I first met Ada when I was 18, just dating Chris. He brought me home for the weekend. It was 1992 and it seems like a million years ago. Chris had made fun of me, trying to make me nervous. Ada was in the laundry, folding towels & sheets, at the Takiki. I can still remember the smell and vision of Ada folding, for what seemed like forever. She checked me out, and that was it. She took Chris' laundry from school, mine in there too and just kept going. I remember how neatly everything of mine was folded and not a word was said. That was Ada, she just kept on going. She loved to talk about the Royals, she got on well with my own Grandmothers, there was never enough shrimp and the many stories of living in the "bush", she loved to swim, shop at Bells and talk on the phone. She absolutely glowed when Chris and I got married in 1995. She was so proud of Chris. She took in my family with loving arms and embraced them fully. There were so many of us! Her smile that day in October as she walked down the aisle was from ear to ear. I remember the shine in her eyes the first time she saw her very first great-grandchild, our eldest, Hannah. She was so proud. When we had our third, Finlay, she was just as thrilled that we chose to name him after her father. I will always regret that she never got to meet Fin & only saw pictures or heard the many stories of his mischief. We were upset by her absence from Hannah's Bat Mitzvah this past June, but we all understood. She would have had a blast. We all love Ada very much. She lived a good life, had many friends and a truly committed family. She is missed. She was blessed. She died with a full heart. She was the last of my Grandmother's to pass.
