Leeway from Lloyd: Mother’s

Day is forever

This year will be the first time in my life I won’t have a mother to celebrate when Mother’s Day rolls around on May 14. I will still be thanking her though, for everything she did for me and my sister.

term memory issues such as failing her driver’s test, not remembering how to use the stove, and what her rent was.

and thought people were trying to poison her.

Editor Taylor Weaver taylor@meridiansource.ca

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Letters To The Editor

We welcome letters to the editor. Letters should be 500 words or less. A name and daytime phone number is required for verification. Priority will be given to letters exclusively written for the Meridian Source. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, brevity, spelling, grammar, punctuation and libel. Unsigned letters will not be published. Use of pseudonyms will only be allowed in special circumstances, at the discretion of the editor and the publisher, and only if the author’s identity is known to the editor. Publication of a letter does not imply endorsement by the Meridian Source. Send to taylor@meridiansource.ca

My mom died on April 5 this year at the age of 99, since she couldn’t swallow food anymore.

She would have turned 100 on May 10.

She died in a nursing home where I hated her to be, but unfortunately in her early 80s, she began to have short-

My sister and I had her assessed with the outcome being she could no longer live on her own safely. Years before, through no fault of her own, she suddenly became mentally ill when I was just seven and the impact was devastating on me and my sister. It was like the body snatchers had come to our house.

She was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and was frequently hospitalized. She heard and saw things that weren’t there

Despite that, she was always there for us kids and she used to read wonderful stories to me every night before I went to bed and helped me with my homework.

She always bought us presents for our birthdays and Christmas and cooked a roast beef dinner almost every Sunday night when we lived in Ottawa in the 1950s. She also made great brownies that I swear I can still taste today.

I can’t ever remember her saying a bad word about anybody or anything and she took everyone for who they were.

I am glad she is not

Letters to the editor ...

Dear Editor: During the UCP’s four years in power, they have made it abundantly clear they are in favour of replacing the RCMP with some sort of provincial police force and are also in favour of withdrawing Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan. These policies are very concerning to a large

Dear Editor: There is a very important election coming up in Alberta – one that will determine the direction and future of our public health care system, the public school system, number of Albertans.

Premier Danielle Smith recently announced she will not discuss these issues during the election campaign but instead, the government will deal with them after the election.

These statements were made on Global TV’s morning show on May 5 and have been reported in both the Edmonton Sun and the RCMP, and the Canada Pension Plan. We must be prepared to defend these foundational elements of our society and not let corporate greed and private interests take over.

It is disappointing in that nursing home anymore, even though she was well cared for there. Like me, she valued her independence. In the years before moving to the nursing home, she began to write stories and poems hoping to get them published.

Many of them revealed how terribly lonely she felt after my father divorced her because of her illness. They bring tears to my eyes.

As long as I’m alive, she will continue to bring comfort to me in a way that only moms can do for their kids. Happy Mother’s Day to all moms. They do so much for us all.

Edmonton Journal

Clearly, Smith is afraid that an open discussion of these issues would not benefit the UCP.

You should vote as you please on May 29, but you should be aware that a vote for the UCP is a vote to replace the RCMP and to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan.

Thank to hear it said that “my vote doesn’t count” when we know for a fact that every vote will count toward making a difference in this tightly contested race.

In the words of Alice Walker: The most com -

you, Wayne Arnold

mon way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. For the future of Alberta and generations to come, please make sure to vote.

Jan Scott

Keep kids safe during lawn mower season

Dear Editor: When I was two years old, I ran into the path of a riding lawn mower and lost my right leg below the knee.

It all happened so fast: one moment I was playing outside, and the next I was too close to the mower.

Having grown up as part of The War Amps Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program, I am now committed to spreading the Association’s PLAYSAFE message.

With lawn-cutting season upon us, I want everyone to know that kids should not ride, operate or play near lawnmowers.

Though I’ve learned to accept and appreciate who I am today, I want to use my experience to help prevent others from going through what I did. File Photo