Tracey White Kirouac shared these beautiful photos of her 89-year-old Mother Eileen, socializing with her best friend Wynne, her 91-year-old sister. Both sisters lived through World War 2 together while living in Manchester, England. World War 2 was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. During the war, the 2 sisters were living in a bomb shelter in their backyard called the Anderson shelter for protection. Like the rest of the world, the family was on rations and they wore gas masks when they walked to school.
Today, Eileen and Wynne are experiencing the extraordinary changes occurring with the COVID-19 pandemic. They speak to each other daily by phone, even though they live only 2 townhouses away from each other. They take turns cooking for each other and leave the prepared food and magazines at the front door. When Eileen cooks for her sister, she says “I’m keeping my sister alive.” And yet, they are both doing the cooking – one cooks the meat, the other cooks the vegetables.
Tracey had thought about having her mom and her aunt self-isolate together for company, but knowing their personalities, it’s best they did not. “They are opposites. My aunt is the sensible one and my mother the spontaneous, irrational one at times. They like different TV shows, my mother likes loud shows and music, my aunt likes to read quietly. They have different tastes in food and my mom is a night owl and my aunt is not. Wynne likes to beat mom in scrabble. They are missing their scrabble games and going to church right now. They also volunteer at the Colborne Senior Centre in Oakville which is presently shut down.”
We thank these 2 beautiful ladies for their role in stopping the spread of this virus.
#WEAREINTHISTOGETHER
Story and Photos provided by: Tracey White Kirouac
