I started writing this post on June 12th last year,
but I ended up sobbing and unable to continue.
I was consumed by grief.
It would have been my mother's 100th birthday if she were alive.
But she died on Thursday, May 23rd in 2002, just shy of her 77th birthday.
A Favorite Photo of My Mother and Me
On My Grandmother MacDonald's Back Steps
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
Likely Summer 1951
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
I watched her take her last breath when she died
surrounded by Terry, my sister Barb, the palliative care nurse, and me.
In my heart I begged her, "Please take one more breath,
just one more breath, please."
But she didn't.
I loved my mother so much,
and my pain at her loss is just as sharp as it was 24 years ago.
I had the best mom!
My Mother, My Father, and I Soon After I Was Born
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
A Few Days After March 18, 1950
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
My mother was the anchor that held our family together through everything.
She met my father when the music stopped
during a Paul Jones dance at Acadia University in 1946 or 1947.
My father was handsome, brilliant, exquisitely sensitive, and flawed.
He struggled with mental illness throughout his life,
suffering with a complex condition of depression, anxiety, and alcoholism
that has darkened the Pratt branch of our family for generations.
But the music stopped in that dance and they fell in love.
Mom and Dad Dancing at Acadia ~ Not THE Dance Though
Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
1946 or 1947
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Through all the turmoil of their lives my mother and father never stopped loving each other.
Very late on a night or two before she died, while Terry and I were grabbing some sleep,
our mother asked my sister Barb if Barb thought she would see Daddy again.
That great mystery! That great desire: to be again with those we love!
Of course Barb supported her hope.
In my heart and soul I believe they are together surrounded by God's love and healing.
I feel their presence and love every day.
The Photo of My Mother That My father Carried in His Wallet Throughout His Life
Somewhere Near Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
1946 or 1947
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
I don't mean for this to be a sad post.
I was so very, very fortunate to have the amazing mother that I did.
I have countless wonderful memories of her that warm my heart every day.
(And of my dad too!).
Life and love go on.
Our newest family member, our great niece Eliza Moe Mundry, was born on June 5th.
Gavin and Colleen with Baby Eliza
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
June 5, 2026
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
How Mom (and Dad) would have loved this great grandchild and the three adorable others!
Jackson and Elsie Taylor
Wallington, United Kingdom
December 25, 2025
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Ella MacBeath with Her Parents Neil and Jeannie
Neil Looks So Much Like My Father That It Hurts!
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
December 25, 2025
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
I read these verses from 1 Corinthians 13 during Terry's and my wedding service.
They're some of my favorite verses in the Bible:
"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails ...
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
New International Version (NIV)
Just Married, Terry and I
Parker, Colorado, Canada
September 1, 1984
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Wishing you all love in your lives.
I'm linking to Gillena's Lunch Break, Nicole's Friday Face Off, Tom's Aloha Friday, and Debra's She Who Seeks.
Have a great weekend!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com
Copyright ©2026 – All rights reserved.
My next post will be IWSG Day
Friday June 19th. 🤞
On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
