Mother's Day 2009

So what was I thinking about on this Mothers Day? It was more about driving home from Toronto to Ottawa. The three of us travelling together made toasted with our coffee cups to all moms. We were wished a happy Mothers’ Day by the servers at the various restaurants we frequented.

I went back to look at what I had been writing about my mom. I think it was rather well written.

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She was a gardener - both outside and inside the house. Her front porch during the cold weather full of plants which in the summertime were put outside. In the spring - new plants being started, including tomatoes. Always willing to share with friends when they got overgrown. She definitely had a green thumb. My sister inherited her green thumb and put it to good use in the very different climate of Vancouver.

She loved to bake and cook. Her pantry shelf had a whole shelf full of cookbooks. She enjoyed making for the daughters when they came to visit, for church events and entertaining friends. Her freezer often had frozen goodies. In the last clean out of the fridge there were buns and Nanaimo bars - the last that she would make.

She played bridge. She was part of various bridge clubs throughout the years. It was as much a social outing as playing cards.

She was a wife and took good care of my dad. She met my dad when he was working for her dad one summer. They were married during the war and then my dad went overseas. When he safely returned at war’s end they set up house in Lachute. They did things together and raised 2 daughters. The enjoyed their years together there - even though shortened when my dad died suddenly of a heart attack in 1975.

She was a widow and lived her life successfully - even though lonely at times - for over 30 years. Many of her friends were in the same situation and they went to church and other social events together. She took care of her house and enjoyed sharing it with others. She always told my sister and I that our friends were welcome to visit at any time.

She was a sister. Her sister Ingrid was 15 months older than she was and they shared their growing up time in Trois Rivieres Quebec - then known as Three Rivers. During the war they lived together in Montreal when both their husbands were overseas. They always kept in touch even though they lived miles apart. My aunt live on the South Shore - Ste Hyacinthe and then Mont Ste. Hilaire. When my aunt Ingrid had complications from shingles my mom was there for her in the hospital. She died quite unexpectedly from this illness in the fall of 1993.

She was a sister-in-law. My dad’s sister lived 2 houses away on Princess Street in Lachute for many years. Especially after my dad’s death, they did things together. My mom encouraged my aunt to get out and about to escape for a while from a difficult home environment.

She was a friend and neighbour. Through her church and other social groups, she shared friendships in Lachute and beyond. She kept in touch with friends from university days until aging and death began to separate them. She was a good neighbour on her end of Princess Street. The immediate neighbours - Philippe and Manon - were especially helpful to her in her later years in the house.

She was a Bachelor of Science graduate from McGill University when there were only 7 women who graduated with this degree in 1937. She worked for a time in a hospital laboratory and talked often about those times during the war. She went to her 50th year reunion from McGill and her anniversary pin was something important to her.

She was always a reader and kept many books in the house. She was appreciative of her local public library and enjoyed reading mostly fiction but also about people and interests in her life.

She was a faithful member of St. Simeon’s Anglican Church in Lachute. While her health permitted it, she served on the Altar Guild, was a reader, was an active member of the ACW (Anglican Church Women) and was generally involved in parish life.

She liked to do a variety of crafts - sewing and knitting and doing needlepoint and cross stitch. She made sweaters and hats and all kinds of things for herself, her two daughters and the church and hospital Christmas sales. Her sewing machine was bought in 1964 and is still going strong. I would love to know how many thousand kilometres it has on it! In the nursing home she was still wearing some comfortable clothes that she had made for herself and she had not made anything for herself in probably 10 years or so. At St. Simeons she made altar hangings and 2 beautiful kneelers in needlepoint. Some of her later specialities were pot holders and shoe bags and card table covers. She even hooked a rug which was in her upstairs bathroom for many years. I have a lovely set of cross stich napkins and placemats which she made the year my dad died - it is very detailed work and kept her occupied.

When she gave up the house in Lachute and moved to Ottawa, I took her needlepoint pictures with me. Two large ones of Lipazaneer horses had hung in the living room for many years. They are very special.

During the war she made herself a military doll to keep her company when my dad was overseas. His name was Major - surprisingly the same rank as my dad.

What was supposed to be a Christmas present for her daughters came a little late that year. There was a bunny pyjama bag for each daughter and they both were named Ruthie Rabbit. These rabbits were well travelled and ended up in Ottawa and Vancouver.

For a long time she did crossword puzzles. Here crossword puzzle dictionary eventually wore out because of heavy usage. She was always doing the daily puzzle in the Montreal Gazette. In March of 2004, an unfinished puzzle was found - just waiting for the answers in the next Saturday edition. It kept her mind alert and made it difficult to beat her at Scrabble - she just knew too many words.

She liked her television and spent many happy hours watching sewing and cooking and gardening programs. She enjoyed Jeopardy and seldom missed it. She was a Coronation Street fan for many years. She liked her PBS stations and watching movies. Casa Blanca and Gone with the Wind were 2 of her favourites.

She played golf which she had learned with her family when growing up.

She curled for many years until she no longer had the strength to throw the rocks. Then she was given an honourary membership of the curling club. The social outing to watch the games and have a cup of tea and play cards was also part of this activity.

She was a hospital volunteer - serving shifts in the hospital gift shop, buying for the store, meeting regularly to prepare for the annual Christmas sale by making crafts. The group missed her when she left Lachute. The smock that she wore as a hospital volunteer was returned with sadness.

My mom liked to travel. When very young she and her sister and her mom went to England in the summer to visit my grandmother’s family. She spoke fondly of summer trips to the Atlantic Coast with the family when growing up and in those days a trip like that was a big expedition.

With my dad she travelled to England and Europe. The first trip they took together after the war was to Bermuda. She always told me that she did not enjoy this trip quite as much as she would have liked as she was expecting me! The last trip they took together was to Bermuda in 1974? Some years later the 2 of us went together there.

Growing up I remember trips to visit her sister in Ste Hyacinthe and then Mont Ste. Hilaire. She visited her own mom as well and later in Montreal at the Griffith McConnell Residence. Plans were underway to celebrate her mom’s 100th birthday when she died a few months short of that noteworthy goal.

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I like what I read on the Weight Watchers’ Nifty Fifties Board - being thankful for motherly figures in our lives. I remember some folks who have been like that for me.

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Of course if you have animals in your life you are like a mom to them. I am always ready to show off my pictures of Abracadabra and Bishop and Charisma.