Tag: grandma

  • Do not wet

    This Sunglow heating pad came to British Columbia with my Grandmother in 1995. The pad itself was purchased in Ontario from George W. Endress Co. Ltd. probably in the 1940s. Touching it, I imagine all the ways it provided relief to my ancestors. I never talked about menstruation with my Grandma. But I have many…

  • Clip found

    Mum cleaned out a drawer in her hutch and found this garter clip she says was Grandma’s. It could be sixty, even seventy, years old. One story about my Grandma that I particularly like is that she NEVER wore a bra. She wore slips. Mum says she tried to get her to wear one a…

  • Unfriending the dead

    Should I unfriend my ghosts on social media? I know a lot of dead people and increasingly, I come across their names and faces when I’m clicking about. It’s always a little jolt. The shape of a face, or even the way letters make up a name can evoke a memory wave of being near…

  • Three times a charm

    When my Mum’s mother was 99 years old she broke her hip. Although she was expected to make a good recovery, her doctor said her days of living alone in her two story Toronto duplex were over. Mum said to her, if you want to move out west, I’ll take care of you. I shake…