Seniors Situation Room by Dawn Ford Mothers Day 2019

Mother’s Day is coming up on the 12th. of May. It is a special day to honour our Mothers.

Some people will wear a red rose and others white for their Mom’s who have gone to their heavenly home.

Talking with some friends one outstanding thing we all remembered was that our Mothers never complained about all the work they had to do or if they were sick.

If my Mom was ever ill we didn’t know about it – she just kept going with 6 kids in the house to look after.

Even as a kid though I often felt bad for her on those cold winter days hanging wet clothes on the line outside. She, like others, had a ringer washer and had to fill a big tub of water for the clothes to go into from the washer for a rinse. Then they had to be rung out and dried somewhere.

I remember us helping her by giving her the clothes pegs. Then at some point some of the frozen clothes had to be removed from the clothes line and hung on lines inside to thaw and finish drying. Not a fun job. She once said it was better than ‘the old days’ of having to use a scrub board.

I remember the day when I came home from high school and asked her if my Girl Guide uniform was ironed. She had probably eighty-nine other things to do besides iron my uniform for the Girl Guide meeting that night. She got out the ironing board and iron and showed me how to do it myself. That was the beginning of my ironing. It was time.

My Mom celebrated everything and taught us to do that and enjoy it all. If it was a special occasion, like a birthday, she baked a big chocolate cake with yummy chocolate icing, topped it with candles, and decorated the little living room with balloons.

There were gifts also, always something we wanted, even if small. Maybe a pair of plaid shoe laces for our saddle shoes, or maybe a lovely scarf or tee shirt. Small things, yes ,but it was all great to us. She taught us to have fun.

Here is a photo of my Mom, Alberta, while a resident at St. Joseph’s Villa, celebrating her June birthday in 1997 with a visit from my brother Ed Herrington.

Lots of wonderful memories of my Mom who was there always for her children. She left us in March of 1998, the year of the ice storm. Gone 21 years but I can still see her in my mind when I would walk in the door to visit her and she would smile and say, “Hi, Honey.” Cherished memory of a cherished Mother.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms out there.

In 1966 I took a trip to New York City. I found this Easy Guide booklet recently that I had purchased at the time for 75 cents. It was published by the Manhattan Post Card Publishing co. Inc., 913 Broadway, New York City. N.Y., copyright 1966 and produced by Aaron Stone.

It is an interesting booklet because it has about 100 pages of informaton on the various sites to visit such as the Statue of Liberty, museums, Zoological parks, Grant’s Tomb, Central Park, City Hall, Rockefeller Center and many others. There is a page of the history of New York which said that, at the time, it was the largest city in the world, exceeded only in area by London and in population by Tokyo.

I remember Times Square so clearly because it was so busy. I also attended a concert by the “Rockettes” which was at the Radio Music Hall. The Empire State Building was incredible to visit and see the city from one of the observation towers which, according to the booklet, were on the 86th and 102 floors. I think I got some Salt Water Toffey on Coney Island. It was a great holiday.

A reader sent in this photo but he doesn’t remember where he got it.

In the photo is a man, Lawrence Hebert, who is riding his bike on what was then called “Brookdale Lane” at the time – 1941.

Thanks so much for sharing the picture with us.

We may not be too happy with our ‘spring’ weather so far but the bugs don’t know that. I opened a window to slide the window screen and in came a huge and I mean huge…wasp. I ran and closed the bedroom door to protect my sleeping prince of a cat Tiger and and got my bug jar. Luckily the wasp was on my window blind and I was able to get it and put it outside.

Earlier that day there were lots of little black flies around outside. Time to get out my Absorbine Jr. It is not only great for sore muscles and the bugs do not like the smell, I guess. We always used it at Girl Guide camp and never had even one bite.

Best wishes to the Class of 1969 – the last class of the St. Joseph’s School of Nursing who will be celebrating their 50th. Anniversary this coming week. Congratulations.

In June, the last class of my School of Nursing of the Cornwall General Hospital will also be celebrating their 50th. Anniversary.

Where did the time go.? It seems like yesterday that we were young students on the hospital wards learning to be nurses. They say the older you get, the faster time flies. It is true!!

I love the commercials on TV for the Pamper diaper ads. Probably a woman thing, I suppose but it is so much fun to watch those tiny babies get up on their little legs and run across the room at ninety miles an hour speed.

Even some babies who can’t stand up yet crawl at a speedy rate and others go bumping along on their bums as fast as they can and laugh. So cute.

I especially like the ad where the nurse places a newborn babe on the mother’s chest and the baby looks up into her face for the first time. I saw that happen more than once when on duty on Obstetrics. Very precious moment.

Tiger almost had another flood of blueberries all over the floor today. I think he has a special mechanism in his ear because he is sound asleep far away in the bedroom and I open the fridge door, especially at a meal time, and zoom, he is there like a speeding bullet with his little snoopy nose in the fridge.

I had a dish of cleaned berries on the bottom shelf and his little nose bumped it and, whew, was that close!! I grabbed it in time or the floor would have been blue again. Not the first time. What he really wants is to sniff the celery. His ‘pot’ catnip isn’t enough for him, I guess. Add a few wiffs of celery leaves and he is so happy. What a cat!!

Since it is almost tee-off time, here are a few golf jokes from a reader:

Golfer: ” I think I’m going to drown myself in the lake.”

Caddie: “Think you can keep your head down that long?”

Golfer: ” I’d move heaven and earth to break 100 on this course.”

Caddie: “Try heaven. You’ve already moved most of the earth.”

Golfer: “Do you think my game is improving?”

Caddie: ” Yes. You miss the ball much closer now.”

Golfer:” Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron?”

Caddie: ” Eventually.”

Golfer: ” Please stop checking your watch all the time. It’s too much a of a distraction.”

Caddie: It’s not a watch. It’s a compass.”

Have a good week, Dawn

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