Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Eighty Memories for Eighty Years: #29 On Raising Children - Mary

... Naomi, Alice and Mary ...
What I learned from Mary is how deep a person’s feelings can be for their homeland.

How did this happen?

When Mary went to school, she was part of the bi-lingual program.

When Mary graduated from university, she told me that she was going to tour Canada.

I don’t think she got any farther than seeing northern BC.

That trip was the beginning of her Canadian tour, metaphorically speaking.

When Mary went to take a master’s degree, she studied Canadian History.

Mary’s full-time employment is with the federal government.

Mary reads a lot of Indigenous fiction.

... Oh yes, there is another side to Mary ...
Mary is the first one to proof-read the work of her siblings, and she is especially please to do this if their work has something to do with Canada.

Mary has lived the life I want – always on an in depth study of her homeland.

Arta
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4 comments:

  1. Rebecca JohnsonMarch 18, 2020 at 12:43 PM

    I think of the many gifts she has shared with other Canadians (including those who are sometimes behaving badly). I am thinking here of her having a gift for someone in her pocket (was that a raised middle finger?!)

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    Replies
    1. BonnieMarch 18, 2020 at 6:00 PM

      That is right. I saw her first offer this present to a young man on the bus in Quebec City who was verbally bullying me. She excitedly said, "hey, I've got a present for you here," interrupting the fellow. He looked surprised. She went on, "I brought it all the way from Alberta" as she dug around in her front pocket of her jeans. He smiled at her, and waited, waiting with anticipation as she foraged for a few more seconds. I too wondered what could be in her pocket. Then she slowly pulled her hand out, tugging as if the object was difficult to retrieve, and she kept smiling as she turned the back of her closed fist to him and slowly unfurled her middle finger.

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  2. Arta JohnsonMarch 18, 2020 at 2:57 PM

    Yes, Mary has a delicious sense of humour. Plenty of satire when she talks. I have to be careful in her company for she doesn't suffer fools lightly.

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  3. Arta JohnsonMarch 19, 2020 at 11:56 AM

    I have had a lot of sins in the past, but unfurling the middle finger at someone else is not one of them. And now I think it is too late. Just now I was practising, and with my arthritis, I can only partially unfurl that finger -- the finger no longer stands straight up but lies flat, pointing at me. And I am having a painful struggle keeping the other fingers down. That is the best I can do.

    Would that be called giving someone half a finger. Or maybe that would be called back at you.

    ReplyDelete

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