R.I.P.

(CNN)Mourners flocked to St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town on Thursday to pay their respects to anti-apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu as he lay in state in a simple pine coffin.

The coffin was the "cheapest available" at the request of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights pioneer, according to a joint statement from his foundations.

This was a man who ‘walked the talk’. He definitely did his ‘little bit of good’ and it had a ripple effect around the world.

In a statement confirming his death on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Tutu's family and friends, calling him "a patriot without equal."

"A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world," Ramaphosa said.

We all need much hope and we certainly want peace. Desmond Tutu gave us simple tools to bring these things about.

We have probably all lost someone close to us. And perhaps, like myself, you have lost more than one person this year.

As I move forward into this new year I’d like to acknowledge some folks I know of that moved on to their next journeys.

Mary and Grant’s Aunt Ellen Maybee

Chuck Sharp

Dan DiCarlo

Fred Quennville

Milot Pinto

Addie Baia

Aunt Helen Mark

Brenda Love

Bob Dupuis

Brenda Love

Joe Seguin

Baby Carl

Sam Burton ( Keith’s first cousin)

Jane’s friend, Randy

Barb LeFabre’s mum

Tom Hodgson

 Ed  and RoseMarie Casavant 

Ray Nault ( Darlene’s brother) 

Mert Wagner (from pool)

And I also just found out that Betty White died two weeks before her 100th birthday!

May we all be reminded of how fleeting life is , how special, and how blessed we are to love.