Standing Into Danger: A Mother's Love

Showing posts with label A Mother's Love. Show all posts

Friday, June 12, 2026

One Hundred and One Years Ago: On Grief and Enduring Love

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ella MacBeath with Her Parents Neil and Jeannie

Neil Looks So Much Like My Father That It Hurts!

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

December 25, 2025

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

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

My next post will be IWSG Day

Friday June 19th. 🤞

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Friday, May 8, 2020

On the Intrinsic Value of Human Life

Today I need to speak up about something that is profoundly upsetting me.
During the Covid-19 crisis it seems like human life
has become increasingly cheap in the United States.

I have actually been told to my face that it's okay
if a bunch of old people are killed by the virus
because it's just cleaning out the dead wood.
And, it's okay if old or sick people die
because we're getting rid of burdens on society.

THIS IS NOT OKAY!

Every human life has value, no matter how old an individual is,
how sick, how disabled.
Every human being has the inherent right to be treated with dignity and with compassion.
No individual is more valuable than another.

Sheltered by Love from My Beginning

My Mother and Father with Me

Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

March 1950

I believe that the vast majority of people around the world value human life.
I think the people who are cheapening human life are the tiny minority,
but they are grabbing the headlines.
I am afraid that if we don't stand up for the intrinsic value of every human life,
we will slide into an acceptance of getting rid of
the "dead wood" and "burdens" on society.

Loving Care

My Mother with Me

Stanhope Beach, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Summer 1951

Loving Fun

My Mother with Me

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

Summer 1952

Loving Celebrations

My Mother with Me at My 6th Birthday Celebration ~
Delayed by the Birth of my sister Barb

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Spring 1956

Abraham Lincoln, a great American president said,
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
This is a time for us to stand up for the value every human life.

I am posting some treasured pictures of my mother,
the most amazing human being I have ever known.
When she died, when I saw her take her last breath,
I begged God to let her breathe even one more time,
because I couldn't bear to lose this magnificent human being,
this person I loved with everything in me.

Sara Margaret MacDonald MacBeath

She might have callously been viewed
by some stranger as "dead wood" or "a burden,"
but to me and the people who loved her, she was irreplaceable.

Almost twenty years later there is a hole in my heart
because I love and miss my mother so much.

I posted these words on Facebook this morning,
after a discussion about this topic with my sister Donnie last night.
As we talked I realized that it was shameful for me to stay silent.
I woke up knowing I had to speak out, say something.

My Parents Dating

(My Dad is Wearing a Bowtie)

Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

Circa 1946

Their Wedding Day

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

September 4, 1948

Their Honeymoon

Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

September 5 or 6, 1948

A friend of mine told me in a comment
about the despicable treatment of an elderly neighbor,
a neighbor she described as "the most amazing lady,
someone she absolutely loves.

This lady is in her mid-eighties.
She went out for a walk yesterday and encountered two people
who were walking while holding hands and blocking the entire sidewalk.
She asked them to give her a little space, and they responded,
"Why don't you just stay home, old woman."
She answered sadly that she hoped they wouldn't get the virus.

It's heartbreaking to know that some people
feel empowered to treat others in such a callous way.
They do not understand the phrase,
"There but for the grace of God, go I."

Perhaps they haven't lived long enough to understand
how fragile life is and how it can change in a heartbeat.
They can't imagine, in their youth and healthiness,
that they might suffer a devastating illness or accident
that leads to their incapacitation or their dependence on others.
They can't imagine that someday, if they are fortunate,
they will live to be as old.

We cannot treat others like this.
We need to support civility;
but even more importantly,
we need to stand up for the value of every single human life.

It is my deepest hope that we learn from this surreal and difficult time,
that we recognize the importance of every human being,
that we build a better and more equal world.
We cannot sit back and be silent.

Throughout this post I have shared pictures of my mother.
I encourage everyone to share stories and photos
of the irreplaceable people in their lives.
Let's counteract callousness and hate with love.

Love Given and Returned

My Mother with My Brother Toward the End of Her Life

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Possibly the Fall of 2001

Our Last Photo Together

A Few Days Before My Mother Died
The value of her life is written on the faces of her children,
even in the body of her beloved Daxie.
Bertie (left), Roy, Me (Louise), Barb, Donnie

May 2002

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Donnie and I

Point Prim

On the Bay of Fundy

Summer 2018

Books Read in 2026

"18 Days in Heaven" by Gale Poirot
"A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Hope, Love, and Overcoming" by Kerrie Rawson
"Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life" by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD.
"Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics Deepest Truths" by Eugenia Cheng
"Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir
"Tell Me Everything" by Elizabeth Strout
"The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese
"The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow
"The Life Impossible" by Matthew Haig
"The Lord go the Rings" by JRR Tolkien
"The Match" by Harlan Corben
"The Night the Path Disappeared" by Terri Bergen
"The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper" by Roland Allen
"Theo of Golden" by Allen Levi
"Think Twice" by Harlan Corben
"Why Christianity Must Change Or Die" by John Shelby Spong

Standing Into Danger

Pages

Friday, June 12, 2026

One Hundred and One Years Ago: On Grief and Enduring Love

Friday, May 8, 2020

On the Intrinsic Value of Human Life

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