The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1979, Blaðsíða 32

30
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
WINTER 1979
character, in her own way, independent,
resourceful, and facing the odds bravely.
Mother had demonstrated to me that we
can find hidden qualities if we care to look
for them. She was no racist. She regretted
the condition of the native tribes, and
reacted with kindly consideration.
It may be that in her lifetime she had
witnessed and experienced such hardships
among her fellow countrymen, hardships
suffered with remarkable courage.
When medical help was non-existent.
Mother was known as the district nurse; and
she received love and affection from many a
student who learned to read or who lived in
our home while completing high school,
because of her persuasions. Though so often
without worldly wealth, she made birth-
days, holidays, and Christmas special oc-
casions. Her modesty was genuine, for she
did not regard as extraordinary the adven-
tures which unfolded with each year of her
life. Certainly, her conversation was not
overburdened with her many achievements.
As is true of the first groups of immi-
grants in those by-gone days, their self-
sacrifices provide much material for future
novelists, experiences of a powerful, com-
pelling drama, of deepest emotions.
As the names continue in the stream of
life, they remain as reminders, as an identi-
fication, or a symbol, a badge of courage of
the remarkable qualities shown by the intre-
pid settlers who dared to tame the wilder-
nesses of America.
We must not forget the fortitude of these
young women of frontier days, raising their
little ones, giving encouragement to their
husbands, and understanding the promises
of the future.
By the richness of their character, we
learn much; and like our Mother, it was
good to be in their presence.
Blessed be their memory!
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