So we had to say farewell, we can now only think of these young bears growing into adulthood and hoping they will live a good life despite all that man and the natural world throws at them
Our final view of the sibling"fighting" sub-adults perhaps demonstrating the true nature of their relationship before adulthood takes over and the real rivalries begin.
We were keeping Beau company for one last time when this fisheries vessel sailed up the inlet, I had my back to it and someone read out the name of the ship, I turned, my heart stopped and a lump came to my throat, this ship is named after Captain Goddard, which could only be Nicola as we knew her in her early teenage years, the first female Canadian Forces soldier to be killed in combat, she met her death in the Afghanistan war. Our family knew her as part of the cross country skiing team our eldest son was with at Edmonton Nordic. Another poignancy was when I told my wife about the moment she reminded me that May 17th, the day I took this photo in the Khutzeymateen inlet, was the anniversary of Nicola's death. RIP Nicola, your sacrifice will always be remembered by the Conlin family.
