Hilary Anne Stewart - Burnaby - Circa 1977

Yesterday in a happy/melancholy feeling I wrote a blog (just below) centering on my eldest daughter Alexandra. Today, a sunny Wednesday I feel I must give my younger daughter Hilary Anne equal time.

Nicely kissing my independence goodbye

When she was born 51 years ago my Rosemary was already on the way of becoming a proto feminist. She said she wanted a name that was epicene for our second daughter. By epicene she meant without sex and that it was up to the person having such a name impose on it their feeling of who and what they were. We chose Hilary (with one l) knowing that in Spanish Hilaria was a terrible sounding name.

Hilary became her name in that she was less brooding than her older sister and she did a lot of smiling even though I have that T-shirt of her crying when she was 2.

To this day she is a happy woman with a semi-crooked smile similar to mine and to my mother’s. In fact Hilary reminds me of my mother.

From my mother and her mother she inherited a sense of good taste and snobbishness in her likes for films. It is because of that taste for good films that she and I frequently go to the Park, the 5^th Ave Cinema, the Rio, the Pacific Cinematheque and the Vancouver Film Festival Theatre. Our routine involves going to a restaurant afterwards. In our last outing to see Perfect Days a few days ago I chose to make Yorkshire pudding (in the style of my Rosemary) with my good beef gravy.

Hilary is the wellness manager of the Burquitlam Safeway so I have a morning pill regimen that I believe keeps me in good health. She notices when I do stuff that may not be safe and immediately informs Ale who then calls me to be careful.

I am taken care of by my two daughters and Niño and Niña give me constant attention and warmth. They are cariñosos (a nice Spanish word that translates to affectionate).

Except for the absence of my Rosemary (something  feel and note at all moments) I think I have little to complain about.

Thank you Hilary and Alexandra.