Seizures make this woman forget a lot, but not her wedding song
For something to be unforgettable to Tricia Pariseau, whose epileptic seizures make her forget many things, means something else.
"She doesn't know the house or her bedroom. Sometimes, at the very beginning of it, she doesn't even really remember us," her son Jordan Pariseau says of the temporary memory lapses.
Michael and Tricia Pariseau were first married in 1994, then split up in 2013. They reunited during the pandemic, and married on their anniversary on June 18, 2021. (Courtesy: Jordan Pariseau)
Yet, however many times a seizure robs the Edmonton woman of some of the most familiar sights and sounds for a few days, she can still sing along to "Do You Remember."
"Can't remember her whole name, but she can remember the song," Jordan told CTV News Edmonton.
The song may be ingrained in Tricia's memory, perhaps, but is likely unfamiliar to most others.
Tricia asked Jordan, a hip-hop artist also known as JusJrdn, to write it for her second wedding to his dad, Michael, when they remarried.
The pair were together for 19 years before separating in 2013 and getting back together during the pandemic.
Another seizure nearly postponed their second marriage, but Tricia made an unusually quick recovery, Jordan says, in time for the wedding on the weekend of their original anniversary, June 18.
They danced to Jordan's song first, then "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis, to which they danced for the first time as husband and wife so many years ago.
"I was really trying to tell their story about how complicated love really is. Real love isn't this fairy tale: you know, glass slipper, happily ever after, everything is perfect," Jordan told CTV News Edmonton.
Michael and Tricia Pariseau were first married in 1994, then split up in 2013. They reunited during the pandemic, and married on their anniversary on June 18, 2021. (Courtesy: Jordan Pariseau)
"Real love is pain. Real love is growth. Real love is excitement. Real love is truth and honesty. True love is also like getting through the hard times and finding a new way of envisioning yourself and somebody else forming together."
So he didn't skim over his parent's separation during the writing process. They cried hearing it for the first time.
And the way in which it has stuck with his mother represents the potential of music and art, Jordan says.
Jordan Pariseau, also known as JusJrdn by hip hop fans, said he was nervous to attempt a waltz ballad, but said the finished version was raw and authentic.
"That just showed me as an artist the impact music really has on us as a human being. It's so deeply structured into our human being that even when things aren't going properly in mind and body, our deep attachment to art, especially to music, is just such an incredible, divine, almost magical thing," the artist commented.
"Love is complicated. Life is complicated. Art kind of just helps make things a little bit simpler."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Kyra Markov
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.