A thread. Happy Mother’s Day to the mammas, grandmothers, aunties, godmammas. ALL the women caring for us. We see you, honour you, love you.

Family trees often trace paternal lines, even if we start matrilineally. This project, from 1996, traced my #matriline #motherline 1/

It begins with Mary Coonan, born almost 200 years ago, 1826, in County Cork, Ireland. She passed in 1911, in Huron County, ON. She is mother #1 in my #matriline and is my great, great, great grandmother. It’s as far back as we got at the time. 2/

She married (Bernard Redmond) and had a baby girl in 1851. They named her Mary Anne Redmond. Later, Mary Anne married and “became” a Brophy. She passed in 1925. This is her as a grandmother - with my grandmother on her knee. I love this photo. #matriline #motherline 3/

Mary Anne’s daughter, Catherine Brophy is mother #3 in this #motherline born in 1884, my grandmother’s mother. Here with two daughters, my great aunts, Jean Moir (later Bauer) and Ada Moir (later Fitzgerald). Aunt Jean was always so kind to us. I never knew Ada. #matriline 4/

Catherine Brophy Moir had eight daughters, one of them
my grandmother. Catherine’s #motherline is full of strong, kind, intelligent, beautiful women. My grandmother is in blue, beside her #sisters. I am fortunate to have known most of my #greataunts as a young girl #matriline 5/

Mother #4 in the #motherline is Mary Magdalene Moir, my grandmother. I was a young girl when she passed away, but her strength and courage remain an inspiration for her daughters and granddaughters. A school principal before marrying, she had six children, continued to teach 6/

She married and “became” Mary Dales, and was loved by many who remember her gentle spirit. We spent time as kids at their farm in #cargill - a small village in #brucecounty. The house is gone, but the barn remains and it was fun to introduce my girls to it a few years ago. 7/

Which leads us to mother #5 in my #motherline but number one in my my mom. Mary Joanne Dales. She grew up on that farm, developed a strong work ethic and faith, love of family + dedication to her #community. She passed these qualities onto four children + 7 grandchildren. 8/

And now I’m privileged to be mother #6 in my own #matriline - blessed to be the mamma of two smart, sassy, strong and beautiful daughters. They inspire me everyday. And I’m happy to know they draw from a long #motherline 9/

One of depth and one that reaches out in branches to aunties, cousins, godmothers and women friends, all wrapping them and us up with care and love. This project began in 1996, inspired by a conversation with a woman I met in university, nurtured by my great aunt. #matriline 10/

Edna Moir, Sr. Mary Eleanore, sister of St. Jospeph. She lived a gentle, humble life, in service to community, family + faith. While she wasn’t a mother in the traditional sense, she was a strong influence in my life, the lives of my mother, her siblings + nieces #matriline 11/

Sr. Eleanore “found”Mary Coonan + Bernard Redmond for me, through perseverance + letter writing to her cousins, one who was especially interested in family histories. She wrote many letters and I’m glad to have kept this one. I loved her very much. This is also her #matriline 12/

That brings me to one last photo of the #Moir #sisters on this #mothersday2020 and the inspiration for my #matriline project. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, go hug a mamma or a woman who you love and who loves you! #motherline 14/

Mary Coonan —>
Mary Anne Redmond —>
Catherine Brophy —>
Mary Moir —>
Mary Joanne Dales —>
Patricia Joanne Tersigni —>

Jane Elizabeth and Katherine Joanne Tersigni Wood

#matriline #motherline
15/15

Happy #mothersday to all!