Family Memories: Taking Mom and Dad to Rockglen

On August 13 and 14, Susan and Liz took Mom and Dad to Rockglen, to some of their favourite places there.

We started with "Mom's Walk". This is the walk she took every day. She started up the hill from the alley between their home and Susan and Al's.

That seemed a good spot for them.

She'd cross the first street, and keep climbing until she got to the top of the hill. "Come along" she'd say"I go quickly", and she did.

Then she would take a left turn and walk across the top, along "mortgage heights"

Another good place to leave them

The views as you walk along are really nice

We made a detour to visit their friend Renie's house

Renie was a very interesting woman. She had served in WW11 in communications and told them fascinating stories of intercepting German messages. Renie gave Mom some lovely flowers, Perennials for outside and African Violets inside. Susan has the African Violets now.

It was a happy place for them

Mom loved to make the hike up Columbus. It was a steep climb, but the view from the top is really something.

A friendly dog joined us on this part of the journey. Mom would have made a big fuss of him.

Mom would have loved the wildflowers

Again, a good place to leave them.

Along the way we saw some of the birds Mom loved to watch. She called these the "Rosy Finches"

This was their first house in Rockglen. It was loaned to them by the Hospital when Dad was doing a locum there. It has been sold to "Reverse Snowbirds" (Summer in Rockglen, winter down south), and fixed up considerably since they lived there.

Another happy place.

Next stop was the hospital, now a care facility. This was the doctor's entrance.

So it was the best place for them.

The view across the street from the hospital.

Mom always picked up the mail at the post office, for them, Susan, and Floss. It was a daily ritual.

So we had to leave them there.

Mom looked forward to the days the library was open. She spent a lot of time visiting her friend Claudette, and choosing books.

This was a very happy place for Mom.

Usually she would pop into the store, with her signature green nylon shopping bags. Mom used reusable shopping bags way before they became trendy.

The shopping bag

The store was important in Mom's daily life. She enjoyed chatting with people, and believed in supporting the local businesses.

This park was not there when Mom and Dad lived there, it was an old no longer used garage. Mom would have loved it though, so we put them there.

Next was the house, "the shack", as Dad always called it, but he turned it into a cozy home for them both. It looks a little different now, Mom's flowers are missing.

As we remember it

We left Mom and Dad by the lilac tree

And by the garden Dad loved so much

Every time I look out this way from Susan's back door I expect to see them coming through the yard.

So then it was one last stop in Rockglen, at Dad's favourite store, the Co-op. He bought all the supplies for his projects here, and was so impressed with the selection and the service.

Then it was on to Assiniboia, and of course we had to stop at Mom's favourite, the Dollar store

And take her there one more time

Then it was off for lunch, and where else but Joeys could we go?

They enjoyed the Moose Jaw Joeys the best. They befriended the owner and he ordered Haddock in for them to stock their freezer at home. That manager had to leave Joeys because he was allergic to fish.