Kathleen Sandford nee O'Connell
August 9th 1926 - September 11th 2005
"Our Wild Irish Rose"
She was born of Irish blood. Her parents were from County Cork Ireland, she was born at home, in Liverpool England August 9th 1926. There were five children in her family. She was baby number four. Times were not easy, her father had been injured while working in the mines and was unable to work, her mother was a maid and took on odd jobs to make ends meet. She told me stories of her early years how her father would take her to the park and was always free with the hugs, her mother worked hard and was industrious.
This is my mother at the age of seven years. My grandmother made this costume for her for a school performance "Little Bo Peep" circa 1931
Mom tells me she spent lots of favourable summers in Ireland with her cousins. During the war she stayed there for a period of time with family. She tells me of times during the war however when she was at home and the sirens would go off warning you to take shelter and how her older brothers would sleep through them.
My mom was studious and took to school well and passed her exams which allowed her to continue her education through to graduation. A luxury in those day. It wasn't long after graduation that my mother met my father at a dance. He was a dapper looking man something out of vogue tall with the Mediterranean olive skin a captain of a ship he was it was love at first sight. English was not my father's first language but that did not matter to my mom, he had won her heart. They courted for a short period of time. But my father had to leave for the seas but did not do so without asking my grandfather for my mother's hand in marriage. She was 18. (See picture above)They were married on November 28th 1945.
Mom and dad immigrated to Canada in 1953 with five children in tow the youngest only 3 months old. They made the trip by ship and landed in Montreal, where they caught the train and made the arduous trip to Vancouver. They arrived on Canada day July 1st 1953 with only $35 left to their names. My mother's brother met them and assisted them with setting up home.
They worked hard, long hours trying to make ends meet. By the time I came along they were well established. I was baby number ten out of twelve. My mother never worked outside the home. She was busy raising all of us. In the later years she did the books for my father's business. I never felt like I went without. All 12 of us went to private schools and graduated. By the time I was eight things were becoming a little easier for my parents. Summer holidays for me were spent boating with my parents.
Mom made special occasions special. It was imperative to my mother that we dress for all occasions.
This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom and my sister Eileen(now both deceased).
Mom made every occasion special, and celebrating one's birthday was no different. She made sure it was your special day.
She was a volunteer extraordinaire. If she wasn't helping out with some program at the school or driving the soccer teams or basketball teams to games. She would be organizing fundraiser for numerous organizations. She was one of the founding members for the "Burnaby Association for the Mentally handicapped" She instilled her sense of community responsibility in all of her children.
In her later years she was "Gran" to most and why not. She had 32 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. There were always cookies in the cupboard for their visits. While she still had the energy she would even babysit.
Mom's memory started to decline in her early 70's and eventually was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She spent her last years in a nursing home. They were so good to her there. The staff there called her the "Queen Mom" and she loved it!! Her health began to deteriorate and in July 2005 mom was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma and was taken from us on September 11th 2005.
A day doesn't go by that I don't think about that remarkable woman I call my mom. I feel honoured to have had her in my life for as many years as I did.
"A rose once grew where all could see, sheltered beside a garden wall, And , as the days passed swiftly by, it spread its branches, straight and tall. One day , a beam of light shone through a crevice that had opened wide- The rose bent gently toward its warmth then passed beyond to the other side. Now, you who deeply feel its loss, be comforted - the rose blooms there- It's beauty even greater now, nurtured by God's own loving care."
Love you mom.....missing you every day.
You can tell fall is a upon us. Not just because of the wonderful changes in the foliage, the crispness in the air, the fall root crops almost ready for the picking. But from a medical stand point. With the change of seasons comes the change in the kind of patients we see.
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