For the last couple of weeks, anyone who knows me on Facebook has been subjected to a barrage of posts and photos of my daughter’s choir, which picked up both a silver and gold placement at the World Choir Games. To say I was a proud “choir mum” was a bit of an understatement.
But today, my family is celebrating a different golden accomplishment.
Fifty years ago today, my Mum and Dad tied the knot, back in England.
My parents won’t let me throw them a lavish party – or any party at all – and they don’t want gifts. But in a time where separation and divorce are common, I can’t let this remarkable milestone go unnoticed.
In July 1964, they left family and friends behind and arrived on Canadian shores, having spent their honeymoon on a ship crossing the ocean. They settled in Sarnia, Ontario, where my father was a new grad chemist for Dow Chemical. Three years later, I came along and another three later, my brother.
While my Dad was hard at work supporting the family financially, my Mum was supporting our community – building summer programs in the park for local kids, teaching knitting electives at the neighbourhood, singing with local community arts organizations, staging school plays – she was just as busy as Dad. Vacations weren’t a time to rest, though. We camped, canoed and generally kept VERY busy!
These two people are dynamos, who never rest. Between them, they were incredible role models who I still look up to today.
Eventually, my brother and I left to start our own adult lives. But when early retirement presented itself to my parents, wasn’t seen as an opportunity to sit back and rest. With absolutely no experience, but with a plan in mind, they upped and moved several hours away having bought a property with housekeeping cottages they decided to run. For ten years, they worked harder than ever, turning that business into a thriving one, and becoming the “hosts with the most”, as they taught their guests everything from how to make baskets to soapstone carving. Add to that the heron that adopted them when it realized that the kiddie pool full of little fishies the cottagers’ kids had caught made an excellent dinner, and those cottages made lasting memories for all who stayed in them.
One weekend each year, my incredibly generous parents turned their cottage resort over to me, and for many years, ten children in four families – all within four years of each other – took over. We had annual visits from the “ pirates” who left treasures for the kids, we water-skied, fished, swam, played ping pong and did any other number of activities to tire out the kids before the all-important “grown-up” campfire. We were all blessed to have that special time they gave us.
Eventually – ten years later – they decided to slow down a little. To my folks, that meant designing and building a house across the lake. No strangers to renovations, they only let the professionals get as far as drywalling and mudding. They pretty much did the rest on their own. Dad, who had become a master craftsman in the interim years, built all the cabinetry in the house, and Mum, an accomplished seamstress in her own right , sewing everything from wedding dresses to boat covers, took care of all the curtains.
Fast forward a little less than another decade and with the house finished and time on their hands, it was just natural that they started building their hobbies into businesses, so if you need alterations – or a whole new dress made exactly to your size, or a kitchen built that looks like no other, they are your couple.
Earlier this summer, they took two weeks out of their incredibly busy lives and took themselves off on an Alaskan Cruise. I’ve never known them to spend so much time on “just them”. But, not surprisingly, they didn’t want the luxuries of a big cruise ship; instead they chose a 40-passenger boat, which would let them get close into the narrow channels and passageways. No deck chairs and swimming pools for my parents. From the photos I’ve seen and the stories I’ve heard, it was truly their trip of a lifetime – the one big thing on their bucket list.
So what do you get a couple like this for their golden anniversary? I can’t imagine either of these amazing people being ready to bring out the rocking chair just yet. And trying to spoil them with a spa visit is simply laughable. Their walls are full of original art from creative types they know, so that’s out too. I was just about ready to throw my hands up in the air when I discovered the perfect thing – a book called The Great Canadian Bucket List! I couldn’t resist, so picked it up.
So Mum and Dad, congratulations on your great golden anniversary. Thanks for everything you’ve taught me and all the times you’ve helped me over the years. Thanks for the fun we’ve had together. And here’s to many more adventures – gold is just the beginning.
Love,Kath
