Lynda Lou Russwurm Glendenning PearsonApril 25th, 1956 — May…



Lynda Lou Russwurm Glendenning Pearson

April 25th, 1956 — May 13th, 2010

I try to avoid publishing about living people who are not in the public eye, so as not to infringe on their privacy.  I often publish obituaries of people I admire (as I’ve just done with Peter Mayhew), and I’d like to take this opportunity to write a little something about my older sister I admired.

Yesterday was the 9th anniversary anniversary of Lynda’s passing.

As a child, I thought Lynda would always be older, but as it happens I’m older now.  We were three years apart, and in many ways she was both my hero and my nemesis.  Having a three and a half year head start, she was always better at everything than I was.   

Lynn and Laura had seven kids, and all of us were saddled with double L names.  Lynda’s middle name was Lou and she *hated* it.  When Mom would call her in for supper, she’d bellow “Lynda Lou” and Lynda hated it so much it was a miracle she ever came home.

Lynda was very strong willed, which caused her no end of problems through her life.  As a child, she very much wanted a dog, but our mother wouldn’t hear of it.  I had assumed that had always been the case, but a few years ago I learned my older brother had had a dog when he was a child. Apparently it was too much trouble, and one day he came home from kindergarten and it was gone.  So Mom was adamant.

But Lynda wanted a dog.  And one day she found a German Shepherd.  She spent the afternoon playing with it, and when it was time to go home for dinner, she decided to bring it home with her.  So she tied a rope around its neck and tried to make it come, but the dog had other ideas.  She carried the horseshoe shaped scar from the dog bite on her forearm for the rest of her life.  But that didn’t discourage her.  One day she came home with a caged mouse she named Snoopy (after the Peanuts dog), and incredibly our parents allowed it to stay (although the cage was consigned to the basement).  But that wan’t the same as actually having a real dog.  When she was 13 she came home with a German Shepherd puppy she’d bought with her own money.  If my memory is correct, she refused to say where she’d bought him so he couldn’t be returned.  And he wasn’t.  Kelly was never allowed in the house, and he became the family dog.  And we were about to move out of the city to a rural home anyway.

Sometimes her strong will prevailed, but other times, not so much.  She was almost always in conflict with our mother.  Everything was a fight.  But it wasn’t her fault.  Our mother had a catastrophic mental illness which our father didn’t understand, and had no idea how to cope with.  The consensus is that she was an undiagnosed schizophrenic, but she may as easily have been BiPolar, or Thyroid disease.  Whatever it was, there was no talking to her when she was in a delusional state.  Something else about Mom that I only realized until much later, is that her emotional growth had been stunted since the onset of her disease.  The upshot is that even when she wasn’t crazy, the mother-daughter fights were so epic because Mom wasn’t mature enough to be the grown-up.  

At the age of 16 our parents kicked Lynda out of the house after she’d pushed Mom down in a fight that became physical.  Lynda inadvertently taught me not to engage in doomed fights with Mom if I wanted to finish high school.  Lynda went on welfare and tried to finish high school, but it didn’t happen.  Although later she finished high school by correspondence course, eventually going to college.

Lynda always had a plan and a get-rich-quick scheme or two.  Her ideas and great energy might have better served her had she grown up in a less chaotic family.  We all have baggage from our upbringing (or lack of), but Lynda unquestionably had it the worst.  But she always did her best.  

When I couldn’t live in my mother’s house anymore, Lynda offered me a home, without ever asking anything in return.  She encouraged and helped me get post secondary education, but was angry with me for deciding to leave her to go live with roommates near the college.   Our relationship after that was up & down,

Lynda was fiercely loyal, and very invested in family. Although she and I split the cost, it was Lynda’s idea to send our Dad and Stepmom to Germany so he could meet his mother’s last surviving sister.  

After her second marriage broke up, now that we were both real grownups, we became closer than we’d ever been.  I cherished having her in my life.   

I cherished having her friendship.

But then she was diagnosed with cancer.  She refused medical cancer treatment in favor of health food, and so cancer won.  My own regret is that I saw so little of her in her last year because I was angry at her for giving up and we fought.  

I stopped being angry at Lynda for leaving me, but I’ll always be a little angry at myself for losing her before I had to.  And now I think I understand. 

Lynda spent her life fighting.  She was always fighting for what she believed was right.  (Even when it wasn’t.)  I think she just got tired.  And she didn’t have the support of a spouse (as I do).  She didn’t have the energy to fight anymore; she wanted the peace of the promised afterlife.  

Although we fought a lot, I always knew she had my back. 

To this day I miss her.   

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(Note: if you find yourself in any of my published photos and would prefer not to be, let me know)   

Brant Green DrinksMonday, May 13th, 20197:00 – 9:00pmTONIGHT:…



Brant Green Drinks

Monday, May 13th, 2019
7:00 – 9:00pm

TONIGHT: Green Drinks Special Presentation
Dr. Sujata Singh of the Climate Reality Project 

Monday, May 13th, 2019
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Stillwaters Plate and Pour
61 Grand River Street N in Paris.
Check out their tasty menu here!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
When Nobel Laureate Al Gore got the world talking about climate change with An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, it was the beginning of a climate revolution. The former US Vice-President then founded what would become
The Climate Reality Project to move the conversation forward and turn awareness into action all across the Earth.                   

The science is settled. 97% of climate scientists agree that carbon pollution from fossil fuels is warming our planet and throwing natural systems out of balance. Hotter temperatures, stronger storms, rising seas, and so much more, threatening the health of our families, the viability of our communities, and the habitat we pass on to future generations. 

As 16 year old Climate Activist Greta Thunberg said so eloquently, We must act like this is a climate crisis. Because it is. Urgent action is necessary. In politics. In business. In every aspect of our lives. Everywhere. To cut greenhouse gas emissions and speed the global shift to renewables. 

Join us on Monday, May 13th as Dr. Sujata Singh of the Climate Reality Project discusses both the climate crisis and the urgent action we must take, individually, collectively, systemically. 


Who?

people like you interested in

  • environmental issues, 
  • making a difference, 
  • networking, 
  • or just plain having a good time with friends and neighbours!

What?

good drinks, good people, good times!

Where?

Stillwaters Plate & Pour
61 Grand River Street N, Paris
(see calendar below for the rest of the year) 

When?

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
or for as long as folks are around
on the 13th day of each month

Why?

Good drinks, good people, good times!


   Brant Green Drinks is the Brantford/Brant chapter of an organic, self-organizing, international network of environmentally conscious, lively people,
like yourself, from all walks of life.

   There is no formal agenda for our gatherings, just good drinks, good people, and good times. Come out and you’ll be made welcome.

Just say, “are you green?” and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there.

   Green Drinks is a great way of catching up with people you know and also for meeting new friends and making business contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd. The gatherings are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.

   So, come along, bring a friend, we’re looking forward to meeting you!   


For more information or if you have any questions,

   please contact organizer Ken Burns: kenburns [at] brantgreens.ca


2019 CALENDAR

Monday, May 13th, 2019
Stillwaters Plate & Pour
61 Grand River Street N, Paris 
7:00 – 9:00pm

Thursday, June 13th
Duke on Park,
505 Park Road North, Brantford

Saturday, July 13th
Legends Tap House & Grill,
1084 Rest Acres Rd, Paris

Tuesday, August 13th
Sociable Kitchen & Tavern
45 King George Road, Brantford

Friday, September 13th
Midtown Kitchen & Coffee Co.
59 Grand River St N, Paris

Sunday, October 13th
Steel Wheel Brewery
105 Powerline Road, Brant

Wednesday, November 13th
Bell City Brewing,
51 Woodyatt Drive, Brantford

Friday, December 13th
Duke on Park,
505 Park Road North, Brantford

gameraboy1:Australia’s Female Criminals, 1920s Very nicely…











gameraboy1:

Australia’s Female Criminals, 1920s

Very nicely done.  I like that it humanizes them.  Convicts are, after all, people.  And societal forces very often conspire to create petty criminals, even a criminal class.  This has been true for a long time, but is becoming much more apparent as, on the one hand, more people are exonerated by DNA evidence, and on the other, more are needed to fill the maw of for-profit prisons.