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I admire people with courage.
People who reinvent themselves if the occasion demands it; who embark on new adventures; who do their job under difficult circumstances. These ladies are ones I admire for living their lives with unusual bravado and imagination.
CYNTHIA MITRO-RICHARDSON
An attractive blond now in her 60s, she is a mother and grandmother. Cynthia is also my relative — the wife of my late cousin Elizabeth’s grandson Bill Richardson. I met her in London, Ont., where they and my cousin lived. At the time Bill and Cynthia owned Richardson Access Elevators, a company offering access equipment such as stairway and platform lifts. In his free time, Bill was a keen drag racing enthusiast. Cynthia who was educated in applied arts and crafts joined him on the auto circuit, where she was known as the Maple Leaf Lady.
Then, one day about 16 years ago, racing took them to New Brunswick. A city girl, Cynthia fell in love with the Atlantic province — the bay, the water, the landscape, the fresh air. While Bill in the meantime had closed their business and joined the Savaria company, I think it was mainly on Cynthia’s initiative that they pulled up stakes and moved to New Brunswick.
Already in middle age, their children grown, the couple built a lovely home by the bay on a large piece of land where they live to this day. There, Cynthia who loves design and colour, devotes herself to her arts and crafts, creating prize-winning quilts, sewing and doing stained glass. While Bill commutes to work, Cynthia has turned into a real country girl, enjoying the changing seasons and the company of a cat and two Boston terriers. Adding to the fun is her latest acquisition of some chickens that provide extra tasty eggs. Happy in her surroundings Cynthia says she is now “living the dream” thanks to the move. Bravo, Cynthia.
BEV MOIR
Three years ago I had featured my friend Bev Moir in one of my columns. The years have passed and I am more than happy to give Bev another shout out.
In 2020, Bev had retired after enjoying two rewarding careers, first in health care, then at Scotia Wealth Management. Looking forward to enjoying her retirement years, Bev received a gut punch, being diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. A non-smoker, Bev started receiving daily targeted therapy at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital.
A hard worker all her life, Bev decided to put her energy into increasing public awareness of lung cancer and raising funds. In fact, her calling card now reads “Lung cancer patient advocate.” She created the CRUSH IT WITH BEV campaign and the money collected in fundraising golf tournaments would buy equipment for Sunnybrook. The campaign now in its fourth year, has enabled Bev to present cheques in ever-increasing amounts now totalling more than $600,000. Wishing Bev many more years of successful “crushing” it for the benefit of the lung cancer community.
KATIE GUFLER
While she does not fit the reinvent yourself category, Katie is an example of carrying on with courage whatever the circumstances. Now in her late 80s, this dynamic lady has been managing as a volunteer at a downtown ethnic parish in Montreal for the past 37 years.
Driving to the east end to buy candles, selecting prayers, dealing with priests and faithful, preparing the church for mass, looking up birth certificates for members have all been part of her duties. I admire her courage of driving downtown from her home in the suburbs, a 40-kilometre trip each way, facing Montreal traffic, street closures and construction.
Katie’s courage has been put to the test lately when, bitten by a raccoon in her garden, she carried on as usual with her volunteer duties while undergoing weeks of injections and treatment to prevent infection. Keep at it, Katie, we admire your courage.
Good luck to all Ladies with Courage — those we know and many more out there we have never heard about.
— Alice Lukacs writes the Life in the 90s