Life With Agnes

Gotta Love Mom!

[allanatrevor]

Well, Mom turned 88 years old on Aug 08 - so on the 8th of the 8th she turned 88.  I had planned a pool party for our family and friends and Mom insisted on someone taking her to the variety store to buy lottery tickets - $8 worth for each of her children.  I won a free ticket.  Anyway, we had about 50 people and her best friend Ann (98yrs) took a taxi all the way from Collingwood so she could be with Mom!  Incredible!

It was a beautiful day.  I had arranged bar height tables with umbrellas, the gazebo was decked out with flowers and decorations, the dining room had "Happy Birthday" signs and the fence had signs as well.  I hung paper lanterns in the trees and lit them at night.  It was truly a magical day that lasted til 3:30am!  I finally put Mom and Anne to bed at 0130!  The old gals were chatting away and reminiscing about old times.  Mom was so happy to be surrounded by so many people who love and treasure her.  Yes, a few rye & cokes were consumed by "the girls" as they like to be called.

My siblings and I had decided to purchase a flat screen TV for Mom.  As I've mentioned previously, she reads the close-captioning and was missing half the words on her old TV.  We all gathered around her as she opened the box, looked at the picture on the outside and said to my husband, "What is it?".  "It's a rocket" he said sarcastically.  She thanked us all but unknown to us she had no idea what the gift was. 

I stopped by her place the next day and she said "What did you get me?  Trevor said it's a rocket, but what do I do with it?"  Bless her.  After I told her it was a TV I got extra hugs.

[allanatrevor]

Here's a photo of Mom and her 98year old best friend enjoying their rye & cokes!  I'm guessing it keeps them young!

[allanatrevor]

Sandwich Generation

Life with mom is never dull.  She will be 88 years old in a couple of weeks and her energy puts me to shame.  Lucky for me, she still has all her faculties although we listen to the same stories over and over - even if we tell her she told us already, she'll say it again. Small price to pay to have her with us.  She still lives in her own in a house, with a pool, but relies a lot on me and my husband Trevor to take care of it.  My Dad passed away 16 years ago and since then my Mom has had dinner with us every night.  I never thought she would be depending on us for so long but 16 years later she either eats at our house or I make it and take it to her.  We watch Coronation St. every night and then she either walks home, or we drive her, depending on the weather. The only health problem she has is her hearing loss.  One ear is completely deaf and the other, even with the use of a hearing aid, is still pretty minimal.  Some of the things she thinks she hears makes Trevor and I wonder what she tells people as her rendition can be completely different than what actually was said.  She hasn't updated her TV to a flatscreen and since she relies on the close-captioning, I have no idea how she follows a storyline since half the words are cut off or don't even appear on screen!  Maybe a flat screen for her 88th?

Mom came to Canada when she was 26 years old.  My sister who was 4 at the time was with her.  All alone, she crossed the Atlantic by ship and arrived into Halifax at midnight.  She had never been out of Belfast alone before and spent the entire 7 days at sea in the cabin, too afraid my sister would fall overboard. She loves Canada and the first story she ever told us about arriving here was after walking down the gangplank with her trunk and Jenn in tow;  a taxi driver helped her and took her to the train station for her long ride to Montreal to meet up with Dad.  She went to give him a $1 tip and he told her to keep it - that she would need it more than him.  She's loved Canada ever since.

They say we're living in the sandwich generation - looking after our kids and now our parents as well.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  My Mom brings more joy and laughter - actually downright belly laughs - to my life that I'm grateful we live so close.

I hope you enjoy Mom's stories as much as we do.

[allanatrevor]

Happy Anniversary!

Well you would think I would like to celebrate my anniversary - 19th - with my husband at a romantic restaurant, just the two of us ....

Mom, Trev and I set off for an afternoon BBQ with a few friends.  Before the storm, we huddled under an umbrella while I opened a pill vile filled with Rye into Mom's glass and mixed it with coke.  She loves her Rye and Coke!  We had a great afternoon, followed by a delicious BBQ and then to top it off we went up to the penthouse and Mom was in awe of the Toronto skyline at night in full view.  It was a hot, muggy night but the lights were beautiful, sailboats on the water and the company was amazing.  Even had a little dance to "our song" high atop the buildings.  When it was time to leave, Mom hugged everyone and told them she loves them.  Odd, considering she just met some of them.  She thinks at this stage in her life, she may never see them again so she wants them to know she cares. 

[allanatrevor]

At home in the backyard