My mother had recovered enough from a recent illness to attend the third and final launch of a book, We’ll Meet Again, that features stories about PEI women who served in the Second World War. The author, Katherine Dewar, has been so lovely to my mother and the other women veterans, and she made a point of featuring my mother’s story today as she had been unable to go to the first launch with the other surviving veterans.

Although seating was very limited due to pandemic restrictions, we were still able to say hello to friends and family who attended, and my mother had the unusual experience of hearing someone reading her words out loud and seeing her uniform and other pieces of memorabilia on display. On the way home I asked her how she had found the whole thing, and she said she didn’t think she had really done much more than outlive everyone else, that her story wasn’t that special! Like most things in her life, she has just taken it all in her stride, which I’m sure is part of how you live to be 99.

Katherine has dedicated much of her historical research and writing to preserving the stories of PEI women, accomplished women who had exciting and important careers, and even had military honours, but who often lived quiet lives after the fact, who blended back into society because that was what society demanded women do. My mother’s exit interview from the RCAF, for instance, an organization that had given her opportunities for training, adventure and independence she would never had at home, suggested that she would be best suited to being a housewife. She went on to do that, and so much more. Tomorrow she plans to bake cookies to thank the hospital staff who recently cared for her, still defying expectations, looking and acting beyond herself, an inspiration to all who know and love her.