Mike Clarke (Son)
Entered
July 13, 2025
from Winnipeg
Of all the moments I cherish most with Mom was the “One on One’s”. She was very smart and could be eloquent and blunt in the same sentence. And she had an amazing sense of humor,
On one occasion, we’re talking about our time in Goderich and I told her about standing on the lawn on Bennett Street watching dad and his buddies’ car pooling to work.
“You remember how they dressed; dark suits, white shirts sun glasses, and those hats, Dad was the wheel man that day; the four of them, riding in a mile and a half of sheet metal. The only thing missing was the mattress sticking out of the trunk”.
Mom sat expressionless for a couple of seconds before bursting out laughing; “do you remember the wives standing out on the street waving, as they drove by”?
“Yes, it was like watching the women waving as their men marched off to war”.
“Are you kidding; four guys in cheap suits, in a used car, we thought they looked hilarious”!
Mom could also be spontaneous; if the moment felt right, it happened. When I was on course in Ontario, I made a point of seeing Mom and Dad. I took advantage of one weekend visit to treat mom to lunch at a nice “Sit Down”. We were walking to the car at Wendy’s when she announces; “you know Mom wasn’t very happy when I told her I was marrying Rob; I don’t know what I hate more; the fact that he’s black or that he’s Catholic”!
“Damn Mom; what did you say”?
“Oh, I burst out laughing”.
Of course, it fell to Blanche to end the controversy. “Well, she’d better get use to it because it’s going to happen”.
When Rob came home to tell his father Louis of their plans, and Louis ‘s command of the king’s English was every good as Blanche’s; “Rob, it’s not going to work”.
Rob; “Well, I’m going to do it anyway”!
So, today, on the last day of Rob and Marj’s journey, you have come together, a final time, to talk and remember. And tomorrow, you will return to your lives. Some of you won’t meet or speak for weeks, months and many of you will never meet again. That’s the way of things and that’s alright.
But in the years and generations to come, your accomplishments will be many and great. And the day will come, when it is asked, “How is it that you done so much, for so many”?
And you can say; “it is because you are all one family, and it was Rob and Marj who brought you together”.
