Thursday, August 20, 2020
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Ilme Paar was one of my mother’s dearest friends- they’d known each other from a very young age and essentially grew up together, both as transplanted Estonians ripped from their country during World War II and establishing their new lives in Canada. Just because she was my mom's best friend, didn't mean that she had to be mine..but she was.Ilme was always very kind and supportive of me – she shared many of my same interests that were not as interesting to my family – for example ballet! She took me to see the National Ballet of Canada countless times as a young girl and teen – thankfully I had someone to share my love of ballet with. She inspired my interest in education, being a teacher herself, and along with my mother would provide me with ideas for good books. She also had a secret love of “celebrity” magazines that I was also fortunate to benefit from! Ilme was also who I turned to when wanting to watch the wedding of Charles and Diana – as no one else in my family was remotely interested. To this day I don’t genuinely know if she was interested but she was always so welcoming – and I biked over at 430AM, where she had coffee and treats for us to watch the wedding celebrations together. Her support was evident even in later in my life in so many ways, but a few I will share: Ilme provided the surprise venue for my wedding shower, and she drove my mother to London ON to celebrate with me on the day I passed my PhD defense. She had a love of travel and was always willing to travel (usually with my mom) to come and visit my growing family- coming to New York City in 1995 and to Vancouver many times. I will always remember her kindness, her thoughtfulness (she never missed a birthday!), and her love of travel, ABBA, and all things Estonian. I am comforted by the thought of my mom, Hiie, and my Auntie Ilme, drinking coffee ( they weren’t really beer drinkers) and smiling at us from Valhalla. (excerpted from my post on facebook). here's a photo from I believe January 2000
