For these brief posts I will often look for cues or prompts within recent photos, often triggering a memory of something incidental I have forgotten. When I looked today, I found a picture I took in near darkness while walking Canéla in the morning last week, where she demonstrated the accumulated snowfall by walking into a driveway from the back alley, up a snow bank and up onto the hood of a car. Given how popular a topic snow removal is in Edmonton at this time, it certainly seemed topical.
But my photo page also displayed a slideshow of Januaries from previous years, including this one from 2016:
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| January 11, 2016 |
And I was struck by just how much has changed in the decade since.
First of all, some context; this was taken during my late mother's holiday visit from Osoyoos for the Christmas of 2015. This is the same trip where she fell in our back alley while walking her dog, Willow(damned ice again!), and broke her arm really badly. But she kept her spirits up, stayed for the remainder of her trip, and played a few games with us like Ticket to Ride here before flying home.
Obviously the biggest change is Mum's absence, as she died in December of 2019, and we all miss her dearly.
But seeing the girls at the table with her reminds me how blessed I am to have them (and Audrey!) in my life today.
10 years ago, Fenya was preparing to graduate high school. One year ago, she was married and living in Toronto before that came to an end and she was able to return home for a bit. She convinced her employers to create a new job position she can help them with and who knows where that might lead?
A decade back, Glory was only in junior high, still competing in Irish Dance. Now she is a Registered Nurse working in a palliative ward and pursuing the elusive full-time line in Alberta health care. And still dancing, when she can!
Friday night the four of us went to church to get a family photo taken for our directory (replacing the 2013 edition!). Afterwards, the two of them decided it was two early on a Friday night to just head home with their parents and asked us to drop them off at Gracie Jane's, a boutique gallery bar just down the street from St. Albert United. They sang karaoke and even bumped into someone else from church there.
There are so many differences between the people they were then and the young ladies they have become, and yet, they are still fundamentally the same: kind, funny, smart, compassionate and hard-working individuals, prone to fits of both insight and whimsy.
Having two adult daughters at home who not only get along so fabulously is truly a blessing. The fact that they have time (or make time) for hanging out with their folks to play games or watch shows is truly icing on the cake.
Moving out feels a lot tougher now, financially, than it did when Audrey and I got married, but I know they will soon want their own space, and that's great - it is how it should be.
But in the meantime, I am greedily sopping up moments like the one pictured above like a sponge. I'm pretty sure that would've made Mum smile too.
Like I said, photos are great prompts and memory triggers, so I am going to put Canela's picture here anyhow - this snow can't last forever, right?
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