By Bruce Holland, Publisher
Mother’s Day in Canada is a beautiful way to celebrate and appreciate Mothers in your life (mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, and family friends). And it’s a great time to create special memories with children. It is a very important and special day for Canadians to show their gratitude and honour Mothers in their lives.
I cannot begin to express the love, respect, and appreciation I have for my Mother! Born in Newfoundland, Mom immigrated to Canada after meeting and marrying my Father in St. John’s NFLD. at the end of WWII (at that time Newfoundland was not part of Canada yet). Initially, they lived in the North End of Halifax (where Dad was from) until the mid-50’s when they began to rent a small house in Shad Bay. A few years later in 1958 after child number seven, me, they purchased a lot of property from Carl Burke and built a small house of their own.
It was no easy life, child numbers eight and nine came along shortly after and the house required several expansions as the children grew. My Mother worked hard to feed, cloth, and teach all those children. While we all went to the small local schoolhouse, there was much to learn that could not be taught in school and it was predominantly Mom who had that responsibility with Dad in the City working all week and then in the barbershop in the back of the house on most evenings and Saturdays, to earn enough to feed and clothe us all.
Sundays were reserved for Church, Sunday dinner, and an opportunity for us to catch up, so to speak, with Dad. But, yet again, it was Mom who would make sure we were fit (clean and tidy with nice Sunday clothes) to go to Church.
Mom was our confidant and our soul mate! She was the person we could go to with difficult problems or decisions to make and count on for good advice, it may not always have been what we wanted to hear, but it was the truth, and she gave it without judgement and let us make up our own minds. When we made mistakes, she never said, “I told you so”, she made sure we kept our chin up and always encouraged us to continue on!
In 1915, this day became an official holiday in Canada and Canadians have since then celebrated this special day. Mother’s Day is not a public holiday where people get time off work, but it always falls on the second Sunday of May. Small children create handmade gifts & cards, present their mothers with flowers, and cook special breakfasts on that day.
Even though our Mother is no longer with us, I always make Mother’s Day special, in memory of all my Mother did for us!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
