Daphne Joyce Battiste

If there was one thing about my mom, it was that she was a true trooper. She was lively, determined, and seemed almost invincible. Nothing was going to stop her from experiencing life. Only two hours into our Northern Europe tour, she had a bad fall that left the right side of her body bruised, her face bruised, her glasses broken, and her thumb broken. We spent hours in an Icelandic hospital getting her checked out and bandaged up. Most people would have been ready to rest, but not Mom. As soon as she was finished, she hopped up and said, “Okay, we have very little time. Let’s go see things.” And that is exactly what she did. For the next 11 days, she toured like nothing had ever happened. The very next day, she was floating in the Blue Lagoon, something she never thought she would get to experience. She embraced every moment and refused to let an injury stand in the way of an adventure. A few days later in Finland, she had another unforgettable experience. While enjoying an ice cream, she was “attacked” by a flock of determined seagulls that swooped in and started picking at her hair and clothes, trying to get to her ice cream. In true Daphne fashion, she hung on to that ice cream until they knocked it out of hand at ate it while she ran away screaming. Although winded and confused, she got herself another ice cream and carried on. It became one of those hilarious memories she would look back on and laugh in hysterics about. There was never a dull moment. She also made it to the top of Europe, the Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps, another incredible accomplishment and a place she never thought she would see. That was the kind of adventurer my mom was. She travelled throughout Italy, Paris, England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and many parts of the United States and Canada. Every year, she travelled home to Newfoundland to reconnect with family and friends and to return to the place she loved so deeply. My mom didn’t wait for life to happen. She went out and lived it. She created memories, embraced adventures, laughed through the unexpected moments, and always believed in making the most of every opportunity. She lived by her own words: “You have to do it while you can.” And she truly did.