Tag Archives: Mother’s Day

May4

Memories Of My Mom

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Memories Of My Mom

It’s getting close to Mother’s Day so I thought I’d reminisce about my mom. In June it will be twenty-six years since she passed away. I spent days by her bedside in the weeks she lay in ICU fighting for her life. And I also made sure my kids had the opportunity to say goodbye, something I never had experienced when my grandparents died in hospitals.

I do not own a dress. Why not? Don’t all women love to wear dresses. Not this one! My mother always made me wear dresses, and I can still feel those scratchy crinolines more than six decades later.

My mother was an amazing seamstress. She was also talented when it came to knitting and crocheting. Somehow those genes were never passed down to me. And since the Brownie pack I belonged to focused on the above, I can’t say I have great memories of those days.

My mom was an artist when it came to baking. Not only did the cakes and cookies taste amazing; the decorating was astounding as well. Her shortbread and chocolate torte were famous and were always in demand. I have memories of birthday cakes that were envied by all my friends.

I learned the importance of volunteering from my mother. She served as president of the sisterhood at her synagogue and volunteered in other charitable organizations.

At her winter home in Port Charlotte, she persuaded a group of women to do water aerobics. Now that gene she passed down to me as I was certified as an instructor and taught classes at the YMCA in Winnipeg.

Other memorable feats were getting a driver’s license for the first time at age sixty-seven and winning the award for erasing the most movies by accident when she learned to use a VCR.

I know very little about her childhood and teenage years. She once told me she’d had a dog that had been run over by a car and that’s why I’d never been allowed to have a dog when I was growing up. She had also belonged to a group called Sunshine Girls, but I don’t know if that was when she lived in Boston or Winnipeg. I honestly don’t even know how she met my dad, although I have heard different stories from family members.

My mom adored her grandchildren. She was blessed to not only live in the same city as her children and grandchildren, but we all lived merely blocks away from each other. She proudly came to her grandchildren’s concerts plays, dance recitals, bowling tournaments and graduations.

We used to talk on the phone at least twice a day and twenty-six years later I still miss those conversations. We always had so much to talk about. If she were still here today I can literally think of a million questions I’d like to ask her. There is so much more I would like to know about her.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, and especially to my mom in heaven.

May8

Mother’s Day Memories

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Mother’s Day Memories

My earliest memories of Mother’s Day date back to my childhood in the form of handcrafted cards created in the classroom. Friday afternoon after recess out came brightly colored craft paper and crayons. Of course there was the obligatory verse to copy from the blackboard.

I also recall getting together throughout the years with grandparents and other extended family members to celebrate this special day. But then things got complicated. I got married and now there were two sides to the family. Naturally I wound up hosting these holiday dinners to keep the peace in the family.

I never really felt special on Mother’s Day until my son Kyle was born. He was just over five months old and I was now actually a mother. Here is a four generation photo taken with Kyle, my mother and my grandmother.

Mother’s Day 1981

In 2021 I had hoped to be with one of my kids on Mother’s Day. But somehow plans just never seem to work out, which is why I despise making long range plans.

I’ve spent Mother’s Day in several different places in the last decade……Culiacan, Tlaquepaque, Tototlan, Mazatlan, Puerta Vallarta, Aguascalientes, Winnipeg, Leavenworth, Cashmere and Wenatchee. This year I’ll add Dryden to the list.

Four years ago I was still in Mexico and had this really deep gut feeling that I should go back to Winnipeg and be with my son on Mother’s Day. And I’m glad I did. I haven’t seen him since then and I am long overdue for a visit. My alternating visits to my kids were thrown out of sync when my daughter had a baby. But even now with Covid it’s been almost two years since I’ve seen them either.

My laptop packed it in last spring in Mexico and I still haven’t replaced it, but thankfully I do have access to some of my photos on my phone. Here is one of my daughter and I on her wedding day.

October 26,2015

Here is my favorite photo of my mom and I on my wedding day.

June 17,1973

The featured photo on this post is my kids on Mother’s Day in 2016. They were at a Blue Jays game in Toronto and texted it to me in Mexico. It was a beautiful gift knowing that they were together that day. My son lives in Winnipeg and my daughter lives in Kelowna so it’s quite difficult to get us all together. But I can always hope that maybe next year we may have a family reunion. Maybe it won’t be on Mother’s Day……but it will certainly make this mother’s day.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Enjoy your day!

May10

Mother’s Day 2020

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Mother’s Day 2020

For the first time in my life I am alone on Mother’s Day. I’ve always been with family and friends. But this year is different. COVID-19 has changed everything.

The last time I was with my own mother on Mother’s Day was in 1996. It’s been 24 years since she passed away but sometimes the waves of grief hit and it feels like yesterday.

I celebrated my first Mother’s Day in Mexico back in 2011. I was living in Culiacán. Juan, Lucila And Juan Carlos took me out for raspados and then to a park. Lucila made me a bracelet which I treasure.

2020 is only my second Mother’s Day in Mexico. I’m usually in Winnipeg or in Leavenworth. In searching my memories, the last time I was with both of my kids together on Mother’s Day was in 2008. It’s been a long time.

A year ago I was sitting out on the deck of the golf club in Leavenworth enjoying brunch with my friends after church. Today I sipped coffee as I did online church. No eggs Benny today. A quesadilla instead.

From my quarantine home to yours, Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing women out there, especially to my daughter who now has a daughter of her own.

May11

Another Mother’s Day

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Another Mother’s Day

Today is a bridge between two Mother’s Days. In Mexico Mother’s Day is always celebrated on May 10th, no matter what day of the week it falls on. The rest of North America celebrates on the second Sunday of May. Truthfully I feel that mothers should be celebrated every single day of the year, and not just on one day in particular.

It will be twenty-three years ago next month that my own mother passed away. I think of her often. She never got to see her grandchildren grow up. She missed their graduations. She wasn’t around when my daughter got married or when my granddaughter was born. And I really wish she had been there for me when I was going through an ugly divorce. I think she’d approve of what I’ve done with my life in the last decade and how I have become alive again.Image may contain: 1 person

I think of others who are dreading Mother’s Day this year as it’s their first time without their mothers. I lost a friend in Winnipeg to cancer this spring. Her daughter is an only child. Another friend from Mexico passed away suddenly last week and her daughter is struggling right now. Another friend in Mexico is mourning the death of her month old baby, her first child, after enduring a difficult pregnancy. Her mother is a friend of mine who had just lost her own mother this year.

The last time I celebrated Mother’s Day with both my children was in 2009 when I was still in Winnipeg. My daughter was living in Oak Bluff and made a beautiful brunch that day. Two years ago I flew back to Winnipeg and spent Mother’s Day with my son. He barbecued and we watched a movie together. 

 

I never envisioned a life with my family where we are all geographically scattered. After living in Ontario for a number of years, my daughter has recently moved to B.C. While she is now closer to me both in Washington and Mexico, my son is still back in Winnipeg. Many of my friends are also grappling with similar situations. Things have sure changed since I was a child with everyone living in close proximity to each other.

Needless to say, I have spent most Mother’s Days in the last decade in Mexico or the USA, without my children. And I wonder if I will ever be with both of my kids together again on that day. For those of you who have your mothers or your children close by, hug them tight and treasure those times. In the blink of an eye they can disappear forever.

Happy Mother’s Day, and please celebrate mothers EVERY day of your life.

Apr7

Mothers On My Mind

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Mothers On My Mind

April 5th was my mother’s birthday. She would have celebrated her 105th birthday that day. But sadly she passed away more than twenty years ago. And the last time we were together on Mother’s Day was in 1996. Cell phones with cameras weren’t around yet, and somehow we just didn’t drag out a real camera that day to take photos. At the time, my son was fifteen and my daughter was twelve. And the only pictures I have of that day are those etched in my mind and in my heart forever.

It was a glorious sunny day in Winnipeg, unseasonably warm and the snow had already disappeared. I had prepared brunch that day at home. I still recall the menu vividly………..salad, quiche, fresh fruit and a lemon trifle for dessert. We wanted to spend a quiet, leisurely time at home rather than fight the crowds in the restaurants. My mother was scheduled for surgery that week, a surgery that tragically took her life.

This year I will be back in Winnipeg for Mother’s Day. Instead of a virtual visit to the cemetery on my laptop, I will be able to visit in person, a routine I followed every year after her death until I moved away several years ago.

And I am a mother as well. I fondly recall the last time I spent Mother’s Day with both of my children back in 2009. My daughter made a lovely brunch and this time we did take pictures. 

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My daughter has since moved to Ontario, but I have been able to spend time with my son on Mother’s Day when I have come back to visit. Here is a shot of us back in 2013. 

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It’s been a while since I’ve been with both of my kids on Mother’s Day but last year they were both together in Toronto and sent me this lovely photo.

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Another memorable Mother’s Day was the first one I spent in Mexico. I was living in Culiacan. Juan and I taught together, and he and his wife Lucila had adopted me into their family. At the time they had a toddler named Juan Carlos. We went out for raspados and went to a park. Lucila had made a bracelet for me which I treasure and still wear.

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So I have had mothers on my mind this month, although Mother’s Day in Mexico is on May 10th and in Canada it’s on May 14th.

I am looking forward to spending Mother’s Day this year with my son. It will be the highlight of my visit to Winnipeg. Kyle be warned. There will be photos. 

May9

Happy Mother’s Day

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Happy Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day in many parts of the world although here in Mexico the actual date to celebrate is always May 10th. It’s always a day of reflection for me as my own mother has been gone for twenty years. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think of her and wish I could see her smile or hear her voice one last time. In my heart, it’s always Mother’s Day. It isn’t necessary to designate one specific day a year to honor mothers.

I was fortunate to live in the same city as my mother until the day she died. We lived ten minutes away from each other, talked for hours daily on the phone and saw each other several times a week. My situation with my children is very different because we live in different countries.

I live in Mazatlan now and my children are back in Canada in different provinces. Today my daughter sent me a photo of the two of them at a Blue Jays game in Toronto. How nice that they were able to be together and how thoughtful of them to send me that picture!

The last time the three of us were together on Mother’s Day was in 2009 when my daughter made a lovely brunch for us. I have been able to spend a couple of Mother’s Days with my son when I returned to Winnipeg for visits, most recently last year. I recall other years when my children were small and would make me greeting cards to commemorate this special day. Sometimes there would even be a hand print included  with the verse. But what I remember most is their beaming faces and loving hugs.

I had a wonderful day today at the beach and then lounging around the pool at home. But the highlight of my day is this photo.

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Kyle and Kimmy, thank you so much for making my day extra special. I hope someday all three of us will be together again on Mother;s Day. Love you lots!