Obituary for Marie Brisson
Marie-Francis Brisson or, “Mom” as she was known to my brother and I came into this world on August 31st, 1949 full of life and hope. Daughter of my grandparents, Nora and John Brisson; she was also sister to my uncles Mitch, Pete and aunt Sue. She bore my brother, Dominic Deveault and I in the 1970’s. She succumbed to Covid-19 on April 18th, 2021. But there is so much more to her story than mere dates and facts that we’ll turn our attention to now.
In her time on this physical plain, Mom was a college graduate whose career ambitions were cut short when I suddenly arrived in 1971. She then married my Dad, had Dom in 1977 and shortly thereafter divorced him. In short, she was a single mother trying to support her burgeoning family as best she could. Life it turns out had other plans when she faced persistent unemployment problems, or found terrible jobs with terrible bosses and struggled to pay the bills. No matter what life threw at Mom, she somehow found a way forward and thrived through insurmountable odds. Not only was Mom a tough cat, she was also generous, fair and supportive in helping those in need. For example, in recent years she volunteered at a local food bank despite suffering incredible pain and discomfort, she went on to help those in need. A noble spirit, indeed.
As her first son, I can share a few memorable moments that we had together. And by no means is this an exhaustive list nor was I a ‘perfect’ son. Mom put up with a lot of crap. These stories range from when a dump truck crushed my first bike to my first encounter with the law when I peeled a sticker off a car which involved the police (I was already a menace at age six!). The first time I was grounded I manage to get under my parents’ bed to watch the Brady Bunch (hoping to not get caught) while Mom was laying down. Naturally, I laughed uncontrollably and was soon busted. We finished watching the episode together, and she said that I would have to go back to my room. When I was eight going on nine, I thought smoking was ‘cool’ and started to smoke some of Mom’s cigarettes thinking she’d never know. Well sure enough she told Dad and, I got a big fat Cuban cigar for my nineth birthday. Had to smoke it to the point where I was sick enough to have learnt the lesson, namely that: ‘smoking isn’t cool’ which was the worst thing ever up until that point. I remember one particular day watching Captain Kangaroo as Mom was rushing to go to work and wondering. . . “Mom; where do babies come from?” Well, in a matter of a couple of minutes she gave the run down about the ‘birds and the bees’ and then went off to work. Time after time she somehow knew, understood or was able to put things in perspective to help me figure out life. Thanks Mom for your encouragement, compassion and wise ways. . . you’ll be very much missed.
Lastly, who can forget the gazillions of movies we watched as a family when video stores were still a thing? I can remember those days as if they were yesterday. The anticipation of going to the video store with Mom and Dom filled me up with tremendous excitement. What movies were out on new release? Or, were the movies we wanted to rent last week available this week? The experience of wandering up and down the aisles gazing at hundreds of movie titles with Mom and Dom, breathing in that near “Canadian Tire” smell with wafting scents of freshly popped corn takes me back to those memorable days. For Mom, it was all about horror movies. Not like the slasher films, but the ones that involved super natural forces borrowing from spiritual/religious themes. As for Dom and I, we loved anything that was action packed, funny and loaded with computer graphics. Once we got our favorite flicks, it was all about getting the food, generally takeout like Chinese, pizza, burgers, poutines and other junk snacks. All I know is that, once we got the movies and grub together, it was heavenly bliss for those few short hours. Of course, that depended on whether or not the films or food were any good. Generally, they were. My point in all of this is that, some of my more memorable moments with Mom were those spent in video stores; and unfortunately, like most video stores they are gone forever and, so are you MOM! Truly sad for us who were close to you and, knew you well – from Dominic to Aunt Sue to your close friends to those you helped make their lives better at the food bank and finally, myself. You will be truly missed Mom! Hope you’re in a happy place free of struggle and pain. Thank you very much for everything you did for us, you’ll be remembered in our hearts and minds.
In her time on this physical plain, Mom was a college graduate whose career ambitions were cut short when I suddenly arrived in 1971. She then married my Dad, had Dom in 1977 and shortly thereafter divorced him. In short, she was a single mother trying to support her burgeoning family as best she could. Life it turns out had other plans when she faced persistent unemployment problems, or found terrible jobs with terrible bosses and struggled to pay the bills. No matter what life threw at Mom, she somehow found a way forward and thrived through insurmountable odds. Not only was Mom a tough cat, she was also generous, fair and supportive in helping those in need. For example, in recent years she volunteered at a local food bank despite suffering incredible pain and discomfort, she went on to help those in need. A noble spirit, indeed.
As her first son, I can share a few memorable moments that we had together. And by no means is this an exhaustive list nor was I a ‘perfect’ son. Mom put up with a lot of crap. These stories range from when a dump truck crushed my first bike to my first encounter with the law when I peeled a sticker off a car which involved the police (I was already a menace at age six!). The first time I was grounded I manage to get under my parents’ bed to watch the Brady Bunch (hoping to not get caught) while Mom was laying down. Naturally, I laughed uncontrollably and was soon busted. We finished watching the episode together, and she said that I would have to go back to my room. When I was eight going on nine, I thought smoking was ‘cool’ and started to smoke some of Mom’s cigarettes thinking she’d never know. Well sure enough she told Dad and, I got a big fat Cuban cigar for my nineth birthday. Had to smoke it to the point where I was sick enough to have learnt the lesson, namely that: ‘smoking isn’t cool’ which was the worst thing ever up until that point. I remember one particular day watching Captain Kangaroo as Mom was rushing to go to work and wondering. . . “Mom; where do babies come from?” Well, in a matter of a couple of minutes she gave the run down about the ‘birds and the bees’ and then went off to work. Time after time she somehow knew, understood or was able to put things in perspective to help me figure out life. Thanks Mom for your encouragement, compassion and wise ways. . . you’ll be very much missed.
Lastly, who can forget the gazillions of movies we watched as a family when video stores were still a thing? I can remember those days as if they were yesterday. The anticipation of going to the video store with Mom and Dom filled me up with tremendous excitement. What movies were out on new release? Or, were the movies we wanted to rent last week available this week? The experience of wandering up and down the aisles gazing at hundreds of movie titles with Mom and Dom, breathing in that near “Canadian Tire” smell with wafting scents of freshly popped corn takes me back to those memorable days. For Mom, it was all about horror movies. Not like the slasher films, but the ones that involved super natural forces borrowing from spiritual/religious themes. As for Dom and I, we loved anything that was action packed, funny and loaded with computer graphics. Once we got our favorite flicks, it was all about getting the food, generally takeout like Chinese, pizza, burgers, poutines and other junk snacks. All I know is that, once we got the movies and grub together, it was heavenly bliss for those few short hours. Of course, that depended on whether or not the films or food were any good. Generally, they were. My point in all of this is that, some of my more memorable moments with Mom were those spent in video stores; and unfortunately, like most video stores they are gone forever and, so are you MOM! Truly sad for us who were close to you and, knew you well – from Dominic to Aunt Sue to your close friends to those you helped make their lives better at the food bank and finally, myself. You will be truly missed Mom! Hope you’re in a happy place free of struggle and pain. Thank you very much for everything you did for us, you’ll be remembered in our hearts and minds.