Kathleen Wilhelmina
Gunning
GUNNING, Kathleen Wilhelmina (nee Hitching) -
Peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, December 1,
2011 , surrounded by family. Kathleen was in her 97th year. Beloved wife of
George Clifford Gunning, who predeceased her in April 2005. They were married
for 63 years. Mother of Bill (wife Margaret), Port Coquitlam , BC Oakville , ON Kingston , ON Caledonia , ON Crystal Hamilton , ON
Published in the Toronto December 3, 2011
To that point, her appreciation for life was a gift to everyone around her.
In forty years of knowing her, of having the privilege of being her daughter-in-law, I have too many memories to share here. Mostly I remember her kindness, her rather peppery humor, her straightforwardness. As an army nurse in World War II, she never lost the nurse's keen diagnostic eye, and if you didn't feel well she scanned that eye over you and told you what you should do. Like, go to bed, now!
I remember when my daughter was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, back in 1977, and she flew out from Ontario to help me. She'd never been alone on a plane before in her life, and I didn't ask, but she offered, and we could not refuse.
While I nursed a fractious, difficult baby, she did everything else, cooked, cleaned, kept my 18-month-old son amused. I just didn't have anything left for him, but Nana saved the day, and I will never forget it.
She made the best, and the most, of everything she had. She lived through the Great Depression, then dealt with many lean years while raising four kids by somehow stretching the resources, so that no one ever felt "poor".
Note Mum reflected in the background. I don't remember my Dad-in-law cutting up like this! Bill probably took the photo.
Going steady.
This is what Christmas looked like in 1947. Little Billy in Dad's lap is now 65!
My personal favorite. Surreal, misty, full of love. "Billy + Mummy, 5/6 months."
Lovely bride (1945).
Dedicated nurse.
Beautiful tribute, Margaret. I'm sorry for your loss. My condolences to Bill. That photo of his mother holding him, both with beaming faces, is my favorite of the ones here, too. A close second is the last one. Her face alone says so much. Beautiful soul, indeed.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think this would hit me so hard. It took a few days. Everyone says, she had a good run, she was 96, etc., didn't suffer. But the truth is we'll never see her again. We won't have those dinners at the Mandarin, in which this tiny little woman put away four or five buffet platefuls, then asked for dessert (claiming "I'm a very light eater"). What's remarkable is that she stayed pretty much the same for ten years. We visited once a year, and except for very gradual increasing frailty she didn't change: still clear in her mind, still funny ("Bill." "Yes, Mum." "You're fat." Or, to her grandson Kyle: "Hello, dear. I hate your hair.") Then this sudden decline, which in fact we had hoped for. But why now? I guess that's the question of grief. I made a post yesterday that I decided to delete, a little too naked. I'm a little horrified at how dark my mind can be. I think the family back east will be hard-hit, as they used to take her out of the nursing home for the day for Christmas. She'd preside over these dinners like the matriarch she was, even if she didn't say much. Just content to be there. And everyone felt comfortable in her presence. The only other person I knew who had that gift was my maternal grandmother, which is strange because my mother was cold and distant (to me: she adored my older brother and lavished affection on him).
ReplyDeleteKay didn't play favorites and took you as you were. How rare.