Hilary Anne Stewart

 

Today I went to see Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme with my daughter Hilary, at 4 at the Park Theatre (a real film theatre). We enjoyed this funny and uplifting film. From there we went to Nando’s on Howe and Davie for dinner. I took her to her Burnaby home. I always feel melancholic as it is impossible to avoid passing by Springer Ave and Lougheed Highway. It was there that Rosemary and the rest of us lived from 1975 to 1986.

As I was driving back I was thinking of that hackneyed American expression “been there, done that.” I thought of a much better alternative, “Been there & lived it.”

Then a most important thought came to me. I am surrounded by photographs of Rosemary and family, things I bought with Rosemary, her garden that is now mine and in particular our two cats Niño and Niña whom she petted and they slept on our bed with us. To me those two cats were and are an immediate connection to Rosemary.

But, and important but. My daughters and Hilary today are as a direct connection to my Rosemary that surpasses some of those mementos I live with every day.

Hilary’s warmth, her constant smile, her conversation are all the by-product (not a nice word but it will do) of a union between Rosemary and me. She is part Rosemary.

Why did I not think of this before? 

Thank you Hilary for being Hilary.