A view from the sky tram in Jasper on a family holiday
'SHow old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you are? That was the question we were asked when we were taking the ‘Aging with Grace’ seminar (see 26 April blog). Immediately, I thought of my mother. What a wonderful mother she was. Even when she had increasing memory loss, we could learn from her. For one thing she was a youthful thinker.
When you have memory loss, there is no room for pretenses, although she never was one for pretense. "What you see is what you get." Mother lived in our home for five months when she was eighty-five. We loved to ask her, “How old are you, Mother?” She always replied, “Twenty-four”. Mom never lied. It was what she believed about herself. What a delightful response. After she moved from us, she went to live with another one of her daughters and her family. One evening her adult grandson had a group of 'Singles' over and they were gathered around the piano singing. Mom was in the adjacent family room with my sister and her husband. Mother loved music and the singing continually drew her into the next room to join the young people. Several times Norma got up and gently invited her back to the family room where they were watching TV. About the third time, Chris, the grandson, indicated to just leave her with them. He put his arm around her and said to her, “I love you, Grandma.” By now ‘Grandma’ had become her name rather than a relationship. She quickly pulled away and informed him that there were “other fish in the sea”. She thought he was putting the moves on her. I would like to be like she was with an ever-youthful attitude (without the memory loss, of course). Thank you, Mother, for the wonderful example. How old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you are? How old would you like to be?
0 Comments
BIRTHDAYS Today is a wonderful day of celebration for me. Today is my 75th birthday. Yesterday was Canada’s 150th birthday. One of our sons pointed out to me that I am half as old as Canada. That is amazing. I always enjoy celebrating having been born, but the older I get, the more grateful I am for what I have learned and the opportunities that have come to me. As a proud Canadian, I like to celebrate Canada’s birthday and often when someone asks when my birthday is, I say, “First Canada, then me”. So many wonderful things have happened to me over the years. I have great expectations for what I hope yet to accomplish in the future. My panoramic view is getting longer and longer. Yes, there have been challenges, but the good far outways the rest. All my life is more enjoyable shared with wonderful family and friends. I feel so blessed. Thank you, thank you, all of you. Speaking of celebrations, there was one special birthday that was a little different than the rest. ………………. BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS My birthday is on July 2nd. Every year as a child, when I tried to have a party on the second, it met with disappointment. Always the optimist, every year I continued to invite my friends. School was just out and they were off on their vacations with their families, taking advantage of the Canada Day holiday on the first. I could always count on my younger brother, Edward to be there and on one occasion at least, my cousin, Edith came from out in the country. Yet I had just been to Geraldine’s party in June with lots of young friends. Lynn’s birthday met with equal success. I knew they weren’t available, yet it always made me feel like a failure, when no one came. You are right of course, I could have celebrated it a week early, when everyone was still around, but that just didn’t seem like my birthday. It wasn’t even in the right month. Many years later in 2000, there was the village school’s 50th reunion on the Canada Day weekend. I spent my first eleven years near that small village and we had many relatives still living in the area. Saturday night was the 1st of July and I was excited to have travelled there with two of my older sisters and one of their daughters. I looked forward to spending my birthday weekend with family and friends. A cacophony of sounds reverberated against the gymnasium walls as a live band tuned up for the dance. Nearly a hundred people were gathered. Dressed in our finery, we recounted times past, while we waited for the evening’s entertainment to begin. I knew so many of them. And then it hit me; Vera, Geraldine, Marilyn, Madeline, Lynn and Brenda, Rosemary, all my childhood friends were there. What a way to celebrate! I said to the girls. “I see you finally made it to my birthday party.” They laughed and I felt satisfied at last. The next day on the 2nd, when we had our reunion program, we even had birthday cake. Never mind that it was for Canada. It seemed only right that we should share. MY SIXTH BIRTHDAY
My little brother and twins (one on each end) from over the hill |
MargerySharing nuggets of wisdom gained through my life's travels. Archives
August 2022
Categories |