Saturday, July 12, 2008

It has been a while

The last entry was about my mother's 100th. Well, she lasted another two months and then decided that was enough, and slipped quietly away. We gave her a good send-off, in a hand-made coffin, and lots of both tears and laughter at the service.

So today I am in Vernon, B.C., where some old friends live. D and I met in grade 11, discovered that we are identical birthday twins, had a shared love of literature, became editors of the high school annual in our graduating year - like brother and sister. We never dated, but when she had a new boyfriend I was the first person she called - and vice-versa...

Then we went to college together, she met P, and that was it. P and I also become closest friends.

That was 50 years ago. I am here in Vernon because P has cancer and probably 2 weeks to live. Can anyone tell me why cancer has come so invasive, so prevalent? I feel so lucky, yet guilty that I have my health at an age that has already taken younger friends and relatives....

In a veil of tears we can only wait...in a veil of tears we can only grieve...in a veil of tears we wait our own fate...in a veil of tears, we can only say goodbye...

Sunday, February 3, 2008

The 100th...

What is the magic of a 100th birthday? Is it just the physical fact of someone reaching this milestone?

No - it goes far beyond and deeper than that. It is the knowledge that a person close to you (in this case, mother) has seen so much in one lifetime that you can't begin to imagine. A life that spanned early radio, early flights, (the Times of London, on her birthday February 1st, 1908, carried ads for properties in which the presence of electric light was a prime selling factor), early cars, two world wars, expansion of telephone networks, jet aircraft, Concorde, moon landings, the introduction of television, the introduction and then explosion of computer technology, the cellphone - well, you fill in the remaining blanks that we have missed.

And, of course, family. Three children, seven grandchildren, and a horde of great-grand children, one of whom is Charlie, for those of you who read the blog (notes-from-inside-my-head), from Sparx.

I am the middle son (well, now the eldest as our older brother died a few years ago). I wonder if my genes are anything like hers, which are similar to the late Queen Mum - the same line of Scottish ancestors going back to Angus Lord of the Isles (do we want to admit to having such a bloodhtirsty sheep-stealer in our background?) Personally, frankly, - yes.

So the weekend celebrations are over, Sparx and I fly our different routes home tomorrow - she to her beloved Frog and Spud in London, England, me to the frigid airs of Alberta. I have just seen cousins that I have not seen for many years, and all because a venerable lady (in the true sense of the word) has reached a humungous milestone. Yes, there were messages from the Queen, the Gov-Gen and the Prime minister, but the real message from the weekend was one of great love and respect.

Mother -(who will probably never read this) - you inspire us all.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A New Year - a New Hip- and boy is it cold

No, not the hip..we are finally having the kind of weather that we should be having at this time of year. This kind of cold should slow down the pine beetles, help our spruce trees fight off the spider mites....we had actually forgotten what a wind chill 0f -45C feels like. For those of you out there who don't live in this kind of climate, let it be known that you can freeze your skin in two minutes, if you don't plug in your car block heater the %^*^%*^%* thing won't start, and your tires will have a flat spot from sitting on the cold garage floor.

So what about the hip? Seems my pain has not bee a figment of my imagination, nor the practically zero mobility of my right leg. Will NOT post the x-ray, but it shows the arthritis clearly. Saw the surgeon last Wednesday, operaton on April 21st. Not bad for a system that has been back-logged for so long. I still wonder at the health system in a province as rich as ours. As I also wonder at the crumbling schools infrastructure, the lack of day care space, - we could all relate horror stories that are the legacy of a certain premier and government that will remain nameless...o, sorry Ralph....

Until the next inspiration...