Today’s Francine Fact #7 – She Loved To Share The Wealth.
Howdy to the newbies and welcome back to the regulars!
This month at Just TypiKel we’re doing a 10 day Francine Fact challenge to honor my late mother’s impending 102nd birthday. What’s the challenge all about? Sharing some of the unique Francine tidbits that made her special. She’d expect nothing less.
Today’s post is about Francine’s generous nature. She loved to “share the wealth.”
You might be surprised that someone who loved to share the wealth managed to run a successful antique business for 17 years in Vancouver. Our Francine was a complicated soul. She could sell up a storm and would happily give you her last dime.
Her love for sharing the wealth took multiple forms. Among the highlights?
1) She Loved To buy For Others
Rosie Daykin’s Let Me Feed You: Everyday Recipes Offering The Comfort of Home: A Cookbook caught Francine’s eye. Nevermind she wasn’t interested in “anything kitchen.” Every family member MUST have a copy. Bless her – it’s a great cookbook. The Chicken Pot Pie is one of my faves.
2) She Loved Presenting Gifts To the Great Grands
One of her biggest regrets about moving into full time care was the inability to pop out for a gift or ten, especially for the great grands.
“It’s not right. I need to give the young people some incentive to come visit me and the oldies.”
Her solution? Gaga’s Magic Bag containing our Saturday morning chocolate bingo winnings. Dive in, kids.
3) She Managed To Grow Gifts, Too
“Kel, look what I grew on the balcony! Do take it home with you. I’m sure I’ll grow another.”
4) Gifts Weren’t Just For Family
Francine loved escaping and eating out on Sundays. One of her favourite restaurants was The White Spot – an iconic British Columbian burger chain. She developed a particular fondness for their saucer-sized cheese pizza and the egg cup-sized macaroni with a teaspoon of coleslaw on the side. Which was a problem. Part of the Pirate Pak menu, they were only offered to those 10 and under.
The poor servers were treated to endless entreaties of, “Oh, please. She always orders it. We got the okay from the manager seven (17)(54) Sundays ago!”
But then Joel joined the mix. He got Francine. After ushering us to our favorite table in the quiet nook by a window, he’d distribute the appropriate menus: the plasticized Schitt’s Creek style fold out numbers for the grownups and the colorful paper kids menu for the great grandkids and Francine.
The lights dimmed when we learned Joel was accepted into Film School in Montreal. While sad, Francine slipped him a crisp $50. Of course, she did.
Enough. Get on with it, Kel. Time’s a wastin’!
Yikes, Francine’s right. As usual.
Thanks so much for hanging out with me.
Before you go, you should know I’m holding a contest!
On September 26, Francine’s 102nd birthday, one of my subscribers will win: an autographed copy of Never, Never, Hardly Ever – A Mother-Daughter Story of Antiques and Antics – my behind the scenes peek at life with Francine in her Vancouver antique store.
How do you enter? Just leave a comment here. That’s it. One comment = one entry. Already have a copy of NNHE? Gift your win! It’s one less thing you need to shop for.
So, please, leave a comment and I’ll throw your name (and it is?) into the draw.
Next up: How Francine coped when her husband of 61 years died …
See you tomorrow!
11 Responses
I’ll bet you could come up with 102 fun facts. Wonderful photos. Just sayin’.
Thanks, Wend. And this is fun – hunting down the photos is … challenging, but we’re getting there.
Love this one ! I was lucky enough to be part of a shopping for others trip to Fort Langley with you and your invincible Mum ! I remember your very tactful ways of steering her towards more appropriate gifts for the recipients !!
Oh this makes me laugh! Too funny, Jane. Yes, I got rather adept at steering her, I must say … I remember she tried to talk you into buying a rug in Kerrisdale – you held firm, which was beyond admirable. She could be pretty convincing.
Thank you, Kelly. I’m enjoying all your fun stories of dear Frankie. With all the time you spent working together, how wonderful it is that she was so well-known to you!
Hi Rose, thank you for reading and commenting. I’m delighted to learn you’re enjoying the slew of stories.It’s been fun to do and I reckon Mom would be tickled pink to know I’m continuing to get her antics out into the world.
I’m loving learning all about your wonderful mom through these stories. I also love that her favorite meal was on the kids’ menu. At a certain age, you should be able to order off any menu you wish!
January! Howdy – thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. And yes, I’m with you – at a certain age you should be able to order off any menu you choose. Mom would ask for them to divide her portion in two whenever there wasn’t a kid’s menu. She’d try her damndest to get us to eat the other half and when that failed, she’d take it home.
What a generous giving heart your Mom had. ❤️
She truly did, Suzanne. Thank you for reading yet another story and for commenting. I do appreciate your thoughts.