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vaneramosI didn't see Mom yesterday, but here she is opening a birthday card in about 1978, when she was 45.
We talked on the phone yesterday morning. Our relationship seems to be improving after some difficult years. I sent her a yellow hibiscus and it was delivered Saturday morning. I was glad to hear the florist had my first choice of colours. Mom's favourite colours have always been yellow and orange. It came wrapped in yellow paper with an orange bow.
I would like to share some more old photos of Mom. Donna was born on April 15, 1933.
Mom and Dad were married on April 15, 1951. Dad was still 17. Brother Bob was born on Dec. 25, 1951, and Mike on April 9, 1954. I guess Mom must have been about 24 in the next picture.
This picture was taken on March 29, 1964, ten days after I was born.
After Bob and Mike had left for university, we moved from Windsor to our cottage, 45 minutes away on Lake Erie. I took this photo in about 1976, with Mom sitting by the back fence (when you live beside a Great Lake, the back lawn is the one facing the road!). That's my pet white rabbit, Cuddles, more often known as Bun.
Mom (middle) was the eldest of six siblings (counter-clockwise from top left): Gayle, Carol, Janet, Nancy and Tom. I believe this may have been the occasion of Mom's 45th birthday in 1978. Gayle died of cancer in 1992. Carol and Janet live within a few miles now and see Mom regularly. I have not seen any of my Mom's relatives since I came out in 1996, except Carol and two of her sons, who know that I'm gay.
A five-generation picture from 1982. My nephew, Jamie, was one year old. From left: mother Dawn, grandmother Donna "Nanum" (49), great grandmother Thelma "Nana" (70), great great grandmother Laura "Dommy" (89), and father Mike (28). Dommy died in 1996 at 103, but Nana's first great great grandchild was born last month. Nana still lives alone in her own townhouse in a senior's village. Her only serious health complaint is arthritis in the knees and hips.
I'm not sure exactly when the next two pictures were taken, but Mom looks about 60 in the second picture, which would be in 1993. Taken by me on the beach at Lake Erie, it is one of my favourites and has been posted on LJ before.
Next is Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary, on April 15, 2001, Mom's 68th birthday. I'm in the middle between my brothers and their wives: Bob and Debbie (left), and Mike and Dawn. My daughters, Marian and Brenna, are down in front with Emma. My nieces and nephews are in the back row: Vanessa, Scott, Darcy, Jamie and Robyn.
In May 2002 Dad spotted a discolouration on Mom's breast and in June she was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. My sister-in-law Debbie and Aunt Carol did extensive internet research and discovered a radical drug treatment which had only recently been approved for use in Canada. Mom's oncologist agreed to try it. It was a tough step for my mother, who had never been seriously ill in her life, had not been in hospital since I was born, and initially said she didn't want any treatment at all. She had just started taking chemo in August when this picture was taken with me and the girls.
Mom was warned early that this kind of breast cancer had a high risk of mortality. But thanks to Dad spotting it early and Deb and Carol's sleuth work the cancer was brought under control and Mom had a single mastectomy last spring. A biopsy showed some cancer cells still in the breast, so the specialist recommended several months of radiation treatment. Mom refused. She did not want to spend another summer feeling sick.
This spring, a year after her final chemo treatment, tests showed Mom is cancer-free.
We talked on the phone yesterday morning. Our relationship seems to be improving after some difficult years. I sent her a yellow hibiscus and it was delivered Saturday morning. I was glad to hear the florist had my first choice of colours. Mom's favourite colours have always been yellow and orange. It came wrapped in yellow paper with an orange bow.
I would like to share some more old photos of Mom. Donna was born on April 15, 1933.
Mom and Dad were married on April 15, 1951. Dad was still 17. Brother Bob was born on Dec. 25, 1951, and Mike on April 9, 1954. I guess Mom must have been about 24 in the next picture.
This picture was taken on March 29, 1964, ten days after I was born.
After Bob and Mike had left for university, we moved from Windsor to our cottage, 45 minutes away on Lake Erie. I took this photo in about 1976, with Mom sitting by the back fence (when you live beside a Great Lake, the back lawn is the one facing the road!). That's my pet white rabbit, Cuddles, more often known as Bun.
Mom (middle) was the eldest of six siblings (counter-clockwise from top left): Gayle, Carol, Janet, Nancy and Tom. I believe this may have been the occasion of Mom's 45th birthday in 1978. Gayle died of cancer in 1992. Carol and Janet live within a few miles now and see Mom regularly. I have not seen any of my Mom's relatives since I came out in 1996, except Carol and two of her sons, who know that I'm gay.
A five-generation picture from 1982. My nephew, Jamie, was one year old. From left: mother Dawn, grandmother Donna "Nanum" (49), great grandmother Thelma "Nana" (70), great great grandmother Laura "Dommy" (89), and father Mike (28). Dommy died in 1996 at 103, but Nana's first great great grandchild was born last month. Nana still lives alone in her own townhouse in a senior's village. Her only serious health complaint is arthritis in the knees and hips.
I'm not sure exactly when the next two pictures were taken, but Mom looks about 60 in the second picture, which would be in 1993. Taken by me on the beach at Lake Erie, it is one of my favourites and has been posted on LJ before.
Next is Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary, on April 15, 2001, Mom's 68th birthday. I'm in the middle between my brothers and their wives: Bob and Debbie (left), and Mike and Dawn. My daughters, Marian and Brenna, are down in front with Emma. My nieces and nephews are in the back row: Vanessa, Scott, Darcy, Jamie and Robyn.
In May 2002 Dad spotted a discolouration on Mom's breast and in June she was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. My sister-in-law Debbie and Aunt Carol did extensive internet research and discovered a radical drug treatment which had only recently been approved for use in Canada. Mom's oncologist agreed to try it. It was a tough step for my mother, who had never been seriously ill in her life, had not been in hospital since I was born, and initially said she didn't want any treatment at all. She had just started taking chemo in August when this picture was taken with me and the girls.
Mom was warned early that this kind of breast cancer had a high risk of mortality. But thanks to Dad spotting it early and Deb and Carol's sleuth work the cancer was brought under control and Mom had a single mastectomy last spring. A biopsy showed some cancer cells still in the breast, so the specialist recommended several months of radiation treatment. Mom refused. She did not want to spend another summer feeling sick.
This spring, a year after her final chemo treatment, tests showed Mom is cancer-free.
