A lifelong boy is grieving his mother

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/11/2017 (3200 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Doug’s not here this week, owing to the sad fact that his mother passed away.

Doug’s most endearing — and infuriating — characteristics stem from the fact that he has never really grown up and remains childlike in many ways. Well, this little boy has lost his mom.

Evelyn Speirs was 87 when she passed away in Victoria. She was a mom in the style of such 1950s TV moms as June Cleaver — baking cookies, always upbeat and smiling as she looked after her family and their friends — and their friends and their friends.

She created a warm, welcoming household overflowing with food that was a magnet for other kids when Doug, his brother and sister were growing up in Tuxedo, where the family lived after moving from Vancouver in the 1970s.

I asked Doug what one thing about his mother left the biggest impression on him and he replied simply: “Her love of life.”

She was always interested in everything. In a restaurant, she would order, see a different dish being delivered to another table and say: “That looks fantastic. We should try that.” She accumulated so much stuff in her various households that her family worried she might be a hoarder.

Doug is a male version of his mother, albeit one dressed in a ratty sweater covered in dog drool and food stains. Go to a restaurant with him and he will insist that you absolutely have to order multiple starters and a main entrée. He tries every new specialty beer that comes on the market — and seldom buys the same one twice.

Doug featured his mom a few times in his column. Readers may remember that she once got stuck in her shower when a plastic chair she was using collapsed beneath her.

Naked and wet, she was rescued by a crew of paramedics.

Rather than be embarrassed, she urged Doug to tell the story in his column, then cut it out and stuck it on her fridge.

When she saw the same paramedics some time later, they said “Hello, Mrs. Speirs.” Her reply: “I’m surprised that you recognized me with my clothes on.”

Doug is asking that anyone who wants to remember his mom in a tangible form make a donation to the Winnipeg Humane Society.

You see, this is the time of year when Doug dresses up as Santa Claus and invites owners of the city’s dogs, cats and other pets to come have their picture taken with him, with the proceeds going to the Humane Society.

Pet Pics with Santa Paws will go ahead again this year in the lobby of the Winnipeg Free Press building at 1355 Mountain Ave. Doug will be there Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. There is a second session with a different person playing Santa on Sunday, Nov. 26, also from noon to 4 p.m.

Photographer Frank Adam once again will be donating his time to snap photos of people and their pets with Santa Claus. You can book an appointment online at adamyork.ca. You get one photo for $15 or three for $30, with the proceeds going to the Winnipeg Humane Society.

It’s a generous, joyful thing to do — just what Doug’s mom would have recommended.

Bob Cox is publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press.