“I’m moving to
Edmonton!”
Ann
sounded as if she expected
Molly
to be just as pleased and delighted about this decision as her mother was.
Just three years ago,
Ann
had moved into a seniors’ apartment house in
Peace River, a northern
Alberta
town built along the banks of the river of the same name. Before that, she’d
lived on the family farm above the
Peace River
valley, with a breathtaking view of the confluence of the Smokey and
Peace
Rivers. Her son and his family were now in charge of the
farm, and
Ann
visited only occasionally. She’d seemed happy with the change.
Now she was planning another move.
“I can’t think why anyone would consider
taking up residence in Edmonton
a good birthday present,”
Molly
replied calmly, not ever entirely surprised by what her mother decided to
do. Though the river valley was beautiful, as far as
Molly
was concerned, the rest of her city was just like any other inland urban
area on the North American continent, with its traffic and other
inconveniences. “Aren’t you happy in your fancy new apartment? If you
move, won’t you miss all your friends…and your son…and the farm
visits?”
“You sound just like the stick-in-the-muds
here who are telling me I’m too old to make such a big change in my
life. I’m too old not to move, if I want to,”
Ann
said firmly. “Which I obviously do.”
Never a predictable mother,
Ann had always refused to live with any of her children, though
Molly
had one wing of her Edmonton house specially fitted up for a
senior with limited mobility in case her mother eventually needed housing.
“I’m delighted you’re going to be
closer to me…but what brought this on?”
Molly
asked, wondering if her special suite was going to be needed.
“Another round of bridge with a bunch of
old women whose conversations I’ve been part of for far too long. I want
something new and fresh before I drop off.”
“I hope you’re not planning to ‘drop
off’ for a long time,”
Molly
replied. Her mother often made offhand comments about the “inevitability
of my ultimate demise,” as she called it, and the family was used to,
and in fact enjoyed, her breezy attitude.
Ann
was obviously enjoying herself. “I’ve shocked all the old biddies in
the apartment complex.”
“I didn’t think anything could shock your
fellow residents,”
Molly
said. She was acquainted with most of the people in
Ann
’s apartment complex, and knew their lives had been full of hard work
and unrelenting reality. They were intimately acquainted with human
frailties, follies, and eccentricities, and were not easily impressed by
anyone. The town had grown beyond their ability to keep track of all its
citizens now, but these pioneers knew most of the secrets of all the
old-timers.
“How did you do that?”
Molly
asked, curious to know how her mother had managed to elicit a shocked
response from this group.
“They kept asking me what I was going to do
if I moved to
Edmonton, and wondering how I would manage in the city. I
think they’re all envious that I’m breaking out of this place. I
thought I’d go mad until I shut them up by telling them I was going to
have a facelift, and take a lover.”
“Surely, you didn’t. Really?”
Molly
said, laughing while trying to sound indignant or surprised, and not
succeeding at either.
“Actually, no, I didn’t say I was going
to take a lover. I told them I was going to have an affair.”
