I wrote this tribute for my Mom but didn’t read it when we had her celebration of life. I did the eulogy and there were other people who wanted to speak so I held it. As today is the first anniversary of her passing, I thought I would share it here.

Over the years, I’ve heard very many positive things said to me about my mother from others who knew her. From my own family, her family, my dad’s family, friends of mine, my siblings in law, and my niblings – I’ve heard that she is smart, sweet, sharp, thoughtful, helpful, kind, gentle, calm, and of course, generous. And I agree.

In fact, there is only one negative thing I can tell you that I have ever heard others say about my mom, and it’s the opposite of generosity. As one put it, “It is a hard job to give her something or do for her!”

And this is very true; her generosity far exceeded her ability to accept gifts or help. Over the years, many of us were careful if we complimented Mom about something.

• For example, if you saw a new plant at her place and said it was beautiful, you were probably going home with it that Sunday.
• Did you like her new sweater? The one with the hood and pockets? If you were a similar size, by next Sunday she would have had it washed, dried, folded and in a bag ready to go home with you when you leave.
• “Oh that’s a pretty vase!” you say to her. “Take it,” mom says. Just like that. And she would remind you about it before you left her place (in case you thought she wasn’t serious – she was).

Although some of those material items are still with me (and many others), admired and used, it is the gift that mom gave to me that is not so tangible as that sweater, vase, plant, cookies, picture frame, quilt, shoes, jackets or dozens and dozens of other items, that I treasure the most.

That gift is the love of words…of language both written and spoken, fiction and fact, poetry and prose and everything in between.

Our house, like our own Mom’s home when she was growing up, was full of books. Education: reading, learning and knowing, was very important to our Mother and our Father.

The fact that she was a teacher only increased this drive to make sure that we read books and understood the English language. Mom would quickly let us know if our verb tense was wrong of if we should have chosen a different pronoun. She also corrected any radio host she heard and often tisked aloud at their poor grammar.

Our house was also, for as long as I can remember, full of discussions, dialogues, debates, and sometimes, yes, even diatribes. I don’t know if the discussions and debates were healthy, as they say, but I can certainly tell you they were robust, sometimes loud and lively, and always educational (in some ways) and entertaining (in other ways)!

Simply put – our family and extended family likes to talk – about everything and anything. And Mom was no exception.

And it’s not just talk. Good word play, puns, scrabble, jumbles, and cryptic crosswords were a regular part of life growing up in our household. Mom still loved playing her word games when she went from hard copy to online.

Mom loved and appreciated words. She knew that words had power, that stories help to connect, to heal, to entertain, to humble, to enthrall, to explain, to inspire, to comfort, to move the heart and mind and so much more.

She spread that love to her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, siblings, relatives, friends and all of the students that she has taught over the years.

And Mom has very thoughtfully embellished (as any good seamstress would) this gift for us with some sparkling jewels – a small treasure trove of words in her own voice and script.

• We have her recipe book (and a recipe for you on the program sheet because Mom would not want you to leave this Sunday empty handed).
• We have her lists of the books that she and dad read aloud, and the ones they read in the car. (Separate lists, of course.)
• We have recordings of Mom talking about growing up and the things she did as a child.
• We have her favourite poems she wrote out in her own lovely script.
• And we also have the poems that Mom wrote herself.

I hope you, like me, have received Mom’s gift of the love of words, and that you find in them some of the same beauty and magic that Mom did.

Like many of the things that Mom made and gave away, it is a quality gift that will last a lifetime.

With all my heart – Thank you Mom.

 

Written in Mom’s hand is the poem “Leisure” by William Henry Davies. It was a favourite of both Mom and Dad. It is laid on a well-used quilt she gave me about 20 years ago.

This little piece of wall décor is next to a window in our home. It has the first two lines of the poem. It was a gift, of course, from Mom (or both Mom and Dad). I had complimented the one they had in their home because I liked it. By the next Sunday, there was another one just like it in a bag ready to go home with me.  ♡

My wonderful mom