2006/10/09
Turkey, Phantom and Remembering Little Margot Blue-eyes
Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians in blogland. I'll be cooking a turkey dinner next weekend since Gary and Carolyn will be here. Might just be a Jeanne's cake, too. Happy Columbus Day to our American friends.
Yesterday I went to see Phantom of the Opera with my friend W. It was wonderful. I recognized most of the music because I have a CD. A few years ago when Dennis was still working he went on a business trip to Toronto. His host asked him whether he would rather go to a hockey game or The Phantom. Like a good Canadian, he chose the good old hockey game. NO HE DIDN'T! He chose The Phantom. He came back with a rave review and a CD of the music. So, I finally got to see it. The singing was top-notch. A couple of tears were shed. Then we went to The Round Table for dinner. I had a tenderloin steak in his honour. We used to eat there quite a lot. We had a celebratory dinner there in 2002 in honour of Margot and Joel's wedding. It's where my colleagues took us when I retired in 2003. Lots of good memories.
I was walking Suzie in St. Vital Park on Saturday - remembering, remembering. Margot was about a week old the first time we took her there. I remember putting her down on a blanket and lying down beside her, one of us on each side. I remember that almost-panic feeling when she was born that maybe I wasn't up to being a good mother. But, that day as we lay in the shade of the elm trees in the park with our new-born daughter between us, I knew we could do it together. Little Margot Blue-eyes. I made up a lullaby about her and sang it to her often.
Papa and Margot
Flash forward. Margot is a toddler. One beautiful second-summer fall day in the park we buried Papa in the yellow and brown leaves. Margot giggled as she scooped leaves up over Papa. I can see her so clearly in a little blue and pink hat with a pom-pom that my mother knitted for her. And flash forward to another spring day. Margot was teeetering on a rock at the edge of the duck pond trying to feed bread crumbs to the ducks. She fell into the duck pond up to her knees. She cried at the shock of the ice-cold water. Dennis dried her legs off with his own scarf and carried her all the way home tucked inside his jacket. Remembering, remembering. I will miss being in Winnipeg, the scene of so much love and fun. When I move to Vancouver I won't be able to go to St. Vital Park or The Round Table. And the house - I will miss the house. We lived here since 1980.
When we first moved in here it felt like such a BIG house. I could hear echoes in some parts of the house. Margot was only a year and a half. She used to get really quiet when she would hear the furnace go on and her eyes would get big. Then she would whisper, "Wha's tha?" We filled up the house with stuff. And love.
I will be happy to be living in the same city with Margot. But I will miss the city I lived in with him for all of my adult life. I came to Winnipeg in 1966 for love. And I'll be leaving for love, too.
Ta ta for now. Love and best wishes on this beautiful autumn day.
If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before. ~ Mitchell Burgess
Turkey, Phantom and Remembering Little Margot Blue-eyes
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Yesterday I went to see Phantom of the Opera with my friend W. It was wonderful. I recognized most of the music because I have a CD. A few years ago when Dennis was still working he went on a business trip to Toronto. His host asked him whether he would rather go to a hockey game or The Phantom. Like a good Canadian, he chose the good old hockey game. NO HE DIDN'T! He chose The Phantom. He came back with a rave review and a CD of the music. So, I finally got to see it. The singing was top-notch. A couple of tears were shed. Then we went to The Round Table for dinner. I had a tenderloin steak in his honour. We used to eat there quite a lot. We had a celebratory dinner there in 2002 in honour of Margot and Joel's wedding. It's where my colleagues took us when I retired in 2003. Lots of good memories.
I was walking Suzie in St. Vital Park on Saturday - remembering, remembering. Margot was about a week old the first time we took her there. I remember putting her down on a blanket and lying down beside her, one of us on each side. I remember that almost-panic feeling when she was born that maybe I wasn't up to being a good mother. But, that day as we lay in the shade of the elm trees in the park with our new-born daughter between us, I knew we could do it together. Little Margot Blue-eyes. I made up a lullaby about her and sang it to her often.
Papa and Margot
Flash forward. Margot is a toddler. One beautiful second-summer fall day in the park we buried Papa in the yellow and brown leaves. Margot giggled as she scooped leaves up over Papa. I can see her so clearly in a little blue and pink hat with a pom-pom that my mother knitted for her. And flash forward to another spring day. Margot was teeetering on a rock at the edge of the duck pond trying to feed bread crumbs to the ducks. She fell into the duck pond up to her knees. She cried at the shock of the ice-cold water. Dennis dried her legs off with his own scarf and carried her all the way home tucked inside his jacket. Remembering, remembering. I will miss being in Winnipeg, the scene of so much love and fun. When I move to Vancouver I won't be able to go to St. Vital Park or The Round Table. And the house - I will miss the house. We lived here since 1980.
When we first moved in here it felt like such a BIG house. I could hear echoes in some parts of the house. Margot was only a year and a half. She used to get really quiet when she would hear the furnace go on and her eyes would get big. Then she would whisper, "Wha's tha?" We filled up the house with stuff. And love.
I will be happy to be living in the same city with Margot. But I will miss the city I lived in with him for all of my adult life. I came to Winnipeg in 1966 for love. And I'll be leaving for love, too.
Ta ta for now. Love and best wishes on this beautiful autumn day.
If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before. ~ Mitchell Burgess
Turkey, Phantom and Remembering Little Margot Blue-eyes
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