Mothering her mother, her mentor
LL She’s strong.
GG I think so. And at one point, she had a heart attack and I thought I was losing her. But she came back. And she could still think. And I said, “Mom, you are the person deciding. You’re the boss.” And she looked at me and she smiled. And I said, “You’re holding on, aren’t you?” And she looked at me...definitely she was. So now she can’t speak anymore. She can’t walk. She’s like a six-month-old baby.
I still cry from time to time. But she still gives me so much. When I leave the office and go see her and spend time with her — and I do that every week — it is so relaxing. It’s a different pace. We communicate through touching, listening to music together, and I can feel that she’s giving me a lot of energy. I can feel her presence. I know she can feel my presence. In those nursing homes, there are people who never have any visitors. This morning, I brought some beautiful flowers to my mother. Bulbs [are] coming out right now. And I brought some for her neighbour because she never gets anything like that. And she was so happy. When I visit my mom, I also visit others in that home. And this brings you back to reality. My mother used to be a nurse, so I know what nurses go through.
LL Was your mother your mentor growing up?
GG I would say so. She went through a lot. After divorcing, she raised her two daughters — and we were young — alone. So did my grandmother, whom I consider a mentor too. My grandmother was a widow at a young age and raised five children alone. Three boys, two girls. She spent nights and days on her sewing machine sewing coats that she would sell on the markets, on the sidewalks — because you have those open markets in Haiti. And her main goal was making sure that all her children would go to school and get an education. Girls and boys. I shared that story with Afghan women when I went to Afghanistan last year, because I met some women who were going through the exact same thing. They were widows with many children and struggling. And we have the Micro-Credit. The loan. And all those women were building their financial independence this way. You know, for us Western women, we think it’s normal to think that way. Financial independence is so crucial to our lives. It’s the same for every woman in the world, including the Afghan women. And I shared that story of my grandmother because it reminded me of them. And the connection was so deep.
LL Because they want their girls to be educated. It’s so important.
GG They want their girls and their boys to be educated. It is key to your life, to your future, to your present. And my mother, I think, was inspired by my grandmother that way…. I told these women, “I would never be standing in front of you now as head of state of Canada, as GG of Canada, if it wasn’t for my grandmother, if it wasn’t for my mother, who, just like you, have struggled.”
LL Look at what Stephen Lewis is doing with the grandmothers in Africa who are the caregivers for the AIDS orphans.
GG Yes, I met [these women] too when I was in South Africa. And you know the idea that when you have a grandmother you think that they are very old?
LL Well, now you’re a grandmother, so we’d better not say that!
GG Some of them [are] in their forties and they [are] already grandmothers. And so courageous. After raising their own families, they now have grandchildren who have lost their parents because of HIV/AIDS. Those women are so caring and bright and articulate.
