Saturday, August 11, 2018
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It may seem odd to start a eulogy with a quote from Mae West, but here it is.
Mae West famously said "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough". Pauline Louise Tait, by any measure, did just that.
This began early for Mom. As the oldest daughter in a family with 9 children, and in a somewhat less enlightened age, she was called upon at home to pick up many of the regular domestic duties, and some not so regular. Most notably on her 7th birthday she helped to deliver her baby brother Glenn at home...and she never let him forget it.
Moving forward to 1950, she met a handsome young RCAF airman while she was working at a downtown Sarnia lunch counter. She said she was reluctant at first, but he was persistent, and eventually he won her heart, and her hand in marriage, and for the next 42 years they did it right together, raising a family, loving and supporting each other through all that life could hand them, good or bad. When Dad left us, August 3rd, 1992, she asked him to wait for her until they could be together again, this time forever. Well, Mom, your wait and his are over.
Mom's last months sadly were marked by health problems that caused her a great deal of pain. Thankfully this was address by the caring staff, first at Brookside Retirement Home, and then at Petrolia Hospital, both on the medical floor and in Continuing Care, and her final days, as per her wishes, were finally pain free. I am honoured to know these professionals, the nursing staff, the medical and support staff who work together to provide a kind and respectful experience for all who depend on them in their most vulnerable moments. Bless you all.
It seems strange to sum up a lifetime in so few minutes, and of course there is so much more, so many individual experiences and memories we share of Mom, and so I encourage you now to share these memories with each other. And remember her wish as she stated to me and wrote in her legacy papers, "When I'm gone, be kind to each other."
And so, to the end, a life done right.
