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a spotless home and was an enthusiastic gardener. When I was younger I never really
stopped to wonder why she didn't rest on her laurels, but I now recognize that she was the
kind of woman who didn't really know the meaning of the word "rest".

So, true to form, she went job hunting. She didn't concern herself with the fact that she
hadn't finished school, having married so young. She was an educated woman
nonetheless. A woman who can keep a family dressed and fed on one small salary knows a
lot about mathematics - especially multiplication and division. A woman who can make
her six foot plus sons shrink to child size again with just a few sharp words, knows
something about management. And a woman who has raised seven happy children in a
900 square foot house knows a lot about diplomacy and a few well-chosen words. So off
she went. She got a job. She worked in the Eaton's Catalogue Store, in the shoe
department. It wasn't a glamorous job, and it meant rising very early and arriving home
just in time to cook dinner for my grandfather. In her spare time she cooked, cleaned,
baked, knitted, crocheted, sewed, and gardened. She became indispensable to a new crop
of babies arriving in the family - her grandchildren.

My grandmother worked at Eaton's until she was 65. She kept a home until she was 77, a
home with a revolving door for various children and grandchildren, until she passed
away. This woman knew the meaning of hard work but didn't feel the need to stop since
she was doing what she loved. Whether she was born with an innate love of life, learned it
from her elders, or through her own experiences I don't know, but love life she did. She
loved not only physical existence of it, but also all the small things that most of us never
notice. I'm talking about the flowers in her garden; her houseplants; a drive in the
country; picking Saskatoon berries; a child's smile; a freshly washed floor; and of course,
cooking. She took great satisfaction in inventing new recipes and tweaking them until they
were hers. Again, it wasn't work for her, because she was doing what she loved. She
cooked and baked because she loved to, but mostly because she loved us. She showed her
love through feeding people. No matter what time of day or night you dropped in, you
were guaranteed a cup of coffee or tea, and a snack, or a meal. I remember her livid
because my cousin had stopped in after a work with a hamburger to eat. This was a Sin. "I
would have fed her!" she fumed.

My grandmother got a job because she wanted one and did it with joy because she loved
her family. The working, the nurturing, the giving, hard work all of it, but it was joyful to
her. So here is a woman who lived a simple life, with no shortage of hardships, who met
life with no expectation of failure. She wanted a job, and she got a job. And she did that job
enthusiastically and well. We all go through times when it is difficult just to get out of bed
in the morning. My grandmother solved that problem with love. It's not hard to get out of
bed if you are doing it for someone else - if your joy comes from seeing happiness as a
result. Love is what brings it all together. Love is what fixes everything. And if there is
something women know, it is how to love.

There are many roads to success, and they all seem
overwhelming when you are just taking your first steps. Of all
the many amazing women I've known, easily the most
successful was my grandmother. Her road was bumpy in spots,
and in places barely passable, but she made it through with a
very simple strategy. Do what you love, and, just as
importantly, love what you do. You can accomplish anything if
you are doing what you love. Some women, after having been a
wife and mother from the age of 14, her children having flown
the nest and her husband retired, would welcome the
opportunity of a well-earned rest. In her early forties, after
bearing six children, and raising an additional three through
the years of the Depression and World War II, my grandmother
had certainly made her contribution to her household and
society and deserved a break. She had pinched pennies; made
clothes; conjured up meals for nine people out of thin air; kept