It was Mother’s Day at Oxbow’s Galloway Health Centre this past Sunday.
Around 2:30 p.m., seven of the long-term residents and their families got together for an hour and a half, celebrating the lives of the moms who live there. Gail Martindale, one of the activity co-ordinators, served as MC by leading everyone in a number of games that helped to get to know the moms better.
She also served up a great cup of coffee or tea, and treated everyone to a delicious-looking and tasty plate of goodies.
One of the games involved the exchanging and stealing of candy. At a number of the tables where the families sat together, candies mysteriously went missing before the game began. Martindale replaced the missing candies, meaning that several enjoyed more candy than what was originally intended.
Interspersed among the games were some motherhood stories, poems and readings which led to a few chuckles and brought back good memories. An hour into the festivities, a Special K moment took place: Kianah and Kyla Dyer entertained everyone with some tap dancing, ballet and hip-hop dancing.
At one point, as things began to wind down, Lynn Johnson paid tribute to his mother Betty, saying that she had to be a pretty special mom to have put up with him for 66 years. One of the staff members agreed, joking that Betty has, in fact, put up with a lot in raising Lynn.
Betty, who is quite the feisty nonagenarian, quickly and humorously showed her motherly heart – “Don’t you demean my baby.”
It was an enjoyable afternoon and a nice way to honour the moms.
