22 Months, 22 Memories, on the 22nd

Today (January 22nd) is the 22nd month anniversary since Mom's passing, and so I've decided to share 22 things about my Mom with the world, offering a heartfelt glimpse into our lives.

1. Mom loved volleyball. When I was around 16, we joined an adult league together. We did it every week for a couple of years and we had a lot of fun together.
2. Mom never missed any of my hockey games growing up. We used to have a little signal that she’s always do from the stands. She’d hold 1 finger up, then 4 fingers up, and then she’d point to herself. “1 4 me” - in other words, score one for me. I love this memory. She even did it when I was grown up playing in a recreational adult league with my dad. 
3. Mom stayed at home to care for my brother and I for 8 years, and when she was at home, she also watched their friends' kids too - lots of my childhood friends have shared some of the stories about what they remembered about my mom from those days, which is awesome. I will cherish the memories of mom staying home with us forever.
4. Mom was so excited to be a grandma. Although I am sad that she will never meet my (future, hypothetical) children, I am grateful that she was able to fully embrace the love of being Gramma with my nephew, Graham, and my niece, Alice.
5. Mom and I enjoyed lots of the same TV shows - at the top of her favourites list was Greys Anatomy, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Station 19, and Desperate Housewives. We both really like dramas.   
6. Mom loved to play Euchre. Mom and Dad taught Jeff and I at the beginning of COVID when we still lived at home, and we played many nights a week. Once we moved out, we regularly went to each others’ houses to play, and played all summer long at the houseboat. Mom and I were always on the same team against Jeff and Dad, and whenever we'd Euchre the boys, we'd always fist pump 🤜🤛 or high five 🫸🫷 
7. Mom liked to read but almost never did. Usually just at our family's houseboat or on vacation somewhere tropical. She always asked for book recommendations from me because we liked the same kind of books. 
8. Mom LOVED to be hot. She could roast in the sun all day. When she travelled south, she always picked the places that were hottest.  
9. Mom was an external processor, just like me. I loved being able to pick up the phone whenever I had something on my mind that I wanted to talk to her about, and I know she did too.
10. Mom was a "yes mom". She always said yes to any chance to hang out with me. If I wanted to go see a musical, she’d say yes. If I wanted to go for dinner, she’d say yes. If I wanted to go shopping, she’d say yes. If I wanted to play cards, she’d say yes. Even when I knew she wanted to do something else… she said yes anyway. I loved that about her. 
11. Mom was really adventurous. She loved roller coasters, water skiing, scuba diving, and so many other things. She died at 57 and was still slaloming (single-ski water skiing) up until the summer before. Mom got her scuba diving license in January 2020 - it was a lifelong dream of hers. 
12. Mom always believed in 'the more the merrier'. When I was young, my friends always hung out at my house and Mom always welcomed them for dinner or to stay over. 
13. Mom and I had the same size feet (size 8). When she passed away, I inherited some of her shoes. I also inherited her sunglasses and her SUV. In some ways, I like to believe that I am wearing her shoes so she's walking with me when I walk. I'm wearing her sunglasses, so she's seeing what I see, and I'm driving her car, so she's adventuring where I'm adventuring.  
14. Mom was NOT a baker. We always joked about it because somehow she'd manage to screw up a boxed cake. I got this trait from her. I think it was because we are both multi-taskers. Baking requires concentration and following a recipe well, and neither of us were super good at staying on one task at a time. 
15. We didn't have a big family, but Mom made it feel really big. She always made sure we knew what was going on with everyone else in the family, and always planned regular family dinners. 
16. Mom was SO organized. Mom used to have an excel spreadsheet for the 'menu' each weekend for the houseboat. It seems a little excessive, but it certainly helped us when we were forced to continue on without her.
17. Mom's favourite place in the world was being at our family's small island and houseboat. Mom always called herself 'Island Girl' (from Elton John's song Island Girl).
18. Mom made a big deal out of things that were little. I always felt like she was a cheerleader in my corner. For example, I would clean a shelf in my closet at my house and send her a picture and she'd say "WAY TO GO!" and be so encouraging... even when it was so small. I miss this so much.  
19. Mom inspired me. She inspired me to always meet kindness with kindness, but to also meet rudeness with kindness, and to meet anger with kindness. Mom was always so sweet to everyone.  
20. Mom was gentle. Her voice was gentle, her hugs were gentle, her love was gentle.  
21. Mom loved sunsets. She wasn't much of a morning person so she didn't see too many sunrises, but she loved the sunset. There is one spot at the back of the houseboat that she sat in every night. She saw the beauty in every single one of them. I think she took a picture of it every single night, too, even though they all looked so similar to the rest of us. 
22. Mom loved with her whole heart. If she loved you, you knew it.