It's doubtful that anyone else, describing their Mother, would use Yosemite Sam, the character from the Bugs Bunny cartoons as an example...but you didn't know my Mother! (And if you are a reader of this blog and DID know her, you know I'm right!!!)
Just like Yosemite Sam, my Mother was, "the ROUGHEST, TOUGHEST..." When she was frustrated or angry, just like Sam, she used to clench her fists and loudly swear, "RACK'N!!! FRACK'N!!!", although using other select words.
If you needed someone to move a mountain, she could do it. In many ways, she was invincible. I like to think of her that way, softening the edges of my memories a bit.
She did have a heart of gold. Animals understood this. She not only had the ever present cats in her life, but made pets from any animal she encountered; chipmunks to a family of foxes.
This image was taken about 11 years before I was born, but it's one of my favourites of her.
It's that gentle side that makes me smile all these years later. The very best of her is what I'm grateful to be able to share with you in this blog.
When it was pouring rain in the city of Montreal, the water would ripple down the asphalt in never ending streams, the rain bouncing in the downpour.
My Mother, when I was very young, would say, "LOOK at the little men!!! They're tapdancing so fast that all you can see are the sparkles from their tap shoes!!!"
I would run to the living room window and stare for the longest time, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dancers themselves rather than just the sparkles.
So, while other families whined about the dreary rain, in our house we stood at the window and marveled at the magic of it all.
Thank you for spending this time with me,
Lori xx