DEATH BROKE OUR HEARTS

March 17, 1947 was Saint Patrick’s Day and Lorne’s birthday. Our mother had just had a miscarriage and was in the Souris Hospital recuperating. I was participating in a school concert when suddenly my teacher asked me to leave the room. She followed me to the door and advised me to hurry home, as my mother was very sick. Iran all the way home only to find the house full of people. There was not a dry eye anywhere. My father with tears running down his face, related the sad news to me, that my mother had died. She had suffered from an embolism (blood clot) and had died suddenly.

Jean and Genevieve, who were four and five years old at the time, were anxiously waiting for their mother to come home that day. She had promised them that she would bring them some doll dishes. When Dad told them that their mother had gone to heaven they went outside and looked towards the sky hoping to see her. (Genevieve still remembers this episode very vividly today.)

Lorne arrived home from school looking for his birthday present. He not only had no gift, no cake, and worst of all, no mother. Mrs. Roy MacLean slipped out the back door and returned some time later with a birthday cake for Lorne.

Life must go on, and so we existed with difficulty for a while, until we were able to adjust. I suddenly realized that I now had to accept the role of ‘ mother for four younger children.

Terry, was only ten months old, so Laura and Billy Murphy who already had eight children of their own, took Terry and cared for him until he was toilet trained. The Murphy family soon fell in love with this blue eyed blond baby boy that they all loved and cherished as if he was their real brother.

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