Ruth Wright

Ruth Wright was so much more than just my mom. She was a beautiful artist, using many different types of media such as oils, pastels, water colour and charcoal. She was also an amazing seamstress, knitter, crocheter, quilter and card maker. And she made beautiful clothes, stuffed animals and toys for all of her children and grandchildren. She was also a master in the kitchen whether creating a beautiful family Sunday dinner, trying new types of recipes or baking the most wonderful cakes and cookies.

Mom was born in Halifax and grew up in the city but enjoyed her summers at her family’s second home in Glen Haven with her parents and younger brother. She attended Mount Saint Vincent Academy to complete her upper grades and created a beautiful scrapbook of photos and clippings chronicling her time there which has been made part of their archives. After having 6 children and waiting for the last of us to begin school, she returned to the Mount as a university student at the same time as one of my older sisters and received her Bachelor of Education. She then became a Home-ec teacher and worked in various schools throughout Halifax.

After a few years of teaching, Mom took a job at Sears in the appliance department and demonstrated sewing machines and microwave ovens. Later on, she moved into sales in major appliances and was well-loved and respected there.

One thing my mother was not was her illness. She was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in March of 2006, at the age of 74 and was told the maximum life expectancy for a healthy, younger person with CLL was 10 years at that time but she had other underlying health issues, so her prognosis was a bit grimmer than that. She accepted this with grace and continued living her life for almost 11 years before we lost her.

Ruth was a mother to 6 children, grandmother to 7, great-grandmother to 4, aunt to 3, sister to 1 and daughter to 2 not to mention a number of cousins and so many friends. She also adopted many cats over her lifetime and cared for them like no other. She loved all animals and as a child, even brought home a neighbour’s horse during summer holidays (much to her own mother’s dismay).

She was a beautiful singer. I remember listening to her as a young child and being amazed by her vocals as she sang along to her favourite songs on local radio station, CFDR.

Ruth was also a wonderful, caring friend to many. She still kept in touch with school mates, nuns from her time at the Mount, former co-workers, people she met in church, etc.

I would have to say her role as “mom” was her best though. She made everything feel special and wherever she was, was home for me.

I had been living in NL when Mom found out quite by accident that she had CLL. So, the discussions with my then husband began. Our parents were aging and getting off the rock was not always easy nor immediate so at the end of October 2007, we came home to NS after living out of province for 10 years.

When I lived in NL, I worked for an insurance brokerage called Marsh Canada Limited. They have a branch here in Halifax as well so when I left NL, they quickly invited me to work in their local office. In late summer, 2011 our office manager had been approached by the LLSC about a new fundraising event called Light The Night and wanted to know if we were interested in participating by entering a corporate team. Our office in Montréal was already involved in their region, so we had a lunch and learn session to see what it was about.

The heads of office knew my mom was living with a form of blood cancer at the time, so they accepted my request to name the team for her (The Marsh ‘Ruth’less Renegades) and asked me to take the lead for our fundraising efforts.

I had been feeling so helpless with my mom’s diagnosis and this was a way for me to feel as though I was doing something to make things better. It also provided a community for my mom and me, where we would receive support and for me, a sense of purpose.

After our first successful event as a corporate team, I was approached to attend a recruitment breakfast meeting with LLSC Atlantic, where I was asked to become part of the existing volunteer committee. The love and support I felt at that event was immediate, so I quickly jumped on board and shortly thereafter became the chair of the volunteer committee and got involved in multiple other ways as well and am still involved in various different aspects leading up to the event each October. The LLSC Atlantic team, although with quite a few new faces over the years, remains like a family to me. They helped through the tough years as Mom fought, declined and then lost her battle with CLL. And it didn’t end there. They continued to support me on a personal level after the loss of my mom and to this day, we remain supportive of each other. I provide my time when and where they need it and the LLSC team keeps in touch. They check in. They stop by. They care.

In recent years, I have also become involved in a challenge that is part of Light The Night. It was created to honour a colleague at my previous company who had lost his battle with blood cancer. At one of our Zoom gatherings for this challenge last year, I listened to a woman speak about her ongoing journey with CLL. I was moved to tears when I heard that LLSC’s fundraising efforts had contributed to research that has now changed the prognosis for those diagnosed with CLL. Life expectancy and quality has improved greatly in the 9 years since my mom passed away.

I have personally seen the amazing research going on right here, within Halifax and it really brings our goal as a collective, into focus. This research and these new prognoses are among the reasons why events like Light The Night are so important and worthwhile. Whatever part you play, you can make and are making a difference.

Any time and money I have donated to LLSC over the past 15 years all began as a way to support and honour my own mother but during this time, I have also had the absolute privilege to get to know so many others who have been diagnosed with, struggled with, lost their battle with and who have survived blood cancers as well as those who have supported and honoured all these people. Their strength has been so inspirational to witness and I am truly thankful to have met each and every one of them.

I now work at a new company, have created a new team there and continue to do my little part, still to honour my mom but also to give back to the LLSC for all they have given me along with so many others.