An excerpt from my book; 180° Around the Antipodes:
“Hi Mom! I’m in bloody Inverness!”
“Hello dear! So great to hear from you!” she said, the smile on her face conveyed in her words.
“I’m making inroads for the ultimate Scottish souvenir. What clan did we, I mean Popeye hail from?”
She fell silent for a moment. “Well, going back, I remember the old Sahib saying we’d descended from the Anderson Clan.”
I flipped through the book of tartans I’d borrowed. “Hmm, it’s a prominently light blue pattern. Don’t know if I’m big on it.”
“Okay, well, Popeye was part of the Black Watch Territorials before he was posted to India,” said Mom, describing its colours. “The Black Watch tartan looks really sharp.”
I hit the library. In 1725, General George Wade assembled watch patrols from several clans to safeguard the Highlands from bandits. The patrol was named Am Freiceadan Dubh – Gaelic for the ‘The Dark Watch’ or ‘The Black Watch’. Its tartan of dark green, black and navy blue looked awesome. Having my own grandfather enlisted within its ranks lent a cool legitimacy to my big purchase.
As she always did, Mom came through again. I felt so fortunate and proud to have this most wonderful woman as my mother. The amount of positive energy that has always radiated from her defies comprehension; such natural tenderheartedness, class and quiet dignity was summed up in her beautiful smile and aura. Perhaps the subtleties in her personality had a way of imparting desirable attributes upon others while invoking in me a sort of template of how to best conduct myself in any given situation.
Yet, beneath this loving nature lay the underpinnings of such strength and mental toughness more beautifully balanced in her than in than anyone else I’ve ever known. She held down this gritty, resilient Scots fortitude – plainly exhibited over a twenty-year tenure at McMaster University where the only sick days she took were when the onset of Addison’s disease landed her in the hospital for a week for cortisone injections. During all those years of tireless work, there was no complaining about not feeling well, no goofing off or playing up any illness; just an iron-clad work ethic that saw her soldier through all kinds of discomfort she was undoubtedly feeling. When I asked her how she’d not noticed this slow degradation of her own health, there was that ever present smile and an unassuming shrug as she said, “I just thought it was how getting older felt.”
Even during times of personal loss and sadness there was such strength and poise in her disposition; the wellness of her family always her paramount focus. Such inherently wonderful traits; such natural virtues projected from someone who came by them all naturally spoke to her kind and genuine character and by god, how I've always loved her for her heart among many, many things.
Happy Mother's Day to my Mom all the great Mom's out there!
