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
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.