What can I possibly say about my own Mom. Thanks! Hardly seems like enough!
I have many fond memories of us together as a boy. Riding horses, her making my favorite go to food, her chocolate cake, her homemade chow mien, the chili she made for us that I was certain was a very exotic dish. The bread, it was twelve loaves per week. I remember the freedom we had as children – to roam the country side, to explore, to create and make friends with any one.
My brother Leonard and I would get a back pack, steaks from the freezer, two potatoes, and an axe. Our back pack was a burlap grain sack tied with twine and thrown over one shoulder. We hiked across the fields and into the forest. It was our big Saturday feast . There was still snow on the ground in patches which meant foraging for kindling and dry firewood. The potatoes were burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. An excellent gourmet meal! Our Mom was always supportive of our adventures.
As a young man I remember her waking me up when I had a phone call. I was pulling wrenches rather slowly. I was sound asleep under a car with my feet sticking out. It was a hot summer’s day and I was working early shift in the forest industry. We both laughed a long time over that! When I got my Yamaha dt 100 I could be gone all day. Sometimes I would travel on the backroads in excess of 200 hundred miles a day. On one occasion a stranger in the outback gifted me with a tank of gas to get me home. What we need is always there!
She loved traveling with two of her sisters. When I met the three of them in Victoria we went to the inner harbor and had this photo taken. My Aunts come in two sizes, small and large. We went for dim sum in Chinatown. My aunt Betty was a fussy eater and was very skeptical of anything that is not meat-N-taters. When I explained what the foods were she had no problem eating them all.
I had a VW Jetta. I emptied it at home. I was giving them a ride to Vancouver airport. Three ladies, me, and lots of luggage. Betty filled the front passenger seat. My Mom and Bernice got the back seat with a large suitcase snuggled between them. The rest of the luggage fit in the trunk and under the back window. Darn good planning there! They were dressed well for the trip. The three of them looked adorable. It was superb to visit with them until they passed through customs.
YVR airport is encircled by water on all sides. The Fraser River on three sides and The Pacific Ocean on the other. There was a traffic accident on one of the bridges. I did a u-turn and made it via a different route. I had plowed snow at the airport many years and was first on-site to build the new bridge into the airport. I new the geography well. They were on their way to New Zealand for six weeks. Panama City and New Zealand were my Mom’s two favorite places. I am going to see why!
Mom moved to the Sunny Okanagan. Later I showed up at her door in my new camper van. She loved it. Later I moved from White Rock for some quality time with her. She loved scrabble. She was also great at frisbee. That was a pleasant surprise.
My favorite story “Crossing the Prairies.” My Grandfather built a rather unusual RV by todays standards. It was pulled by the family tractor and pulled two home built trailers. The first were living quarters for seven. The second was open and carried tools. It took them three months to make the journey. Mom was five years old. Grandpa, with the two oldest boys worked on farms as they traveled at high speed across the Prairies (5 miles per hour). The local yokel lawman in Grand Forks thought they were shifty Gypsies and ran them out of town. Ironic – my Grandparents were both straight shooters. They also had one of the best gardens I have ever seen. When they got to the top of Anarchist Mountain it was a steep dirt road. In to the rear wagon hops Granny and she hefts all of her ninety pounds against the five foot manual brake lever. Success! The rear trailer arrived in Osoyoos last. When my Mom found cherries for the first time in Summerland – she ended up absolutely covered in cherry juice.
The family settled in Grinrod. The house my Grandfather built still stands today.
Il Divo ” Mama thank you for who I am, Thank you for all the things I am not. “
VB