INSIDE COMMUNITY -EVENTS B2 EV BISHOP My mother N THREE YEARS of column writing, I have yet to write about my mother. It’s just hard to imagine doing justice to her memory or decently de- scribing the most influential woman in my life and the effect her death has had on me in 800 words... but it is time that [try. October marks the seventh year of her pas- sage from this earth and the fear that haunted me this year as I visited her grave was ‘that she's been forgotten. Not in my heart or the hearts of others who loved her but in our practical lives. She has been gone so long now that days going on without her feel normal. That life could feel normal without her feels worse then the jagged, raw- edged pain of first losing her. I no longer see her standing in a check out line or driving through an intersection in a bur- gundy car. [ no longer spot her in the mail, start to say “Hi mom” and then realize, stu-- pidly, that of course it's not her. For a long time after her death, I did. Apparently, imagining you see your dead’ loved one alive is a common phenomenon for people who are grieving. Our subconscious tries to give us what we want. Them, back. _ Eventually, [ saw her less and less. I missed the episodes when they finally stopped. I still have moments when reality eludes me. I'll be shopping and catch myself. thinking, “I should buy that for mom, she'd love that!” Sometimes I pick up the phone and think about calling her. I haven’t decided if that’s a true momentary delusion or just ex- - treme wishful thinking. 1 still have lapses where I refer to going to my mom’s place in- Stead of to my dad’s. I don’t miss her less, It just feels normal to be missing her, part of life, rather than some bad dream that [ll wake up from soon. She was ferocious, in her love and in her still to laugh. Her laugh was frequent and contagious. She had a certain grin that my bro- ther, sisters and I[ called her “barracuda: smile.” Whenever the barracuda appeared we KNEW that something hilarious, often bizarre, would come out of her mouth, an imitation, a joke, a rant... I can remember her clutching her stomach squealing through her laughter, “No more, no more, you guys are killing howl] until our stomach muscles were so sore that just breathing hurt. ‘ don't miss her less. St just feels normal to be missing her.’ She loved to read and cook and sing. She fed Stellar's jays and studied bird books and mushroom guides. She showed me that faith ' grows, She taught me to argue. She taught me to forgive, She loved kids. She hated being stuck at home. She was kind and generous. She had a terrible temper. She had the most lovely, soothing voice and hands when you were sick or sad, She would always speak her mind. You may find it strange that [ still refer to negative things about my mother, to her tem- per, her disconteatment.., J will not insult my strong, funny, intense, smart, wonderful mom by erasing the complexity of her person and replacing it with some prettified fiction version. She was a whole, complete: person. She had strengths and weaknesses. She had inconsistencies, I loved her. I miss all of her. One night, when my son was very young, . just talking, | went out without him. It wasn’t the first time, he just couldn't complain , about it before. When I came home, I picked him up with a hug and said hello. He pushed himseif away from me so that he could look me full in the face and then, scowling, he growled. "Mom...Why you gone so long?” Then he hugged. me back. After seven years - without her, that's how I feel. MOM, WHY - YOU GONE SO LONG? . My graveyard fears were foundless. She is not forgotten in any sense. I have learned to live without her and to enjoy and celebrate the . life 1 still have but she is in the very fabric of who I am, largely responsible for any good in ‘my personality and even some of the bad, Her blood is in my veins and her passions helped form mine, She was Susanne Marguerite Hig- ginson, nee Forsyth. She was born January , “Oth, 1953 and passed away on October 18th, ° 1995, She was a poet and a deep thinker, She was | passionate’ and hilarious; She. was | brave, resilient, and compassionate. She was my. mo- ther. I still need her. anger. Quick to yell and scream, quicker ‘ me. Stop it. I'm going to pee!” Together we'd | TERRACE STANDARD The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - BI SECTION B JENNIFER LANG 638-7283 PRESENT DAY: Terrace Evangelical Free Church interim pastor Mike Christiansen, left, pastor Russ Wilson, the church's administra- tive assistant, Catharine Johnston, and youth pastor Todd Wilkins. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO A pilgrimage Terrace Evangelical Free Church parishioners gather to mark a milestone. By JENNIFER LANG THE MEMBERS of Terrace’s Evangelical Free Church like to say they owe a debt of gratitude to a most unlikely accident - a banking error. Back in 1957, the fledgling congregation had outgrown its tiny first home — an unfinished 20 by 32 foot church, no larger than a house really, near the corner of Park Ave. at Sparks. They owed $950 on it, so the banker was reluctant to approve a loan. that would have enabled the Terrace congregation of the grow- ing church to buy the property across the street, Then something wonderful hap- pened: “One Friday evening we received a notice in the mail that a check for $2,000 in’ U.S. funds had been deposited in our account,” recalled former pastor Abe Rempel in 1969, “I went to our treasurer, We were floored ta say the least.” They went to the bank in per- son to double check and were told the money came by Western Union wire from Minneapolis, IN THE BEGINNING: Former church leaders M. Buller, left, F.Hislop, pastor Abe Rempel, E. Knodel and W. Hoffman. where the Evangelical Free Church of America’s headquarters were located. “Well, we silently thanked our ‘anonymous donor’ and praised the Lord for His provision,” Re- mpel said, adding they bought the property and made plans to build a new church the coming spring. Three months later, the bank discovered its error - the money had been deposited in the wrong _ account. “ CARING DAY BY DAY: Joe and Olga Hipp reflect on a life together. They wed: ded in 1942, which could make them Terrace’s longest-married couple. Married couple marks six decades together JOE AND OLGA Hipp just might be the longest mar- ried couple in Terrace, If they aren’t they’re close. The pair celebrated their 60th wedding anni- versary last Wednesday. They were married in 1942 in Prince Rupert on the same day as Joe’s 24th birthday. i i That, Olga. reasoned, would ensure he wouldn't Oct. 23, 1942 Torget the day, He didn’t forget but it didn’t stop versaries. -him from going off hunting H or fishing on future anni- such The Evangelical Lutheran Church across the corner, whose headquarters were also in Min- neapolis, was still waiting for its money. Fortunately, the bank agreed to let the E.F.C, repay the money through an interest-free overdraft. It’s an ‘error’ that has paid large dividends over the years, according to Russ Wilson, the present and ninth pastor. The church originated in 195] _ ni awards. winner selected. it.” vour. “They said, secret,” other.” last week. ow does a couple live a long and happy life together? “There is no Olga says. You just take it day by day and look after each “She’s a good cook,” adds Joe, who also cele- brated his 84th birthday three-minute Terrace’s remote location played in Brocklehurst’s fa- ‘Wow, we looked up Terrace on the map _ and it’s not anywhere near Vancouver,” she says. She had to assure contest organizers there was indeed an airport in Terrace and that | she could get to Toronto without using a dogsled. Brocklehurst had entered a video showed her dressed in waders with a fishing rod, and an- other segment playing guitar and singing a song. The 36-year-old Terrace woman, who is self-em ployed as a business and economic development consul- when Pastor Nick Goertz, who worked at the mill to make ends meet, and his family held services in a rented hall for $5 a Sunday. The congregation, which began with two families and two single women, flourished over the inter- vening decades, moving into its current, spacious home in 1994, It now boasts a large, diverse membership. As many as 285 in- dividuals attend worship on Sun- day. About 200 members came to- gether to celebrate a major mile- stone over the Thanksgiving weekend — the Terrace Evangeli- cal. Free Church’s 50th -anniver- sary. Three senior pastors returned for the Oct. 12-13 festivities, as did some charter members who have since moved away. It was a spiritual family reunion as people shared memories. “It was an emotional time for people,” Wilson says, adding the celebration was a time to reaffirm the church’s vision of being a bi- blical community where people find hope, love and-acceptance. " mu Gemini-bound .ONE OF Terrace’s own: will be among the gliteratti of Canadian television stardom at this year’s Gemi- Sara-Jane Brocklehurst has been selected to present . an award at the Geminis, which air on CBC TV Nov. 4, She was one of nearly 100 contest entrants in the Ge- minis’ first-ever Be a Gemini Star contest ~ and the lone “T was totally bowled over and amazed,” Brockle- hurst says. “I couldn’t believe = Sara-Jane Brocklehurst that * tant, will get full celebrity treatment. in Tofonto. She and a companion will stay at the Royal York Hotel for a couple of days of rehearsals before the Nov. 4 live awards broadcast. She'll be transported by limo to the red carpet and will mingle. with the stars. Who does she most hope to meet? “I would really like to meet Paul Gross,” she said of the actor who plays a mountie in Due South and starred in the movie Men With Brooms. “And Red Green,” she -adds, “And of course any of the people from This Hour His wife Olga is 83, -, Fas 22 Minutes.” Joe grew up in Terrace, «. the son of pioneers who came here by riverboat be-" fore the train went through, | “When I was a kid here there were only a couple, hundred people here in the . valley,” he Says. Brocklehurst will appear. during the broadcast to pre- ‘S sent the Geminis’ Hottest Star award — a viewer's choice award. The show will also feature a broadcast of high- lights of contestants’ audition tapes, ‘She expects Terrace to come up in media interviews .“] intend to take some materials with me and put Ter- race on the map a little bit,” she says.