Saluting Mothers - and Grandmothers - in Our Family

I’ve been lucky enough to know several generations of mothers in my family, starting with my mother’s mother, Olga Sell - seen here in her in her early 30’s - around the time they immigrated to Canada.

My mother - on the right, next to her older sister - was 9 at the time.

I haven’t been able to find a photo of my father’s mother, Helene Hartstock Gellert, whom I did see from time to time before my parents moved to Kelowna. She was hard of hearing, so it was hard to have a conversation with her.

She immigrated to Canada in the early 1950s and lived with my father’s younger brother and his family in Edmonton. Four of her five children lived in western Canada.

Fast forward a few years..,! Now I’m a mother… Above is the whole crew - before Terry and I had grey hair…

Fast forward again and I’m a grandmother with two grandchildren! I’m no longer the only mother in the family…

Now stepping back again, on Terry’s side of the family, I met both his maternal and paternal grandmothers, seen here art our wedding. Eva Malloy Sample (front row centre) was his mother’s mother.  Olive Ruth Smith Hutchins (on the right) was his father’s mother. Both lived in Quebec. Terry’s siblings, Lori and Barry are in the picture, too.

Terry has fond childhood memories of regular Saturday visits to his mother’s family home, in Lennoxville, Quebec, for homemade doughnuts…

His other grandparents, Donald and Ruth Hutchins, lived in Montreal, Quebec. They nonetheless provided invaluable help when Terry’s mother became ill. They would drive several hours from Montreal to Sherbrooke most weekends to help with whatever needed to be done.

Memories!