ROSTREVOR MUSKOKA CANADA
EULOGY TO MY MOTHER --- ROBERTA DINSMORE MALTBY --- 1899 - 1992
1913 -- ROSTREVOR, LAKE ROSSEAU, MUSKOKA, CANADA
The young, Toronto girl, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, dinner completed exits the screen door of the family cottage at Rostrevor on Lake Rosseau in Muskoka. Canoe paddle in hand, eagerly she strolls down the granite, moss-covered hillside to the shoreline and onto the dock where the birchbark canoe awaits her. Joyfully she begins her adventure.
Evening --- stillness --- the hush of birdsong --- the lake tranquil --- reflecting the rose-coloured hues of the sky. The waves sleep, the fish as they leap, enticed by the circling insects, create ever-widening water circles. The canoe paddle slips hynotically through the translucent water. The spell of evening enchantment --- Twilight, the link between dusk and dawn. The evening breeze --- caressing canoe, face, hair. Rejuvenation from the heat of the day.
The journey never ends. Memories are forever.
The canoe image carries my mother, (once that young girl of long ago), throughout her life. In the hectic office routine of downtown Toronto; the war years of 1914 -18 when her father and two brothers were overseas; the call of Muskoka and the canoe ensure their safe return. Memories of cottage country, long ago summers, the annual regattas, the echoes of fun and laughter.
Later, as a young mother on Lake Muskoka, with her two young ones, bouncing o'er the waves, guiding the canoe or rowboat with great skill and a sturdy hand, instilling within my young brother and I a lifelong love and respect for water and boats.
Finally, when terminal illness physically incapacitated this indomitable woman of 85 years, resting patiently in her hospital bed for seven long years, the birchbark canoe, in "her mind's eye", still transported Mother on her Life's journey, slowly, gently, drifting on Life's current, her faithful canoe bore her Home.
And so, at Mother's funeral, July, 1992, in my funeral eulogy to her "the Canoe imagery" played a great part and included a favourite poem of hers, "The Song My Paddle Sings", by the Native Canadian Indian poetess, E. Pauline Johnson.
 WebSpawner Page Machine |
Send E-Mail to: suzannelievens@hotmail.comCopyright © 2003 Roberta Suzanne Maltby Lievens. All Rights Reserved