For the memorial service at Chalmers Church, Rev. Wayne Hilliker asked each of us to provide him with anecdotes about life with Joan M. McGrath. Where to begin?? Where to end??! We set to the task... This memorial website is the result of my musing. Below is Kyla's touching tribute. Enjoy this "Slice of Life"... “Trinkets!” I exclaimed to Keith. “Banish the word, those are NOT trinkets, they’re treasures!”. Keith had committed a grave error in choosing to describe my mum’s artistic objects in such a way. In my utterance I could hear my mum correcting the poor soul who had made an unfortunate mistake by describing the artists and craftspeople in her shows as vendors. “Vendors”, she would exclaim, “they’re not vendors, they’re artists!”. She loved words and she loved language and with a quiet (and sometimes not so quiet!) determination would persist with strongly held opinions, thoughts and beliefs, artistic or otherwise. In as much as words were to be chosen carefully, for my mum there was also no such thing as the random placement of a treasured object in their home. I smiled recently when I glanced up at a window ledge in their living room and noticed two small carved figures turned slightly toward one another as if in animated conversation. Bearded and with a twinkle in his eye, one was wearing a kilt of the Clan Macpherson dress tartan; my mum had bought him from an artist in her show “Creativity”. But one would not suffice. She commissioned a similar fellow to be made, this one dressed in the Macpherson hunting tartan. Whimsical by nature she had wanted to ensure that one provided company for the other. Both inside their home and out, my mum created many such fascinating and amusing vignettes. She was always up for an Adventure. All manner of experiences qualified; none were considered too short or seemingly insignificant to be excluded. Looking at experiences in this way reflected her joyful, life enhancing spirit and sense of fun. She drew people together with her vibrancy, vitality and eternally optimistic nature. As one relative wrote recently, “… I am enormously glad that I had the privilege to know her … and to enjoy her sparkling company”. On an icy cold winter’s afternoon in January just over two years ago Keith and I set off for Ottawa determined to put to use on the Rideau Canal the five skating lessons we had had in New Zealand. Although my mum had absolutely no intention of skating she came with us and in doing so turned our outing into an adventure. She came well prepared, cushions piled around her in the back seat, a blanket for warmth, turning on the car engine when needed in order to stay cozy, book in hand and food for sustenance whilst we skated. On the drive to and from Ottawa we talked and laughed, enjoying the precious extra hours in one another’s company before Keith and I returned to New Zealand. This was our shared happiness. Surrounding me in my parents’ home, my mum’s artwork speaks of her adventurous nature. She worked in many media over the years – batik; silkscreen; copper, silver and pewter; acrylic, oils, and watercolour to name but a few. I think of the enthusiasm and excitement with which she embraced a new medium, keen to learn from others. She would then apply her own interpretation, unrestrained in her experimentation. I vividly remember silver chains for her pewter jewellery being ‘cooked’ in the oven in the hope they would tarnish and so more closely match the tone of the pewter! We all took this to be quite normal in my mum’s pursuit of her artistic endeavours! In New Zealand a number of years ago she, my sister and I found ourselves on an ocean beach one afternoon and, inspired by the thousands of wood pieces which had been washed ashore from the river along the coast, my mum roped us into collecting arms full of it! Not only that but we spent the afternoon each with a hair drier in hand vainly attempting to dry the wood which had been laid across the floor. Madness, but it simply had to be packaged into a box and sent to Canada as the basis for her next artistic pursuit! In a recent letter to my mum I reflected on how I had come by my teaching style; in particular how I relate to the three and four year old children with whom I work. A colleague noted that I had such fun with the children and, it’s true, I do. There is always an occasion each day when something a child has said or done tickles my funny bone. I, or sometimes the children and I, will then have a good old chuckle. Joy and playfulness are but two of the gifts my mum has given me of herself. Hers was a full and happy life, well lived and I feel blessed to have had such an inspiring person to love.