Today is March 14. Pi day, as many call it, 3.14. I think of it as “pie” day, a reminder of the exact date of my mother’s death, since she loved to bake, including many types of pie.
Today is the seventh anniversary of her physical passing although she had left us long before that. Alzheimer’s disease had gradually robbed her of the ability to speak, to walk, to remember those who loved her.
Two of my brothers and I sat with her for several hours that last morning as her breathing slowed and finally stopped. She left this life much as she had lived it, quietly, peacefully and without much fuss.
I miss her deeply and I feel saddened that she never got the chance to meet any of her great-grandchildren or to see her children in the role of loving, involved grandparents, an example she set for us all.
Here, in remembrance of Grace “Gay” Muriel Aitken, is a look back at her life in pictures:
Grace Muriel Strachan, 1925 
A day at the beach with Baty grandparents 
With great-aunt Jessie Gordon & brother, Roy 
With mom & Roy 
Emulating Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn! 
Cousins: with brother Roy & Breckels cousins George, Eileen & Bert 
With dad & Roy, 1928 
With Roy, 1930 
Mother-daughter outfits! 
With parents & Roy 
Roy & Grace 
Bathing beauty 
Lovebirds Jim & Gay 
Jim & Gay with both sets of parents 
1953, first two children, Scott & Nancy 
Early 1960s 
Christmas 1971 
Early 1970s 
On the beach in Florida 
Fun in the backyard pool 
1980, first two grandchildren, Ryan & Kirsten 
40th anniversary celebration, 1988 
Mom’s apple pie for my birthday! 
A wonderful grandma! 
1999 
Happy new year, the new millennium 
With 9 of 11 grandchildren, 2007 
Celebrating their birthdays with all their children, Feb 2008 
With dad in hospital, 2009 
2009, age 84