MAE

"Our ends are the same .....
We can do something big or we can play it safe.
Either way ...... our ends are the same"
                                                                                     Ervin T. Rouse


MAEandering with a kindred spirit and fellow traveller ...

Blanche Mae (Coates) Brooks: August 2, 1932 to February 15, 2011

 A ... Mother, Mother-In-Law, Fellow Adventurer

 Filled With ... Laughter & Sunshine ... "She Lived"

  And Is ... "Still Travelling"

Mae was a vibrant, gregarious woman with a wonderful sense of humour and adventure.  She instilled a breath of fresh air and a sense of mischief into any room she entered.  A wife, a mother of four, a grandmother, a great grandmother and friend to many. She lived her life to the fullest.  In her late 40's, she was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease, a genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline.  Her mother died from the disease and she watched her four siblings suffer with it. 

It was devastating news, for both her and my father Earl, but they chose to live their lives to the fullest as long as they were able. They continued to travel across North America, putting thousands of kilometers on their old VW van and eventually a new Chev van.  In those years they completed road trips to Yukon, NWT, Alaska, Newfoundland & the Maritime Provinces, California, the Grand Canyon and spent many 'Sunbird' winters in Florida.

In 2005, Mae's condition deteriorated considerably, she required 24 hour a day attention and was moved into a complex care facility in Brockville, Ontario.  She eventually regarded this as her home and regularly fired and re-hired her nurses, always with a twinkle in her eye.  She became a favorite of the staff and participated in all the homes' activities.  

On her last birthday, when informed she was 78, she replied with a "You've Got To Be Kidding"!  ... and, one of the last things that she said to us was "I'm Going Travelling".  So, to honor her last request to travel, family members take her ashes with them on all of their adventures.  She has been scattered in the Gulf of Mexico, on the hilltops in Newfoundland, in the desert around Las Vegas, off the Golden Gate Bridge (where we suspect she may have floated to Alcatraz) and in a favorite lake ... Muncho in Northern B.C.  

So, she's ... 'Still Travellin'

Click on the link below to see where Mae's been ...

MAEandering