So, I just got the word that Mum is in palliative care with pancreatic cancer. This happened very fast.
I don’t have a blog or anything so I’m documenting this here: take it or leave it.
My Mum (and dad: 2006) brought us from Northern Ireland, via our birthplace of Scotland, to Canada in 1968. My mum loved Canada. She couldn’t believe how hot the summers were, and how cold the winters were, but she embraced every season.
My parents took up golf and curling here, which really isn’t surprising for Scottish folks. They embraced Canada with open arms and loved the country. Absolutely no regrets from leaving Scotland or Northern Ireland.
My mum wasn’t an extraordinary mother. No, she was quite typical. We walked to school and walked home for lunch. Mum was there with grilled cheese, tomato soup and The Flintstones were on TV. It was perfect 1970s Leave it to Beaver mediocrity.
I left home at 22 years old, and although my relationship with my parents was fantastic, I never looked back. I saw them a couple of times a year and that was it. So, now she’s going to die and I won’t have any parents anymore. I’m sad for that.
When my dad died in 2006 he stipulated that he didn’t want any service. We had him cremated and spread his ashes along his favorite walking path.
I think we’ll do something similar for Mum. She’s a really cool old broad and I’ll miss her dearly.
My parents are still alive but we haven’t been on speaking terms for years. However, I had a great childhood and what you describe above could apply to me, except it was “perfect 1980s mediocrity”. I do realize that a lot of people around the world can only dream of such “mediocrity”. We were lucky.
Another Canadian with grilled cheese, tomato soup and the Flinstones for lunch and the stay-at-home Mother giving comfort and safety. My thoughts are with you Leaffan.
My condolences, Leaffan. My parents are still both living (and my Mum’s a cool old broad also), but my wife lost her father a while ago and her mother just a couple of years ago.