Laughter, tears, and praise!

My mother was honored last weekend at a dinner in Halifax Nova Scotia for her many years of service as a Justice of the Nova Scotia courts. She retired in December as the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia.

The weekend included a symposium on Saturday, and a black tie dinner Saturday night. My mother also hosted a casual dinner Friday night for her out-of-town guests. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend, and I came to realize that she is very highly respected, not just in Nova Scotia, but all over Canada for her contributions to the Canadian judicial system.

I'm not going to recap the whole weekend, but here are some of the highlights.

Casual dinner Friday night. A judge's definition of casual, and most other people's definition are different. Casual does not mean jeans and t-shirts. Casual does not even really mean khakis and polos. No, casual means a sports jacket and slacks instead of a suit, and the tie can be a little brighter than otherwise. On Friday night my mother hosted dinner for 47 out of town guests. They included Chief Justices and former Chief Justices from almost every province in Canada, as well as the Chief Justice of Canada. The CJC is a very bright very pleasant woman who spoke at both the symposium and the dinner. I enjoyed our conversations very much. She was quite gracious to my children as well, and even wrote a note to my son and his fiancee! But casual dress? NOT!

Saturday night. My brother's children, nephew and neice, appeared briefly for photographs with my mother. They were all decked out in Nova Scotia Tartan! Adorable. My brothers looked elegant in suit or tux and tie. My mother was all smiles, when she wasn't crying. I learned that she has been to a spa, once. The CJC ordered her to go (with a smile) and so she went. I learned that other judges taught her to drink cosmapolitans, and she likes them. I learned that there was no task too small or too big, no committee chair or group chair that my mother couldn't handle with her usual efficient and effective management style. I learned that my mother's shoes will be very hard to fill, and I learned that mention of my Dad in a public forum still makes me cry.

We were all very proud of Constance Rochelle Glube, former Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. May she have many wonderful years of retirement, and may she enjoy them to the full, even more than she enjoyed her many wonderful years on the bench.