Seniors
A Snowbird Senora
Doris Jones
D
oris remembers the day the doctor came to the house for the delivery of her mother’s 12th child. At the age of 4, Doris was a rambunctious child and when the doctor shook her little shoulders and reprimanded her, she has never forgotten the moment when he asked her, “hasn’t your mother been through enough already?” With 6 girls and 6 boys being raised in the city of Edmonton, Doris’ father managed a business as a tinsmith and roofer but when the Great Depression arrived and he lost the business, he relocated the family to a farm near Vulcan. Doris remembers the huge garden. Her father would run the tiller to unearth the vegetables and the children would gather the root crops, pile them into the hay wagon and put them in the root cellar to feed the family during the winter months. There was also lots of canning and berry picking. Doris’ mother was quite frail and Doris was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. She wasn’t
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there long and returned to the farm to be with the family. Doris was always small for her age and when she started grade 1, the teacher wouldn’t believe she was that old. Even though there was a curtain that separated the elementary from the high school students, Doris was the only grade 1’er until they brought in another little girl to join her. Doris remembers riding double with her younger brother on the horse to take them to school with their coffee can lunches. Eventually the family moved back to Edmonton after 10 years and she managed to “survive school” by playing sports. As a teen, she played basketball, curled, skied, golfed and was part of the teen club. Doris’ first job was working for an insurance company writing policies. Throughout her life, she worked only when she had to. She fell in love at 18 and was married at 21. The couple raised 2 daughters and they enjoyed family time at the Gull Lake cottage sailing, water-skiing and swimming. They spent a few years in Montreal, but Doris didn’t find the people as Seniors — Winter 2021
friendly. She and her husband, ventured to Mexico when they drove down to Mazatlán with friends. By the time they were empty nesters, they finally bought a place and have spent the last 43 years off and on enjoying the sun. From adopting a pot-hole, donating to the humane society, golfing and playing cards, Doris still enjoys her time south of the border. Doris also likes to read a fair amount. During the pandemic, she missed human contact, visiting with her friends and live theatre. She finds that these days are getting people down. Even though she used to make clothes, knit and sew, she never got back into those interests during the lockdown. Doris’ finds that the world has changed in her 92 years and she can’t keep up with all of it; especially things like Bitcoin. The next generation has so many opportunities that were not afforded her, but she advises youth to do something with your life. When she visits some of her friends in longterm-care facilities, she realizes that she has had a wonderful life and she continues to enjoy each day of it.
