Monday Morning Musings

Posted on May 21, 2018 under Monday Morning Musings with 5 comments

The one and only “Mother T.”

A postscript to our mother’s passing.

First of all, on behalf of the MacDonald family let me say thank you for the outpouring of messages of support for our family on the death of our mother. It is not possible to respond to everyone who sent condolences as they numbered in the hundreds. For those who may have missed it, her wake will be held on June 20^th and the funeral on June 21^st.

While each and every message was read with gratitude, the comments from her grandchildren resonated the most with me. They reminded me about the things in life that really matter, like gestures of kindness and support when things aren’t going quite right. They spoke eloquently of her zest for life and her no nonsense attitude. Most of them have inherited that attitude! They also adopted her compassionate nature for those marginalized and disenfranchised. Most of them have been blessed with her keen sense of humour. From reading their accounts, one realizes that seemingly insignificant gestures are often remembered for decades by young, developing brains.

As I said in my tribute piece last Friday, she was not only a perfect role model for her own children but also for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I know when I was in business, I always used mom as my yardstick and moral compass. Occasionally, when I would be in some kind of dilemma, I would say to myself, “what would mom do?” And now, not four days since her death, I find myself asking the same question and I reckon that this will be the case until I draw my last breath.

I also want to say a special thank you to my brothers and sisters. Families are complicated. That may be the understatement of the year. I can see you nodding your heads collectively. To be certain, our family, no family really, gets it right 100% of the time. Last week was very difficult watching mom complete her earthly journey. I was impressed that all my siblings were supportive and caring. Nerves can get frayed in these situations. I believe that mom would have been so pleased and proud that we sang, ate, laughed, and prayed together. We were afraid to act otherwise! While she is no longer with us, she’s still the boss.

Here’s my last word on life and death. I don’t know to whom this quote is attributed but it speaks volumes about mom and people like her. “I am not afraid to die. I am afraid of not living.” Don’t be afraid to live. Put the pedal to the metal. Mom did when she go carted at age 90!

YUMM. You won’t have the foggiest idea what I’m going to talk about so go and check out my most recent Thursday Tidbits. Some of you took a stab at the acronym but no one got it right. Your Unique Musical Memory (YUMM) is a new musical video service that Peter and I plan to launch in the fall.