Look Around

Gladys Rosemary (Prosser) Urquhart

1931-2021

 

Gladys Rosemary was born into a very large family in Canada.  All through my childhood, I not only heard about all her many brothers and sisters.  I was privileged to have met them many times over the years because they always stayed connected even after my grandmother moved to New York in 1952.  I think Gladys learned a lot of things from growing up with a large family.  She told endless stories of her childhood, but the one thing that was consistent throughout every story was her mother Mary’s, unfailing hospitality, and efforts to do everything she could for the Prosser children, and the children did everything they could for the Prosser family.  My grandmother would tell you that when she took her first job at Seagram’s when she was a young girl, she brought her paycheck home to her mother, because in her words, “that’s just what you did, we had a big family.” 

With these humble beginnings, it doesn’t surprise me that she would be ready for a big adventure, one that took her out of her small, town, across the Canadian American border, and into the Capital Region.  She never lived in Canada again, but she visited often keeping her family ties close to her heart.  And that is how she continued to live her life as her family grew through the years.  You see, family and making memories were at the forefront of her days here.  While she was building a family, she was building a legacy.  There is a word I learned once and have used it often for moments such as this because there really isn’t any other word that is as fitting.  “Circumspice” it’s Latin for “Look Around”.  Just look around and you see the evidence of a life well-lived, right here, this is Nanny.

Gladys Rosemary, you were always in the background, but never a backdrop!   You made sure you were at every event; always around to make those family memories, because you learned from your mother and from your siblings, that family and the memories we hold, are everything.   Of course, you lived for our big moments in life, birthdays, weddings, births of children, and baptisms because you knew this was your legacy and your legacy was growing.  Whether it was family gatherings, drives across the country to a far-off Canada called Calgary, Alberta, for family reunions; pinning your grandson on the fifty-yard line of the Ohio State University football field or it even as simple as painting the molding of my first home, you never stopped creating times where memories were made.   Every moment was an adventure for you because you knew, what these memories would mean for us.  You made sure you were in every auditorium chair and softball game bleacher.  You would be bundled up on lawn chairs watching some event or signing a Thanksgiving Tablecloth; you never tried to miss any moments for any of us. Even the little moments were important like when you made "rock potatoes", sat on porches, and let me borrow all your VHS movies from the cabinet.

Then you stopped remembering so well. Your beautiful memory was stripped from you, but you could still recall… I saw small glimpses of you remembering, I could see it in your eyes until you closed them so peacefully.  In your last days, you were surrounded by family day after day.  If you know me, you probably knew my Nanny because she was a part of your life too, and if you never met her, you certainly missed out. Then again, you can see her in our images and memories of her better days. All we have to do for her now is remember and “Circumspice” to know who Gladys Rosemary was and is.  One thing is certain, there was no one like her and she will be missed.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. ~Amen~