Wordless Wednesday - Pillow Improvisation

Mom's Eulogy

October 12, 1947, my mom was born en route to the hospital delivery room. She was the third of four daughters born to a milk truck company owner and his wife. As a child she loved to entertain family, friends and neighbours with her stories, spinning tales for anyone that would listen...often getting into trouble for telling stories that were not true. She had a strange desire to eat interesting things and was known to eat egg shells, wall plaster, crayons and cabbage salad mixed with scrambled eggs. She also had an interesting sleeping arrangement with her younger sister. She would put a board down the middle of the bed and tell her sister to not cross the board and to face the other way so that she wouldn't breath on her.


In December of 1969, my dad spotted my mom at a fellowship after church. After tracking down who she was, he invited her to a church Christmas banquet. Mom got all dressed up in her pink graduation dress complete with a corsage and off they went to the banquet...only to discover that my dad had the wrong date and the banquet was the following weekend. Instead they went out to a fancy restaurant. After a few months of dating they became engaged and were married in July of 1970. Together they had four children of their own.


In Proverbs 18:22 it says, He who finds a wife finds a good thing. And dad found a good thing. Mom was dad's best friend...his princess. She was the centre piece of the family and a Proverbs 31 women.

In the early years of their marriage, mom babysit a number of cousins and neighbourhood kids. She would make up silly names for different meals...just to be funny or to get our cousin to eat foods that weren't orange, or were different than what he ate at home. Mac and cheese was referred to as Noodle Scroodle from Bim Bom Boodle.


Mom was very creative...we had some of the best trick or treating costumes in the neighbourhood...often winning awards at school for the best costume. Some of the costumes she came up with were...a hobo, an apple, Little Bo Peep and Little Miss Moffitt.

Licorice allsorts, black licorice, chocolate, house coat, slippers, rose bushes, popcorn, snakes, broom and dust pan, clean socks and giggles. These are a few things that will always remind us of mom.

For many years, mom worked part time along side dad in the tree service business and in 1992, mom became a full time partner and was known as the "ground crew". She was a hard worker and did everything from axing wood, dragging brush, to meticulous clean up...building some serious muscle. She wasn't afraid to flex her muscles to her future son-in-laws to let them know that she might be tiny...but she was mighty.

Mom loved her grand kids. Mom adored her grand kids...all 10 of them. At family gatherings there was at least one grandchild attached to her...if not multiples. She would entertain them by reading stories or making interesting animal noises. Her favourite was pretending to be a gorilla...our daughter loved it.


When mom became sick, she was really sad that she couldn't be the grandma she wanted to be. But that didn't bother the kids, they still adored her and wanted to climb on her or push her wheelchair. They would come with us on our regular visits and fill the room with life...and a few squabbles too. They would make mom artwork...lots of artwork. Her room was full of artwork. The nurses would comment that they had never seen a room as decorated as much as mom's was. The grand kids would sing to mom, pick out special ornaments, blow kisses, pray for her and out of the blue...tell her they loved her.


Mom was a special women. I've heard so much praise from family, friends, and customers over the last few days. I was told...dad was a lucky man...your mom was such a beautiful women...faithful to her Lord.

A favourite memory of my mom was always hearing her pray for us before we left the house for school. If the hectic rush to get out the door caused this daily routine to be forgotten, we would run back inside and say..."You Forgot To Pray!". We knew everything would be OK if mom prayed for us.

She prayed protection over her kids. Even as grown adults, before we left for home after a hospital visit. She would tell my dad to pray and then say...Drive carefully...or Drive wisely...Watch out for deer. And God answered her prayer many times including last night as we drove back home. We hit a deer going 95km an hour. There was no time to react. The deer was launched away from the windshield. The damage to the front was extensive, but praise God, no one was injured.

So many people over the last few days have said to me...You look just like your mom....You sound just like your mom. I hear these words and I want to put my head a little higher and stand a little taller as that is such a wonderful, awesome complement...to be compared to a beautiful, classy, faithful, loving women.