"Fun" was not what she was

No one who knew her would ever have described my mother as "a lot of fun".  Absolutely not.  She was stern, quiet (but very forceful), unaffectionate and self-disciplined to the back teeth.  Never saw her tipsy, let alone drunk, never saw her in a pair of shorts or slacks (even in the July heat at the cottage) and never heard my parents raise their voices to each other.  That's the kind of self-discipline to which I refer. 

So, it was always bizarre to me that every Easter -- even when we were adults -- a little fun entered our abode.  She still hid Easter eggs all over the house for us to find.  It was so much fun to turn into a kid again and hunt for the eggs.  Thus it was that I did it this year with daughter, Susanne, and son-in-law Colin.  "You're warm, you're hot, no you've gone cold," I said as they hunted around.  For a few minutes, we were all kids again.

Some things are worth preserving. 

I come from a long line of puritans.  My great-aunt May, my grandfather Stapledon's sister, was as strict as they came.  No booze, no dancing -- not even tea!  "May I wave the teabag over your cup Aunt May?" my uncle Rollie used to laughingly say when she was over for dinner.  Aunt May was terribly deaf, so she just smiled unknowingly when we made fun of her.  Naughty, naughty.

United Church to the core, my family used to hide the booze when the minister would call.  "Quick, hide the rye!" my aunts would say, as he soberly strode up the walk.  At Christmas and Easter, my uncles would sneak a drink in the back kitchen of my Aunt Betty's magnificent home on Rideau Terrace.  So it was a revelation to me when I converted to Catholicism and discovered a far different culture.  Father Martineau would arrive for a celebration, rip off his collar, light a cigarette and say, "Quick, give me a drink!"  I thought my mother would drop dead!   

Maybe that's why there are so many Catholics!