Sunday 7 December 2008

Regarding Daisy


















My mother (Daisy) was 29 years old when I was born. When I arrived on the scene my Mom already had seven other children, there were to be another five behind me, not including the two children that died.

To me my mother is definitely a biased cheerleader. She is a nurturer and is not a nag. My mother has always given me unconditional love, consistency, helped me to be the best I can be, and has always made it clear that I count and my feelings are of value.

I stand in awe of my mother for so many reasons. I am going to try to make a cohesive story here so that while I am standing in awe, you may stand with me.

My Mom was born in Aberdeen, Scotland where she lived until she immigrated to Canada as a war bride. Because it is my Mom’s birthday today and obviously your lucky day since you are going to hear about her; I will tell you a story from her teenage years.

My Mom’s teen years were spent during World War II where many bomb scares happened regularly. My Mom described the following scene to me many years ago.

“I was about 14 years old and me and a friend named Derrick were crossing Tory Bridge when we heard the sirens go off. Search lights went on and were crisscrossing the sky when Derrick and I saw a bomb dropping from a Nazi plane. We got so scared that we jumped off the bridge into the River Dee. There was bombing almost every night and we would have to go to the air raid shelters where the ‘grannies’ would feed us.”

This is another story that I get a good kick out of. Shelly was telling me it a few years ago; my Mom saw Queen Elizabeth when she was a child (apparently they are the same age) riding in a carriage and she looked at my Mom and my Mom stuck her tongue out at her. har har har; good one.

Some of the happiest memories I have of my Mom were when I was growing up and she would give me any and all of her magazines to open up. I was allowed to read them even before her. It was never the magazine that made me happy, it was how special Mom always made me feel. Mom always made me feel smart. The happiest memory I have of Mom as an adult is how special she makes each of my children feel.

In our family home every day after supper my Mom would get us to kneel in front of her three foot tall statue of Mary (yes Jacquie I am pointing my finger at you) which has since broke and we would recite the rosary. We all got turns to hold the rosary and say a few beads. It is still one of my fondest memories. My Mom prays for me every morning when she says her rosary and nothing could mean more to me.

Contrary to what the others might say, I am my mother’s favourite child. This is proven in many ways but I will just give you a few. In every picture of our travels as kids or Christmas pictures I am the one that is always either sitting or standing by my Mom. When I was in high school I got picked up everyday from school and my Mom always told the others it was because she forgot to pick up something at Safeway (nice one Mom, everyone knew you were picking me up). I don’t think we drove by any of the others, although we may have since we only had eyes for each other, we wouldn’t have noticed them. ha ha ha; I’m cracking myself up.

My Mom has the greatest love of music and I have received that gift from her. When we were all wee girls Mom use to teach us to do highland dancing. We would pretend that there were swords on the floor and do the sword dance with our little toes pointing up to our knees with the opposite fingers over our head. What a blast. Mom and I still sing along to Andy Stewart (Scottish Soldier) which is just another show of proof that I am her favourite child (just in case some of those sticklers (Mickey) are still moaning over the facts).

My mother is a very attractive woman and when she was younger she was a knockout. My Dad always said that she had a fine understanding (talking about her legs).

Describing my Mom I would have to say that she is fair, kind giving, honourable, does not gossip, is a good friend, caring, fun, makes the most of a situation, is not a complainer, full of life, energetic, game for anything, private, strong, great listener, always has something interesting to say, does not interfere in other people’s business, and she has a huge heart. My Mom is everything that is wonderful and I am very proud of her.

You are probably thinking ‘no one is a saint’. Well if you asked to see the negative side of my Mom I would have to say that I really don’t believe she has one. I mean Mom embellishes stories, but so do I. Is that negative or does it just make a story more interesting (as in the Queen and the tongue)?

My mother never preached but she did teach. Mom taught us the golden rules ‘love one another; judge not; and treat others how you would want to be treated.’ Some of the most important things I have learnt in my life are from my Mom. Mom would always remind us that ‘It is okay to have a first impression but you don’t have to marry it.’ We were always told to take people as we find them, not as others find them. If there is something I didn’t get from my mother I don’t know what it is.

My mother and I have a relationship of two adult women, we are equals. I do not carry any past disappointments on how I have been mothered. My Mom is the BEST mother and without a doubt her family has been her life’s work.

It is my mother that has helped me believe that I could make it through the chemo, the radiation and the general fuckiness of cancer.

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~~ Washington Irving ~~

It is my mother’s faith in me that has given me faith in myself. I love my mother and she means more to me than anyone outside of my children. Mom thank you for the privilege.

Happy 82nd Birthday Mom. Love Renee, Wahid, Angelique, Nadalene, Nathan and Josephine.

22 comments:

Tessa said...

Oh, Renee - what a simply wonderful tribute to an absolutely wonderful woman. I love how you love her, and how she so obviously adores you. Through your eloquent words, I now feel that I've 'met' her and it is such a privilege. Thank you for sharing Daisy with us!

Julie said...

Wow, any woman who raised that many awesome children _is_ a saint! Here's to Saint Daisy!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday MOM Mom to me is all the things you have written already Renee. A couple things if I may add are: The person who always says , “I HATE KIDS” & Reading us the riot act! Mom always has a way of treating each of us like we are her favorite child. When I was young mom canned beets . I remember putting my hand up and into the sink and finding a few little beets left there,was like finding a treasure.I look back on my childhood with no regrets of being raised in a big family. Mom you’re an amazing person. Love you tons and have a Great Day Mom.

YayaOrchid said...

Happy Birthday to your Mom!! She sounds like an amazing woman of great strength. That's why you're so strong too Renee. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. :)

Anonymous said...

not only is grandma the best mom, but she's the best grandma. with 40+ grandchildren, she's managed to make each of us feel like we're her favourite (with me being the most favourite of course). I like how she always says "i never had kids to have kids, I had kids to have grandkids". happy birthday grandma!!!

Anonymous said...

mom,
you are what you have lived.....
true to yourself, have always know your self worth. you have endured what life has to offer and even graciously accepted things when they were not so good.
you never complained or nagged.
i would say you were always before your time. a free spirit. always kind to others.
you moved away from your family and your country when you were so young...how brave you must have been to follow your heart and to have loved dad so much that you would leave your family knowing you may never see them again.
i myself could never have been so brave and adventureous...i wish i was. i thank you for doing that or we would not be here today.
you have taught us all of life's lessons and today are still such a strong woman.
today will be an especially hard day without dad being here to celebrate your birthday ... it will be a sad day and a day filled with tears and laughter but together we will all get thru it.
i love you mom and if i am half the mother you have been to me then i will consider myself blessed. happy 82nd birthday mom.

YayaOrchid said...

Renee, I think it's in blogger where you might be having the problem. So here are the steps: When in layout after selecting 'add a gadget' you then selected "Html/javascript- Add third-party functionality or other code to your blog". When that window pops up, then you could type 'playlist' in the title window, but I think it's optional. Just go to where you paste the code, in the box that says 'content'. That is where you paste the code you copied from the playlist website.

Once it's up on your blog, any time you want to add a song, just go to the site and find the song you want. When you click the '+' button on the song, it should automatically add it to your player. No need to copy any code or anything. Hope this helps! Pls let me know how it works out for you.

I'll do my walk later this evening. I need to break in my new sneakers...what better way! :)

BTW, pls do keep us posted on how you're feeling physically. So many people are praying for you, I just know the Lord has something great in store for you!

CarolineH said...

Happy Birthday sweet sweet Daisy!

What wonderful stories Renee. Got a smile out of me with this. :) Hug that mom of yours for me,and thank her for teaching you to be such a wonderful, loving, non judging woman.
Love,
Caroline

Anonymous said...

Hi Renee,
What an amazing tribute to an amazing mother from an amazing daughter. The love just flow through.Congratulations to you all.
Barb

Anonymous said...

Go girl, happy birthday 82nd Renee's mum! Love the part where she stuck her tongue out at the queen. The saying where it is ok to have a first impression but you don't have to marry it! This is a great saying and a rule to live by.
My mum brought us up on her own for a while, single parent before she met my stepdad. My sister Didi and I use to pick up dropped coal from the coal truck. We loved bringing home anything old we found. Mum use to dred what we had brought home, now! Oh the days! Totally wonderful your relationship with your mum.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, don't mind you using the chrsitmas angel on your blog.
Merry Christmas everyone!

GlorV1 said...

Renee, that is a beautiful tribute to your Mom. I feel as though I know her, so please tell her I said to have a Happy Birthday and many many more. Good Sunday to you and take care. ::hugs::

flossy-p said...

Well, a very Happy Birthday to Ms Daisy! :)

YayaOrchid said...

Yea!! You got your playlist! I'm quite happy for you! Love Gypsy Kings, I'd forgotten about them. Must go find something from them for my player.

Deuteronomy 31: 8

And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

La Donna Welter said...

WOW...am I so very glad to have found you! : )

Anonymous said...

"Mom loves her Shelly and Shelly loves her Mom"

Need I say more??

Happy Birthday Momma!

Anonymous said...

How blessed are we...We got to be brought up by two people who had little money and were able to teach all of us what is so important in life that no money in the world could possibly buy, we were taught to love our children and our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

I am a bit surprised that Renee and Camille think that they are more your favorites I know that they both know along with the rest of the family that yes you definitly made us all feel like we were the most important person in the world to you but I really know that I have always been your pride and joy in life, I always think of how you would say to Dad - THANK GOD WE HAD MICKEY she is our most precious gift. Don't say anything and I will just keep that between you me and Dad.

Mom you are everything special and kind in my life and I could only repeat everything Renee has said and everyone elses comments and it still would not be enough to tell you how ABSOLUTLY BLESSED and HONOURED I feel to have you for my mother.

I feel I am a good mother but I know all of my good mothering comes from you so thank you for teaching me by your examples.

I LOVE YOU MOM
LOVE MICKEY

Anonymous said...

Grandma

I have always been amazed at your strength of character and your independence.

You carried yourself with dignity and respect whether you were living in "Angela's Ashes - like conditions" or living the high life on European vacations. I think you are the true glamour puss.

You have always been ahead of your time - a true feminist!

Love always
Nad the Bad

~Babs said...

My head swims when I think about mothering that many children.
With a tribute such as this, it's plain to see she certainly rose to the occasion!
Happy Birthday Daisy, you done good!

zoe said...

your mom sounds awesome! i hope she really did stick her tongue out at the queen. here, we can do it together--

**moment of silence**

your dad's not half-bad, either; i'd never heard that bit about a great understanding :D

but i have to tell you, i almost fell over counting how many children she had! the fact that she remembered your name is a miracle!

i agree with julie, happy birthday saint daisy!

The Dutchess said...

Beautiful..Wishing you a happy Daisy day!

Deborah said...

Awe, Mombie is ever so De-Lovely. Please kiss her on the left cheek for me, thank you. **kisskiss** Deb