Through Another Lens
- swsualberta
- Mar 17, 2022
- 4 min read
By: Aroob Qureshi
This week I had the lovely opportunity to interview a senior, G.H, whom I have known for almost a year now. We have been meeting weekly through Connecting Seniors with Care and have been able to share many stories and facts about ourselves with one another.
G.H dedicates her life to being a sister for the Catholic Church and now lives in a facility shared with other sisters. She mainly comes from French ancestry and was born and raised on a farm in Red Deer, Alberta. She celebrated her 90th birthday a couple of months ago.
I think it’s safe to say that G.H is the most loving, thoughtful, and talkative friend I have. She has so many things to share that I feel like our one-hour meetings go by in a couple of minutes! I hope you get to know her more and enjoy her answers with the following Q&A below.
What are you most grateful for?
“I am most grateful for the gift of life! The gift of my parents, godparents, [and] grandparents. I had a great family life, and I had dozens of siblings. I was brought up on a farm and living with my grandparents from my dad’s side was a gift as well because grandparents have so much wisdom and the grandparents have already had such a lifetime [compared to parents].”
“My grandmother was a great cook and didn't have much of an education, because girls at that time got very little formal education. But girls got to learn how to sew, cook, and decorate the home. So, she had very good taste in [all] those.”
“My grandfather had taken a course in France and learned many things about vegetables, trees, and bushes, like how to grow and clip them. In 1948, we had a little orchid besides many vegetables that we sold. My dad was a [very skilled] farmer too.”
“[So], I was exposed to so much, and in my later years, I look at this and think [of how] I also grew up in music and singing. My dad only had a grade 6 education, but my dad [had friends] with doctorates in art and painting. So, he knew how to draw very well. He was often honoured for singing solos, especially at Christmas and Easter.”
“Because we had a boarding school in Red Deer, we had a girls’ choir in school, so I got slowly integrated into that.”
“[In general], I am grateful for my life and background.”
What is your earliest memory?
“I think must have been about 3 years old. We had cows for our own use, and the cow had hit her in the head with its tail and her eye got infected. In those days they didn't know how to cure that, so she lost her eye. She was in the hospital and so my dad borrowed my uncle’s car (we did have horses and wagons to travel with but not a car). I remember being in the back seat with my mother, and she had dressed me up really fancy. And the sister [with us] had said ‘oh but she’s pretty!’. I remember going to the hospital and I remember seeing grandma. That’s about all! That memory is very prominent in my head. It was a long journey; it took us about half of travelling between Red deer.”
“I have memories of playing outside in the sandbox, but they’re not as strong.”
Did you have any siblings? If so, what was your fondest memory of them?
“I have a dozen siblings. I had 3 brothers older than me, and then we were 3 girls.” [the rest is history!]
“My brother Ray is a wonderful photographer, and he took a picture of the 13 of us in a row from oldest to youngest. He is very professional. He took other pictures too, but this one my sister had thought of [sic]. She said it would be nice to have us all [from] oldest to youngest. So, this picture has become a family treasure because the youngest people coming up will know who is the youngest and oldest.”
“The other thing, my eldest brother Mayson. He was working in a cemetery to fix a monument for my family. It was at my mother's and grandparents’ grave-site. Her (the mother's) death took a great toll on him. And it has our family name on it. She died in ‘64 and the monument was made in the '70s, so every 50 years we try to fix it up.”
Is there anything you would like to tell the readers? Any advice for them?
“I think growing up health-wise, we always said an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well, I made up my own one! Two oranges a day help keep infection away. Oranges have lots of vitamin C and [this] helps you heal from infections. My mother was able to get plants with lots of vitamins like [from] spinach and [then] she would give us a tonic, and it was terrible tasting stuff.”
G.H.
G.H recalled how caring, loving, and healing her mother was. Always being able to take care of everyone.
G. H’s brother Ray passed away this past November. She shared a heartwarming story of how she surrounded him with love and prayer. She concluded by mentioning how “death is a blessing when it is surrounded by love.” So, remember to surround your loved ones during hard times (e.g., visiting and caring for them when they’re sick).
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