September was a fantastic month.  I anxiously awaited  the time to head to Calgary for the second show of a two night stand with Eric Church! Plus a 100th birthday celebration with our mom.

There had to be some planning over those weeks to get this all finished up.  As I have done since I was a kid, some of the planning was left to the last nano-second!  Sometimes things just work better that way.

The Church tickets were bought back in March.  I picked the Saturday show, since I was confident I could not take time off of work.  You see, we cannot leave work for periods of time in a year, that’s radio life. However, that changed in 2019.  Really, all I cared was that I was going to “DoubleDown”.  There were times of doubt, but I’m glad that feeling passed.

Road trips are good for the soul.  Time with the open road, whether with a travel companion or not are always good.  This time of year the colours are changing, the crops are coming off and the roads are busy with last minute travellers coming home, or hunters heading out.  Kids are back in school and there’s a certain routine to things.

Leaving early on Friday, having few stops along the way, making good time afforded me the luxury of getting to Calgary’s Saddledome where I could have bought a ticket to the first of the two shows.  But, I didn’t!  After all there were two of us and we had someone waiting for us to arrive for our over night stay! Don’t rock the boat!  That’s good advice!!

Everything turned out great.  The concert on Saturday was amazing and thanks to speaking up and having the right person hear my concern, which was “why do we not have the ‘games’ you bring to every other concert”, this party of two ended up in the concert “PIT” area!   And I’ll tell you, for an Eric Church concert – this is a GREAT place to watch.  The seats I purchased were alright, second tier side stage.  So, you do get a fine vantage point of what is happening on the stage, but hey, give me front row on this one!

And Thank You to Matt Wheeler, the Merch Manager for hangin’ around and finding Church fans to put into the Pit Area!   Getting to a show a few hours ahead of schedule has its advantages!!!

I won’t bore you with the details!  We returned home on Sunday.  It was now time for the final preparations for our mom, Olive Evans birthday.

Not just any birthday, but one that is viewed as a significant landmark – ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

The changes in lifestyle, world politics and attitude; where does one begin to put a sense of importance on such things.  I’ve asked our mom about these things over the last year and a bit.  Some days she has answers and others, not unlike you or me, you have to think about this.  And maybe she just doesn’t want to reflect on such things.  So I ask, what do you think, in your life, is the most significant thing that has changed.  The cell phone, computer, indoor plumbing!

A century of living!  Living through the “Dirty Thirties”, World War II, changes in music, cultural diversification, the loss of grandparents, parents, a spouse, a sibling, friends and neighbours.  It is strength of family and knowing that your character possesses such determination to create new bonds of friendship.  With that admiration grows from those around you.  Everyone is in your corner.

Olive H Elliott was born at Aylesbury, Saskatchewan.  Her mom, Jessie Elliott was, as the story goes, preparing a harvest meal, when Olive was born.  The baby was in that 5 pound range, small by accounts.  And in 1919, that could be dangerous, don’t you think!  Well, that little baby grew to become a young woman that went to “Normal” school to become a teacher, as many young women of the time did.

In the Elliott girls youth, they rode horse back, took the train, wore long dressing gowns, their hair was done in ringlets, their mother and father worked the land.  Their grandparents had settled on Saskatchewan coming from Scotland to live on the prairies in sod houses.  They listened to Jimmie Rodgers on the gramophone.  Messages came by mail or telegraph.  My grandfather had driven an oxen cart from Lumsden to their homestead outside of Aylesbury, Saskatchewan.  Small towns thrived.

By all accounts, including the photos, the Elliott girls had a wonderful childhood in the Antelope School District.  Mom didn’t move far off of the original homestead when she met and eventually married Pryse Evans from Dilke.  A new chapter of mom’s life had begun that included leaving her teaching days behind and becoming a homemaker raising a family of four.

Mom and Dad were married for 50 years.  These days that may seem like a long time.  Our father died in 1996 and a day doesn’t go by where I don’t think of him.  I’m sure mom feels that way too.  But we have to move forward and that’s what she did.  Moving into Regina from the farm brought along a whole new way of living.  Travel, meeting new friends and discovering new interests all became a part of life in the city.  Mom and Dad attended football games, now she was going with her daughter, Lynette.  On her 85th birthday, we went for a tour of Taylor Field.  The family travelled to England, Scotland and Wales, places my dad insisted we go to when he was gone.  As a farmer, his life was about the land, not heading off of it, but rather as a steward to it.    Now things were different.

I moved back eight years ago.  When people ask, I have a two prong answer.  Yes, there was an incredible job opportunity, but the draw also was family.  My sister has been there for our mom since dad passed.  Our brother and his family holding down the family farm.  Two other children in Alberta and coming home as often as possible for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and other occasions.  Nothing beats being able to go out for supper on a Tuesday, take a drive in the country at the drop of a hat or just stop by to say hello.

Home.  Family. Love. Respect.  All of these play a factor in living a long life.  I’m so thankful that we have one hundred rich years of history to fall back on.

Mom’s birthday celebration took about four days.  This included: children, grandchildren, nieces, close family friends, friends PLUS lots of cake.   THANK YOU to everyone that came to celebrate our remarkable mom’s 100th birthday!  It means the world to her and to all of us.

Eric Church Double Down Tour 2019 in Calgary, Alberta. Road trip weekend and would have made it to both shows. Sometimes you just need to go to CHURCH!