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My mom and my Aunt Peggy decided to spend a couple days in Toronto in early September on year — just as TIFF was starting no less. The idea was to check out all the places they used to hang and all the places they went to when they were younger. So they embarked on several journeys around T.O. in 36 degree heat and sweltering humidity. All of these journeys ended up with me having to navigate Toronto traffic during the day and during TIFF with a air conditioned car to rescue them, I gained a whole new appreciation for other drivers, stopped swearing at them for an entire 72 hour period.
Mom loved to visit me in Toronto and for a time I had a room for her at my first place near Yonge and St. Clair. When I am my then wife would be at work mom would carry herself down the four sets of stairs of my Art Nouvo building from the 1910s, no elevator. She would walk to church, browse the stores and markets , stop for tea and often pick up dinner. Every night she would tell me how much she loved Toronto and harken back to the time she spent there with my dad when they were first married. It made me love my city even more thinking of my parents starting a life together there.
I sent this photo to my Aunt Peggy's family and added the story for her 80th birthday album. A special lady and a true friend of my mom, not just a sister.
I felt so honoured that Mom allowed me to care for her as she had once cared for me. It became increasingly difficult for her to eat.
Those who knew Mom well knew that she could out eat an entire football team and still maintain a tiny 123 pound figure without exercising.
Some photos of mom’s 75th birthday trip to Europe. The first is with her little sister Theresa in the Lovre, if my father gave me an appreciation and love of music, mom did the same for art. The second is the Chapel of St. Rita at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, also known as the Barcelona Cathedral, mom lite a candle and said a prayer for her big sister Rita. We all have pictures of my mom making faces, this is at the Sion beer hall in Koln Germany, I don’t know if I was successful, still I tried really hard to get her to try beer. The last two pics were our first day of the trip in Amsterdam. When I went to Europe with my sister Jenni in 2021 I was confident the hotels I picked out in Koln and Amsterdam would be okay because mom approved of both of them In Koln they even put the tea bag in the cup before the water..
Mom had such a great sense of humour. When telling a story she would say "I laughed. I never laughed so hard." usually while waving a tea towel and slapping it on her knee. This picture of her laughing makes me happy.
She also had a strong desire to annoy me. Here she is making a ridiculous face because I asked her to smile so I could send a picture of her to Kelly. This was her way of telling me she wasn't a child and knew perfectly well what to do when her picture was taken.
I was so lucky that my mother and mother-in-law were the best of friends. Mom would visit Mary in Kingsville, Ontario and Mary would visit mom here in Calgary. Here they are at the Railway Restaurant in Kingsville and in Tofino. It was the first visit to the Pacific Ocean for each of them and they were thrilled with the experience.
In August 1983, Mom and Dad travelled to Spain and Northern Africa. It was their first and only foray out of North America. In 2008, thanks to Kelly, mom had the opportunity to return to Europe with her youngest sister, Theresa. Here they are in Spain, Amsterdam and France. The Church is called La Chaussee and is dedicated to the memory of the Acadians who left France in the 17th Century. Mom was very proud of being Acadian and her ancestry. She was thrilled to visit that part of France.
Mom loved the Legacy Dinners with Father Lacombe Care Society. She would dance up a storm, usually with Sister Gloria, and always got into the spirit of the evening. "Grease" was a great opportunity to dress up and play. Here we are with mom driving. A bit camp, but it is how we usually reacted to her driving. God Love you, the roads got safer when you gave up driving.
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