Mare Chalmovski (Maureen's friend)

Entered April 25, 2017 from Richmond Hill

My condolences to Maureen and the whole family.
I can she was an amazing woman.
May she rest in peace!

Vilma Gubatan (Former colleague of Fern Parisian)

Entered April 26, 2017

Our deepest sympathy to you and your family.

Yun Lam (Friend of Maureen and Graham)

Entered April 27, 2017 from Toronto

Deepest sympathy and condolences to The Lee Family.
May she RIP

Shu-hua ueng (Maureen's friend)

Entered April 27, 2017 from Toronto

Although no words can take away the sorrow that you bare.
May it be comforting to you to know that others care.

Dorothy Ward (Friend of daughter)

Entered April 28, 2017 from Burlington, ON

May, thoughts and prayers are with you and your family in the loss of your mother.

The Great Melon caper - I recall vividly a shopping trip with my mother. I had moved out on my own and was in Chinatown with her She spied these melons at a great price. I picked a small one as I was on my own. She wanted me to pick a larger one since they were all the same price. Being stubborn I held out and finally won out. However, just as she gave up convincing me, a total stranger (and also an old Chinese lady), grabbed the small melon from me, put it back in the bin, grabbed a much bigger one and put it in my hands. In Chinese she said to my mother "KIds! They don't even know ...".At that point I gave up and bought the big melon.

Learning to read - Most Chinese wives that came to Canada from Mainland China in the late 40s and 50s only learned limited English skills that they would allow them to say a few dozen words in broken English. My Mother started that way but wanted to learn to read and write as well. She took English as a second language courses. In grade school, I would read the text books with her and even recorded the entire book on cassette tape so she could play it back and follow along in the book. This would become a lifelong goal. Even in the last few years, she would call me up and spell out a word she saw (most likely from an advertisement mail) and wanted the pronunciation and meaning. She would say the word back until she pronounced it correctly. She did quite well and impressed me with her drive and determination to learn English. An extraordinary women and mom.

I remember the time at Shuter Street when she chased a robber away with a broom!

For years I thought that Niagara Falls was hrs and hrs away. Our Mother would pack a gigantic lunch and we would stop and eat it before we arrived for our visit. She did not want us to appear greedy and famished, when we were offered treats. They had a restaurant, so they always had many treats.

The big Montreal trip - Growing up, we never spent an overnight away from Shuter Street except for one trip to Montreal. The bus company had this deal on excursions trip and I think you had to go and come back the same weekend. I believe our neighbour from across the street came along. In this case, an overnight trip did not include staying in a hotel. It was an overnight bus ride to Montreal, a day of Man and his worlds (followup to the Montreals worlds fair) and then another overnight bus ride back. So no sleep followed by a day of walking around the fairgrounds. For dinner, we got to walk some more until we found Chinatown. A trip to remember as our only multiday family trip.