BETTE LAIDLAW

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BETTE LAIDLAW Just as the winter was loosening its grasp and we were beginning to feel the first hint of spring, our amazing Mum left us to spend Valentines Day with her true love, our Dad. Alice Elizabeth (Bette) Laidlaw (nee Pickup) was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine March 14, 1921. Her family moved to Winnipeg when she was a baby. She grew up in River Heights the eldest of three children. She was predeceased by her sister Billie Marie (known as Beelo), and is survived by her brother Clyde (Donna). As a child Bette spent her summers at Victoria Beach. Our family has heard many stories about meeting her Dad at the train and walking along the boardwalk. Bette worked for her father as a receptionist. She was involved in dancing and daily radio plays. She and Gordon Laidlaw met through their church youth group. Dad often commented in their later years no-one could wear a swooshy skirt like our mother. After marriage she and Dad moved to Fort Garry. She was a Pi Phi, and she was a founding member of the local chapter of PEO. When we were children, Mum assembled layettes for children both in Winnipeg and overseas. Her one main passion however was the raising of her children. Bette and Gord had four biological children Tannis, Lindi, Tom and Kirk. Mum was lovingly known in our family as Mother of Every Living Thing. She fostered for both the Children's Aid Society and for Indian Affairs. She and our father fostered 32 children in 11 years. Their family officially grew by two during that time when they became adoptive parents to Lisa and Trish. Our Mum loved all the children that lived in our home regardless if they stayed for sometimes hours, sometimes years. She was actively involved in any of her children's interests whether it was brownies (she was a Brown Owl), archery, music, dance, soccer, drawing or snake collecting. She was an avid participant whenever we played volleyball or badminton or swam. When her youngest child started school full time she returned to work. She loved her job as receptionist at Focus on Health where she worked for one of her sons-in-law. She and Dad travelled throughout the world both by plane and by car. Their favourite destinations were the Black Hills and New Zealand. They took part in many cultural activities and contributed to Winnipeg Symphony, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Manitoba Opera, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Warehouse Theatre and World Adventure Tours. Every summer she stayed at our cottage in Minaki, ON. We recall treacherous boat rides in an old wooden boat with a motor of dubious reliability, battles with mice, skunks living under the cottage and attempting to chip ice in the icehouse. We remember dancing on our deck to a battery operated record player and shooting bottles from the shore. Our Mum loved yearly visits from our friends the Longs. They would bring a cooked turkey in a pail and return home at the end of the weekend with that pail filled with wild blueberries she really did make the best blueberry pie! Our Mum approached her whole life with enthusiasm. She learned how to drive at 60 and how to operate the computer at 70. In her golden years she took Tai Chi, doll making, hair cutting, calligraphy and line dancing. She was our family's link to each other. She tape recorded letters to us as we each moved away and made sure we never lost each other in the busy flow of our individual lives. Mum loved her extended family and maintained a unique relationship with each person. She and one of her nieces often regaled us with their personal renditions of operatic musicals sung from the aluminum rowboat! Mum had a close relationship with her brother-in-law Alan and looked forward to their lunches and drives in the country. Mum had a special place reserved in her heart for our ex's and strongly held a place for them in our family. She considered their children as her grandchildren. She loved to write notes to us in silly rhyme and affected a really bad English accent. She laughed often. One of her 19 grandchildren recalls irreverent and cheeky cards they sent to each other. She collected bears. She played the piano and later the keyboard. She knit mittens for Sage House. Mum and Dad were humanists in their latter years. When our father died February 15, 2004, she struggled to live, but the joy had left her life. She died peacefully after hearing the names of all her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren: Tannis (Mike), Lindi (Sunny), Tom (Jan), Kirk, Lisa and Trish. Her grandchildren: Tara (Dale), Eamon (Anna), Flint (Erica), Lianne (Shaun), Joel, Laura, Amy (Steve), Travis (Amber), Maihanna, Tiffany, Andrew, Tia, Zac, Seneca, Louis (Karen), Merrin, Selma, Aleisha, and Carlan; and her great-grandchildren, Brendan, Christy, Mythra, Carter, Jayden and Jaiah (who was born three days after Mum's passing). We miss her!

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 21, 2007