Sharon Higgins
CFL.ca
My Grandma Lucy is one of very few Canadians who were fortunate enough to live in three different centuries.
Born in 1899, the 7th of 8 children to homesteading parents from Ontario; she was raised in Ellerslie, an area to the south of Edmonton. Her birth certificate indicated her birthplace to be the North West Territories, as Alberta didn’t become a province until 1905.
Grandma Lucy would tell wonderful stories about growing up on the family farm and their daily activities, which, at the very least, seem bizarre now when trying to imagine they were reality at one time.
Her nephew was born premature. With little medical intervention available, he was placed in a shoebox and set in the coal oven’s warming drawer to complete his final days of growth before being released into the world.
As a teen, a special event was to attend the Saturday night dances in Edmonton. During the winter, her Father would hitch up the horse and sleigh and for warmth they would cover themselves with pelts of fur that had been trapped and cured.
Loved ones that would pass away during the winter months were stored out in the wood shed or barn until the ground thawed enough in the spring to dig a grave.
Although she lived in a time when there was no electricity, cars or any sort of modern conveniences, she also lived during a time when many wonderful inventions became modern luxuries that all too soon turned into necessities.
One of Grandma Lucy’s greatest joys was “her boys,” The Eskimos. How she became to think they were her own private pack of fun I’m not sure, but she would always refer to the team in this way. We would often tease her about being a homer and she actually didn’t take it very well. She was quite serious about “her boys.”
For her 90th birthday Tom arranged for her to receive an autographed Eskimo pennant. Still coaching at the time with the Stampeders, he was caught red handed with the dreaded competitions’ pennant by then GM, Normie Kwong. Being fast witted, Tom quickly asked Normie for his autograph to add to the pennant! The personalized pennant was a small but cherished gift.
To say she was overjoyed for the Higgins’ Team to move to Edmonton in the early 1990s and Tom to coach “her boys” was an understatement. Not so much because we were going to live in the same city as her, but because finally we would be cheering for the right team!
Grandma Lucy would be all smiles after a win but in the event of a loss she would be quick to chide Tom about the teams’ conundrums. Being an easygoing guy, he would take it in stride and try and explain to her in a simple way, the problem and the plan to fix it.
Grandma Lucy was just like the CFL. Her life was full of heritage and tradition, living the past, the present and bearing witness to the future. She experienced highs and lows, family expansion, the dirty thirties, two World Wars and lived enough years to have ninety-five Grey Cup games played.
She passed away at the age of 104, only days after we won the Grey Cup in 2003. There is no doubt in my mind she died with a glow in her heart knowing that “her boys” had won the championship.
Grandma Lucy embodied the phrase that is so proudly displayed in the Eskimo locker room: Once an Eskimo, Always an Eskimo.
Grandma Lucy is one of a multitude of CFL fans whose passion and love for the game ensures their life story is intertwined with that of their team.
