Living hero # 1 Mary Kavanagh

Mary Kavanagh was born in Dublin Ireland in the dirty thirty's. She has fought adversity most of her life. She recalls stories of living in the depression and through world war two. She had ten siblings and a father who would be away in one war or another for years at a time. Yet Mary never tells any of these stories in a negative light. It is always with a twinkle in her eyes and a smile on her face. She choses to remember the positive memories. She married in her early twenties and as were the mind set of the times the man in the family dominated his wife with an iron hand. John her husband always wanted to be a Cowboy so on many occasion traveled to Canada for months at a time only to return and go again when the dream became to much to bare. The last time he traveled Mary sold everything,packed up there four kids and followed. John was now stuck in Canada and the dream quickly became a nightmare. The next forty years Mary lived with a bitter man. He was never physically abusive but was especially mentally so. Mary through the whole thing never stopped her devotion to him. She loved him with everything she had. When at the age of Seventy two John's health took a turn for the worst and was unable to drive trapping them both on a acreage out side of Stony Plain Alberta,Mary did the only thing she could and learned to drive. She was sixty seven. She moved them to town and John had to be moved into a nursing home and passed away shortly after. Mary did not lay down too. Instead she started life over without him. She was now free of the tyranny of John and could do and say as she pleased. She joined line dancing and lane bowling. She does Pastoral care which is bringing the church and Holy communion to the shut in's in Stony PLain and Spruce Grove. She does Square dancing and does a bit of driving Miss Daisy for people she knows in need. Mary carry's sunshine with her where ever she goes. Never has an unkind word for anyone and always see's a silver lining in every crisis. " There now, sit down and have a cup of tea and things will seem better" She is my living hero. She has learned to stay in the Moment and engage in the here and now.
Mary Kavanagh is my Mother.

Linda Shipalesky Silent River Kung Fu Stony Plain Alberta