I feel nudged to create a post In honor of International Women’s Day. Who best to feature than our mom, the late, great Francine.
You’ve got to admire my mother’s chutzpah.
In Honor of International Women’s Day
The eldest of three, Francine admitted she “felt a little less than” when she married our dad and moved to Ontario.
“All the other doctors’ wives had college or university degrees. I only had grade 12.”
She addressed that situation when I entered grade one by enrolling herself as a fulltime student at the University of British Columbia. Upon earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Francine was hired by UBC as a Lecturer. She taught for eight years in the Department of Fine Arts, before deciding to switch gears.
Join a gym? Teach watercolor painting at the local community center? Take up scuba diving?
Nope, nope and nope.
She’d open a business, selling the things she loved most: Canadian and Asian antiques.
Our Francine opened Frankie Robinson Oriental Gallery (FROG) in Vancouver in 1976 despite knowing nothing about business. However, this gal could sell. FROG returned a profit that first year. Her accountant was shocked. As were we. But we shouldn’t have been. Not really.
“If you love what you’re doing, Kel, you’ll do well.”
So true. Thanks, for the wise advice, Mom.
When I joined her at FROG in the summer of 1983, I had no intention of staying. Work with my type-A mother was simply a means to earn money toward my postgrad tuition. Hello. I was still working with her some ten years later.
We closed FROG in 1993 when Francine was 72. She wanted to “slow down.”
What did slowing down look like for her? Traveling with my dad to Cuba, Denmark, Russia …
Yes, You’ve Got To Admire Her Chutzpah
When her husband of over 60 years passed away in 2006, Francine was 84. Time for her to really slow down, no?
No. She returned to an old love. Painting. A skilled artist, she’d last painted when I was wee.
Francine also continued to travel. We weren’t in the least bit surprised when our gal signed on for a trip to Canada’s north on a Russian icebreaker. Twice.
Attentive readers of Just TypiKel will remember how she tore her rotator cuffs on both shoulders while scrambling up a rope ladder from a bobbing Zodiac on one of those trips. Choosing not to have surgery at 86, she informed us that she’d simply live with the pain.
Did it stop her from painting?
Absolutely not.
When it came time to lower her canvas to reach the upper sections she simply knocked on her neighbor’s door. They’d hop over and plop the canvas onto the floor.
Her love of travel remained. My two and I were blessed to go on several trips with her. London, Paris, Tofino, Hawaii, Whistler, San Francisco, Los Angeles …
As I look back on her life and what she taught me, I’m reminded of her advice to, “Seek out adventure, never be afraid of colour, and chat to every person you meet.”
I hear you, Mom. I’m doing my best to heed that advice.
You can read more about my time with this remarkable woman in my book, Never, Never, Hardly Ever – A Mother/Daughter Story of Antiques and Antics
Happy International Women’s Day.
3 Responses
Beautiful post, Kelly. Your mom continues to be an inspiration through the stories that you share here and in your book. And you’re quite inspiring, too!
What a wonderful post Kelly ! Your Mum was a remarkable woman, and I am so grateful to have had the chance to meet her ! She was indeed a force to be reckoned with !!
You have lived up to her advice, in all ways possible ! Keep it up !!
Beautifully written Kelly.
For sure, she is someone to aspire to, but what I recall was her avid interest in everything and everyone. If she was talking to you, then you were the sole focus of her attention. Such a rare gift to give someone these days, happy to say my dear pal you are blessed to have inherited it from her!