May 15/21

Hi Mum,

I think it’s been years since I last wrote to you. It’s been well over 25 years since we last saw each other, but I keep pictures of you nearby, and think of you and look at you all the time.

Last year, Kim and Christina sent me some letters written by you and Dad, from Saskatoon, before I was born. There was one you wrote to your mother, not long after you were home from hospital, recovering from your burns and skin grafts. That must have been such a scary, stressful ordeal for you. It really sounds like you were trying to regain your confidence while you healed at home. Although you sounded hopeful for the future, you sounded a bit lonely too.

I think I like writing these letters to you when your special dates roll around. It was always hard to know what to get you as a gift on Christmas, birthdays, or Mothers Day. Mostly, I remember buying you slippers and lots of chocolate! You always seemed to enjoy the chocolate.

Kim is surviving and thriving in her life, and her two daughters are raising their own children. You have great-grandchildren. That just blows my mind, but in a good, happy way. One of your great-grandsons has the middle name of Huntley, just like you. Although you weren’t able to be in our lives for very long and couldn’t enjoy your family or even have much of a role in it, you have influenced it greatly all the same. Kim and I both love music, and hold your idealized image in our hearts, and beautiful photos of you on our walls and in our photo albums.

I’m sitting in a favourite coffee shop being thoughtful on a sunny day, while a piano version of “Take the A-Train to Harlem” tinkles brightly from the cafe’s speakers. That old chestnut is a tune I first heard either on the radio or maybe hummed or sung by you, back in Poppy’s house in Victoria. Beautiful piano music always makes me think of you.