To The Mothers Of My Life

 

My mother-in-law

At 83 years old, she manages to play with and entertain her grand-daughter for hours in spite of her limited mobility.

With her, bedtime storytime is filled with giggles and wonderful tales. She never thinks twice to treat her grand-child to a pony ride or a cute piece of clothing although she never spends a dime on herself.

With her, every meal is a feast prepared with love from the wee hours to lunch time.

In spite of living a life of hard labour and privation – she experienced Second World War first hand – she never lost her positive attitude and love of life.

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Dear Maryse, Happy Mother’s Day!

 

My Stepmother

She has wanderlust and an appetite for adventure like very few women of her age.

Mother of 3 and grandmother of 6 – 7 counting my daughter – with a 94-year-old father still living, she cares for her clan with kindness and tenderness.

From preparing and cooking the best camping meals in the world to sewing the cutest little clothes for her grandkids and their dolls, she doesn’t fear to learn new skills and develop her talents.

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Dear Diane, Happy Mother’s Day!

 

My Mother

She is a strong, independent and elegant woman on the outside but sensitive and vulnerable inside.

She enjoys what is good in life – good food & wine – traveling – spending time outdoors. She fears not taking on new challenges – personal and professional –  and seldom gives up.

She is a wonderful friend, sister and aunt and she surrounds herself with wonderful people. She would be the best partner to the lucky man that could gain her love.

She flys half-way across the globe to hang out with her beloved grand-daughter who will tell you she plays “house” like no one else, gives the best foot rubs and is the most courageous at polar bear swims.

She is always there to listen to me and support me in the good and the bad and I know I can always count on her sound advice.

Diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, she cruised through pre and post surgery with calm and resilience and is now as healthy, alive and well as ever.

 

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Dear Roselyne, dear MOM! Happy Mother’s Day !

I sure am grateful to have such special human beings as the mothers of my life …and to all the other mothers in my life, Happy Mother’s Day!

 

I LOVE YOU! xox

 

Emilie

 

 

 

 

The Funny Thing About Cities…

…is that they are full of crazy funny characters.

 

As tourism professionals working in rural areas, we often brag about how our communities count such unique local characters and storytellers.

 

Interestingly, the most surprising encounters I have ever had have always been in large cities. These moments, often happening out of the blue, stay imprinted in my mind with and leave a strange feeling of incredulity each time.

 

This week I was in Victoria, BC for a conference. One morning I was on walking to a downtown Café for breakfast, stopped at a traffic light.

 

A man walked straight towards me, looked at me in the eyes and said: “It’s a fine day. A fine day to rob a bank!”

 

I looked at him, with question marks all over my face.

 

He carried on: ” Robbing a bank is actually a fairly simple thing to do. But the reason why people get caught is that they can’t help but brag about it, and then they get caught!”

 

I responded: “Is that what you’re intending to do today then?”

 

Him: ” Well, yes!”

 

Me: “Then, perhaps you shouldn’t be telling me about it!”

 

Him: ” That’s okay because you don’t know me.”

 

Me; ” You are right, and most importantly, I don’t bank here.”

 

Him: “Oh good! Because today, I am going to rob my own bank.” and then he walked away.

 

Me: …

 

Of course, I know cities are full of quirky characters like this man and that I should probably forget this encounter has quickly as it happened.

 

But somehow, every day following it, I haven’t been able to help it; I have been checking the news to see if there had been any bank robbery attempts in Victoria that day.

 

Through this impromptu one minute conversation, this man, likely suffering from mythomania, has somehow stricken the most memorable story of my whole 4 days in the City….

 

Cities really do have something funny about them. Yep. They do…

 

Did you ever experience quirky encounters in cities?