We all had one, but I lost mine
By Bill Fox/Columnist
I lost mine a few years ago. It was quite sudden. I didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye. One day mine was suddenly gone. We had a family meeting the day before to decide what to do with mine, as mine now needed a lot of care. By the next morning, mine had decided it was time to leave.
My mom had developed some health issues and after a few days in the Bowmanville hospital, we had a family meeting with her doctor. My dad in his late 80’s was no longer able to care for Mom in their home in Wilmot Creek. It was decided that she would need to live in a convalescent home. The next morning we got the call that she had taken a turn for the worse, and by the time we got to the hospital, she had died. Unable to return home to live with the man she loved for over 60 years, we believe she died of a broken heart.
Sunday, May 10th is Mother’s Day. I would have thought that this day was celebrated hundreds of years ago, but no!
Early Mother’s Day celebrations can be dated back to Spring celebrations to honour Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, in ancient Greek civilization.
But it wasn’t until 1907, that Anna Jarvis held a private Mother’s Day celebration in memory of her mother, Ann Jarvis, in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1908, she played a key role in arranging a church service that attracted 407 children and their mothers. A Mother’s Day International Association was founded in 1912 to promote the holiday in other countries. Mother’s Day has grown increasingly popular since then.
As for my Mom, when she brought my young brother and I to Canada back in 1950, she found herself alone at Malton airport. Unbeknownst to her, my Dad had lost his job and sent a telegraph back to England that she was not to come as had been prearranged. Thankfully, my Mom never got that telegram. But can you imagine a young Mother with 2 little ones arriving in a strange country, at a strange airport looking for her husband and not finding him? How terrifying that must have been! She just waved down a taxi and we went to the YMCA where my Dad had been staying. There he was sitting on the front stoop searching the help wanted ads. When he saw us, his response was, ‘What the hell are you doing here! Didn’t you get my telegram?” I can just imagine my Mother’s anxiety. Yet she was a strong woman and we survived and eventually thrived in our new country.
I could go on and on about my mom and my mother-in-law who also died the same month as my mom.
A few years ago, I invited readers to send me their memories of their moms. I received, in part, some of these thoughts. Judy Babin of Whitby, “When I think of the loss of my Mom I think of this quote- ‘Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain.’”
Paul Paquet, an online reader of the Oshawa Express from Belleville. “One thing I do think is special about my mother is that after being scolded or punished for an incident, that was that, it was never brought up again.
Paige Burrill of Whitby, “Mom bore 18 children and still selflessly gave, in many ways, to those who were in need. My Mother endured many tragedies throughout her life. The loss of children, our home being flooded three times, and once destroyed by fire! And yet the proof of the number of lives she touched was there for the family to see when she died in 1988. There was an overflowing church in a town where everyone in sight was grieving our loss.”
If you would like to share some thoughts on your mom, please send them along to ‘bdeefox@hotmail.com‘ If I receive enough, I will devote a future column to readers’ appreciation of their moms.