By Patti Macaulay
My Mom was an amazing woman. She left her home and family in Antigonish, Nova Scotia when she was only 18, and went to Montreal, Quebec to be a nurse.
In those days, it was unusual for a young woman, especially one who had been brought up on a farm, to go so far away at such a young age. But my Mom was a courageous woman, she wasn't easily frightened or intimidated.
By Susan Macaulay
Happy 83rd Birthday Mom!
I wish I were there with you on your birthday, instead of on the other side of the world in Dubai.
But it’s good that we had lots of time to celebrate this summer. It was wonderful to golf, dance (!) and just be together – we had fun as usual. Mostly dressed in PINK!
To what extent the conditions we encounter before birth influence our individual characteristics?
It‘s the question at the center of fetal origins, a relatively new field of research that measures how the effects of influences outside the womb during pregnancy can shape the physical, mental and even emotional well-being of the developing baby for the rest of its life.
Mum and Dad were watching TV when Mum said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed”.
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches, rinsed out the out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table, and started the coffeepot for brewing next morning.
She then put some wet clothes into the dryer, put a load of clothes in the wash, ironed a shirt, and secured a loose button.
She picked up the newspapers strewn on the floor, picked up the game pieces left on the table, and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a waste-paper basket, and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom.
Julia is a writer and psychotherapist in SF. She used to be a comic and filmmaker. She produced, wrote and co-directed Live Nude Girls Unite! A documentary about the successful unionization effort by the workers at the Lusty Lady peep show.
Live Nude Girls Unite! won multiple awards— including the San Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature.