Extended Family
I received an email from my first cousin's daughter as did some others. I don't know what degree of relationship she and I have...second cousin or what, but here is what she asked:
"Hello ladies! I am writing a somewhat autiobiography of my family, and I was wondering if any of you ladies have any stories that you could share about my grandma Dot. I have lots of stories about my grandpa but not many of my grandma. I'd love to hear any stories that you may have that I could add to my paper! If you do you can message them to me on here or email them.... anything that you have would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!
"Hi Erin,
Aunt Dot...she was great! She had this great laugh and was always making some wisecrack joke or comment. She was a smoker...but so were most people in those days. She was an LPN or CNA, not sure which, but she worked at Melfort Union Hospital for years. She told me she stayed at the Nurses' Residence when she couldn't get back to the farm at Meskanaw in bad weather. That place is torn down now I believe. By the time I had to enter the Melfort Hospital to give birth to my first baby, a son, there she was. She clucked over me like a mother hen. She and dad and my mom had figured this all out ahead of time, because I was blissfully ignorant about what was to come. She stayed with me my whole seven hours of labor and rubbed my back with every contraction. They asked me if she could come into the case room for the actual delivery and I said yes please!! (That was October 4, 1976 and a real winter storm was happening outside. The next day (since we owned the flower shop) my ex-husband, took her a dozen red roses and she was thrilled. By the time my daughter was born, Aunt Dot had retired and I sure missed her. Another story about your grandma Dot was when my mom and dad had the funeral home. I can't remember who had died, but it was somebody we all knew. He was in the show room in his casket. She asked if she could go downstairs by herself and pay her respects. She came back up after awhile...really, really flustered. She said while she was standing beside the casket, head bowed, suddenly she felt this sensation of feathers ruffling across her face. She believed totally in ghosts and was convinced that whatever happened was because of the person in the casket. I still remember her talking about that. She was also superstitious as anything. Still during the days of the flower shop, she absolutely trained us not to take red and white floral arrangements to the hospital, or else we were asking for three deaths. Another thing, talk about independent women! I believe she, Aunt Grace and Aunt Laura were WACs in WWII. I think they worked in some factory out East for awhile during the war. Also, she learned to drive a car when very few women did. She drove right up to the end of her life, when she and Uncle Mac had gone on a trip the day she died and she was the driver, even though she didn't feel good. She raised four kids and worked full-time, so that's a huge accomplishment doesn't matter which era we're talking about. She was a diabetic and took those early insulins and pills that were not nearly as good as they are now. She developed a bit of a shake at times in later years because of these meds. She looked after her diabetes as rigorously as she could because as she would say, she had to if she wanted to keep living. She was a role model for me, that's for sure. She was someone who didn't beat around the bush. She would call a spade a spade, but didn't try to hurt people's feelings. She was a good person, no doubt. She was always very hospitable if you dropped by for a visit and was always glad to see us and me. At one point, she had some kind of hemorrhage that affected her vision, and that slowed her down, but she didn't spend her time feeling sorry for herself. She was always a going concern. She loved and fussed and worried about all her own children and grandchildren. She used to drop by the funeral home for coffee and to visit with mom and dad and of course all us kids. She would talk about how their life was when they were kids on the farm. She would tease dad by telling tales about him....like that he did mean things to his sisters. Of course, we thought the sun rose and set on dad, so we would look at him and he would never admit to anything. Everyone always loved Aunt Dot because she was just so easy to get along with. We miss her!"
Her response:
I received an email from my first cousin's daughter as did some others. I don't know what degree of relationship she and I have...second cousin or what, but here is what she asked:
"Hello ladies! I am writing a somewhat autiobiography of my family, and I was wondering if any of you ladies have any stories that you could share about my grandma Dot. I have lots of stories about my grandpa but not many of my grandma. I'd love to hear any stories that you may have that I could add to my paper! If you do you can message them to me on here or email them.... anything that you have would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!
"Hi Erin,
Aunt Dot...she was great! She had this great laugh and was always making some wisecrack joke or comment. She was a smoker...but so were most people in those days. She was an LPN or CNA, not sure which, but she worked at Melfort Union Hospital for years. She told me she stayed at the Nurses' Residence when she couldn't get back to the farm at Meskanaw in bad weather. That place is torn down now I believe. By the time I had to enter the Melfort Hospital to give birth to my first baby, a son, there she was. She clucked over me like a mother hen. She and dad and my mom had figured this all out ahead of time, because I was blissfully ignorant about what was to come. She stayed with me my whole seven hours of labor and rubbed my back with every contraction. They asked me if she could come into the case room for the actual delivery and I said yes please!! (That was October 4, 1976 and a real winter storm was happening outside. The next day (since we owned the flower shop) my ex-husband, took her a dozen red roses and she was thrilled. By the time my daughter was born, Aunt Dot had retired and I sure missed her. Another story about your grandma Dot was when my mom and dad had the funeral home. I can't remember who had died, but it was somebody we all knew. He was in the show room in his casket. She asked if she could go downstairs by herself and pay her respects. She came back up after awhile...really, really flustered. She said while she was standing beside the casket, head bowed, suddenly she felt this sensation of feathers ruffling across her face. She believed totally in ghosts and was convinced that whatever happened was because of the person in the casket. I still remember her talking about that. She was also superstitious as anything. Still during the days of the flower shop, she absolutely trained us not to take red and white floral arrangements to the hospital, or else we were asking for three deaths. Another thing, talk about independent women! I believe she, Aunt Grace and Aunt Laura were WACs in WWII. I think they worked in some factory out East for awhile during the war. Also, she learned to drive a car when very few women did. She drove right up to the end of her life, when she and Uncle Mac had gone on a trip the day she died and she was the driver, even though she didn't feel good. She raised four kids and worked full-time, so that's a huge accomplishment doesn't matter which era we're talking about. She was a diabetic and took those early insulins and pills that were not nearly as good as they are now. She developed a bit of a shake at times in later years because of these meds. She looked after her diabetes as rigorously as she could because as she would say, she had to if she wanted to keep living. She was a role model for me, that's for sure. She was someone who didn't beat around the bush. She would call a spade a spade, but didn't try to hurt people's feelings. She was a good person, no doubt. She was always very hospitable if you dropped by for a visit and was always glad to see us and me. At one point, she had some kind of hemorrhage that affected her vision, and that slowed her down, but she didn't spend her time feeling sorry for herself. She was always a going concern. She loved and fussed and worried about all her own children and grandchildren. She used to drop by the funeral home for coffee and to visit with mom and dad and of course all us kids. She would talk about how their life was when they were kids on the farm. She would tease dad by telling tales about him....like that he did mean things to his sisters. Of course, we thought the sun rose and set on dad, so we would look at him and he would never admit to anything. Everyone always loved Aunt Dot because she was just so easy to get along with. We miss her!"
Her response:
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