Mum was born in Trinidad, the first child of my grandfather, Edgar Jacelon.
As a young woman my mother had a sense of destiny – a favorable one to be sure. She was the driving force behind my father. She was ambitious for him and for her family.
Mummy believed in education. When offered a gift for taking care of her grandmother, who was sick for a year, she chose to go back to school. She eventually become a secretary until in 1963 when my father’s success was evident, she chose to stay home with her children.
In 1958, Mum and Dad moved us all (at that time, just Debbie and I) from Belmont to St. Augustine. She had wanted to have her own home. Then in 1964 she saw her dream home completed. She enjoyed showing off our home and all that she had done to beautify it. She was big on gardening. She was so proud.
Some years later when my parents could afford it, my mother got her own car. This was the catalyst and ‘vehicle’ that allowed her to play Bridge. She was a champion.
In 1991, when Dad retired at 65, Mum and Dad got really close. He did the groceries and she took care of him. But life in Trinidad was becoming more difficult to navigate as they got older. So when my sister, Debbie, offered – no, firmly recommended – she agreed to pack up and leave the life that she had known and loved to come to Canada.
Mum and Dad arrived in Canada in May 2014. Then on a trip home to Trinidad in October, Dad died and Mum returned to Canada to live out the rest of her days in style and comfort – until Covid. She played Bridge and was involved in all the activities at the retirement residence where she lived. Mum was 91 when she died – alone and without notice. She was not ill but oh, so lonely.
May she rest in Peace. Amen.