In honour of Mother’s Day in France this Sunday, and in memory of my mother who would have been 90 this year, here are a few memories I hold dear.
Her name was Gladys, or Gwladys in the French spelling that picks up on the Welsh origins of the name. This post is not about anything French or Welsh but a woman who in some ways I hardly knew, and yet who was close to me as only a mother can be.
Gladys Catherine Angela Kennedy was born on the 21st day of March. “I came with the Spring,” she liked to say, with a raised eyebrow and the glint of a smile, all the self-deprecating humour of the British bred in her bone.
Perhaps Gladys was a name that needed a sense of humour. The only other Gladys we knew of was a gorilla at the zoo, and a funny looking cleaning lady on the TV commercials. One morning after my parents had been out late at a party, I found her name tag stuck on the toilet seat: “Hello, my name is Gladys.” When we asked why it was there, Dad said it was because that’s where a glad ass should be. He always called her Glad for short. And Glad she mostly was.
My mom (which we always pronounced ‘mum’, in the English way) was mine in the way that only a mother can be. She was the one person I could admit anything to, who understood my fears and helped dry my tears without judging or making fun. In return she confided in me, her eldest, making me feel special and unique.
She was proud to have a first-born girl of many talents. I was good at drawing and could ride a bicycle, had a fine voice and was not afraid of going on stage and showing off in front of people, none of which she was able to do. And when at times I got too big for my britches, she told me so, reminding me that humility was the greatest virtue and that God loves the weakest best.
God was where Gladys and I parted company.
To my eternal disgust, my mother named me after a nun, a certain Sister Mary Ellen that she herself had greatly admired. It probably explains why I later adopted my initials as a nickname. Other than my hero Julie Andrews, who is kicked out of the abbey for being rebellious in the Sound of Music, the only nun I could ever relate to was played by Sally Field. As a child The Flying Nun was one of my favourite TV shows, and I would have sold my soul to stay home to watch it on Sunday mornings rather than getting dressed up and going to mass. Come hell or high water, my mother conscripted all four of us children to attend church with her. Dad, a sometime Anglican, stayed home and read the paper.
The only part I liked about church was the hymns. It was also an opportunity to observe the backs of people’s heads and try to catch them in surreptitious behaviour such as nose picking, shifting suspiciously in their seats (maybe that was why they were called pews!) or catching a few z’s. When I got bored with that, it was my personal ambition to try and make my mother laugh. This didn’t always work but every now and then I would draw her attention to some particularly ridiculous looking hat or a bald fellow singing off-key in the next row. At my best I’d manage to reduce her to tears. It got to a point where if I could only catch her eye, I could get her going with a simple deadpan stare. The poor woman learned to religiously avoid looking at her eldest daughter during mass.
When I reached the grand old age of sixteen I put my foot down, announcing to my mother one Sunday morning that I had decided not to go to church anymore. God was all very well but I just didn’t believe in religion, I explained, standing on the stairs in my pyjamas when they were about to leave for Holy Spirit. Why should the Pope dictate that people spend their Sunday mornings inside some church smelling incense? My idea of spirituality was going outside and communing with nature. Furthermore, it went against my feminist principles: why shouldn’t women be priests? Besides, I declared, figuring I might as well go the whole nine yards, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with sex outside of marriage.
Upon hearing this speech my mother blinked at me in stupefaction: I may as well have told her I was Mary Magdalene. She eventually got past the shock and accepted that, despite having done everything she could do to raise me as a Catholic, I was not cut out to be one of the faithful.
Other than her family and her faith, what kept my mother going in life were her friends, along with her coffee and cigarettes. She drank coffee all day long and was almost never without a smoke. Gladys was a people person. Her friends and acquaintances were many; she got a kick out of people from all walks of life and truly enjoyed listening to their stories. She always laughed, no matter how silly the joke. But although her sense of humour held her in good stead, it was not always enough. Sometimes she was depressed, and these times were hard on all of us.
She was not a very good housekeeper; this was less to do with any innate lack of orderliness but rather of being overwhelmed by life: four children, two large dogs and a husband whose right it was to come home and put his feet up. Our house was never dirty but it was often hard to tell beneath the sea of clutter.
Her priorities were often elsewhere. She was a good cook and a light hand with pastry. She had excellent, expensive taste; she decorated and dressed well, if conservatively. She often went out to church groups and she and my father went to theatre evenings and to play bridge.
Mom did not approve of swearing but she did use colourful language. She was famous in our family for her expressions: “Go to Putney on a pig!” she would say in moments of duress. Her most cutting criticism was, “She gives me the pip!” And she often asked the iconic question: “Who’s she when she’s out?”
‘Mother’ was the name that Gladys always used when referring to her own mother, my grandmother, upon whom she doted. There was a formality in their relationship that was altogether foreign to me. I detested all things stuffy and stuck up. I wanted us all to be friends and equals, kids and their parents and grandparents, with no artificial boundaries of age or politesse between us.
From the first time they met, Gladys liked and approved of her future French son-in-law – small matter that he was foreign and seven years my junior. She got a kick out of his fractured way of speaking English. “You have a nicer sewer,” he said when he saw her sewing machine; another time he said ‘crow’ and pronounced it like cow, sending her into the kitchen in fits of giggles. He also won points by thoroughly enjoying her home cooking, the ultimate compliment, resulting in a situation of shortage at family suppers that was quickly dubbed, “The Frenchman factor.”
She had a sweet tooth, and when she came over with my family to Paris for our wedding, she made it her personal ambition to visit every pâtisserie and sample every pastry possible. I remember her clapping her hands with delight when a waiter came bearing her dessert, a generously sauced serving of profiteroles.
Gladys passed away far too early, shortly after learning that I was expecting her first grandchild. Many chapters of the family story have unfurled in the years since she left us, and still she is missed and fondly remembered. She lives on in her grandchildren, who resemble her in different ways: a bit of bone structure here, a smile and a kind word there.
My mother’s story is part of me, but her story is not mine. Although I eventually did become a mother, I did it on my own terms. Perhaps being true to myself was the greatest tribute I could pay to Gladys.
Bonne fête à toutes les mamans!
FranceSays 
What a lovely post and elegant photo. It’s lovely that you are thinking of her like this for Mothers Day. And your relationship (and certainly your choices) sound very similar to mine with my mum, who I am lucky enough to still have x
Thanks, Posh. Our relationships with our mothers are complex and precious. Long may you enjoy yours!
Thank you for this. Missing my mom a lot at the moment. And my dad, too. It would have been his birthday today.
It’s tough to lose a parent, never mind both. Hope you have some warm memories. x
Very touching, inspiring and lucid homage . Your love is of beautiful quality, it seems .😁
Thank you, Phil, for reading and for letting me know it met the mark. It means a lot!
I couldn’t help being grieved to discover you were not blessed by the Holy Spirit albeit being bred in the true faith …You ungrateful little devil !
Did you know the early Christian Church of Ireland had female priests as well, and mixed genders monastries ? (Read Peter Tremayne’s excellent medieval detective novels whose heroin is Sister Fidelma of Kildare) .Until the 12th century it wasn’t clear if Britain would follow Rome or Ireland . Too bad as always on this planet the uglies won .
I’m not a big fan of la Fête des Mères for I can’t forget it became a national institution by the will of Vichy regime in the dark years . Even if it is a gentle celebration its origins smell sulfur for me.
Your pretty mum was from my tribe . The proof ? I drink coffee all day and smoke the same . That’s how we recognize each other, we superior beings .
Ha, ha….I thought I recognized a kindred spirit! Interesting about the Irish connection and the church. My grandfather, who died before I was born, was Irish, which may explain a lot. 😉
I had a complex, difficult and distant relationship with my Mother. It informs a recent post.
I will give a taste of this story soon as it was brought sharply home to me with a shock discovery two days ago .
I look forward to that (and thanks for the clue on your post – I had missed it!)
Very nice tribute to your mother…very touching. (Suzanne)
Thank you, Suzanne! It took me longer to write than usual but I had wanted to say something about her for a long time. Makes me feel close to her again.
I understand. Not always easy to write about personal matters…I don’t do it as I am too much of a private person but I admire other people who can do it…
Thanks for the wonderful post… I really enjoyed this one.. great last phrase…
“Perhaps being true to myself was the greatest tribute I could pay to Gladys.”
Thank you for reading and for the feedback – it helps so much to know when other writers feel you’ve done it right!
Very nice!
Thanks, Dad! 🙂
🙂
Thanks for sharing the photo!
What a lovely post, and I suspect your rebellious spirit was adored by Gladys, even if she showed a straight face at times. I think the name Gladys, like Maud and Ethel, will find its place again, too…
Thanks for your kind words, Colin! Oddly, as much as I hated my own name, I love all those old-fashioned first names…
I love this! Thank you so much for sharing your story, which is told in such an interesting, amusing and very readable style.
Thank you for stopping by and for your very kind words! Very pleased you enjoyed it.
And happy mother’s day to us too. -hugs-
Absolutely! For once we are in the same ‘zone’! xo
lol – sorta kinda . Was too tired to look at comments last night so missed the window.
So beautifully and honestly written Mel. Put a lump in my throat and tears to my eyes. That photo is fantastic.
Thanks my dear! Just left a comment with you, had not yet seen this. So glad to see you back, and glad it touched you. x
impressive and emotional… tu as écrit avec la plume de l’âme et l’encre du coeur… ❤ according to psychologists, as an adult, we are "the result" of the sort of relation we've had(or not!) with our parents, in general, and with our mother in particular…
Thank you Mélanie! I think you are right about that — I was lucky enough to have two very different parents, both of whom I enjoy(ed) close relationships with, which explains a lot about why I feel overall very balanced yet often internally conflicted!
same here, Mel dear… ❤ btw, I thought your forename was… Mélanie, like me! 🙂
I’m crying and laughing all at the same time. What an absolutely gorgeous post you have written about your mom. I feel like I know her! Glad-what a beautiful name for a mostly happy woman-and and a wonderful mother. By the way, what is a pip? Your mom’s expressions were so sweet-never a real curse but very expressive! And I so did relate to your story of you putting your foot down about going to church. I could see that dynamic between you and your mother so well in the story. 💚
The birds were chirping away on this beautiful morning as I read your comment – and I must admit I felt like I puffed up my chest and sang with them! Thank you SO much – it really means a lot! 😀
Beautifully written – I feel as though there was a lot of love between you and your mother.
Merci Monsieur! So pleased to know it came through in this post.
Loud and clear!!