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
A year after Jim Nikiforuk and Deborah Lawton were married in 2014, Jim was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer.
The couple was told this summer that Jim only had a few months left to live.
"We really wanted to have Jim be able to have the opportunity for people to be able to come and celebrate with him before… give all their wishes to him instead of to me at the funeral, and we're not having a funeral, we are celebrating his life with him with us," said Deborah.
The couple has a history of being non-traditional, their wedding even took place in a Starbucks.
Guests at the celebaration of life were also given a cookbook filled with Jim’s recipes. According to Deborah, after 47 years of cooking dinner on Ukrainian Christmas and being asked for the recipes, they decided to make them his legacy.
"We’re very grateful that he’s been doing really well these past couple of days and grateful that we can celebrate," said Deborah. "There’s too much going on right now that’s sad and we just wanted to have good smiles and a really great way of blessing everybody who's blessed our lives."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.