My Mom- Lady Louise Roze

My mother was born Luba Goncharovs in a small village in Latvia ninety years ago on August 12th. She never met her birth father. When her mother moved them to a larger city her Russian first name was changed to the more acceptable Latvian version of Ludmila. At the age of six my mother was adopted by my grandmother’s first husband who changed her surname to Nebednieks. My mother married her first husband in Belgium at seventeen and her last name became Buls. My sister was born the following year. After the three of them relocated to Ontario, my mother quickly separated from her husband and divorced him. My mother married my father in 1956 becoming Mrs Roze. I was born a year later and they were divorced by the time I was five.

My single mom, while raising her two children, started her career in retail in the 1960s. She legally changed her first name to Louise to blend in better for the business world at that time. Working for Eaton’s, she quickly rose up the corporate ladder to become one of their top managers. Though my mom always had a classic style, she could now afford to really dress and live like the lady she considered herself to be. By the 1970s I started calling her Lady Louise.

My mother became Ludmilla Roze when she married my father in 1956. This beautiful wedding portrait is deceptive as they were divorced within 5 years. My mother wasn’t aware that she had married an abusive alcoholic who refused to work and provide.

I photographed this portrait of my mom for a B&W portrait assignment while I was studying at OCAD in 1976, then called OCA. My mom is either going to work or coming home, groomed to perfection. She already referred to herself as a lady. I gave her the title Lady Louise.

I have loved this image of my mother since I saw it and made a quick print of it. Once free of my father, my mom started to feel very comfortable in her own being and body. She knew how to do cheesecake poses very well and I learned this term from her. This photo is taken on the boat cruise she enjoyed with close family friends around 1980.

This is my favorite portrait of my mom and I, which I composed and shot by self-timer. It’s taken in the early 80s during one of our Florida family vacations. My mom chose the spots and paid all the expenses. I loved these bonding opportunities with my mom in a more carefree environment than the stresses that Toronto living dealt her.

Another portrait of my mom and I that I love due to it’s warm and intimate feeling. It was taken in the mid 90s at Christmas time. Our relationship had improved considerably after I had moved to Vancouver in 1992. Selective phone calls and mutual visits made our communication more special.

It’s a Latvian tradition to pose and be photographed with your birthday flowers. For her 80th birthday, my mom came and stayed with me in the Riverside Drive apt I was minding on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The apt was in complete disarray though she was happy for us to be together.

I took my mom out to a fine restaurant on Broadway near the Riverside Drive apt. We had a delicious meal and much fun sitting outside on their street patio. I’m glad I asked our server to take this photo to preserve the good time we had celebrating.

My mother loved to entertain in her tastefully decorated apt. She lived in various apts in the same building on Ridelle Ave for 45 years. I took this photo of her with her longtime friend and neighbor Tom at Christmas 2011.

My mom has been visiting me twice weekly at my house near Roncesvalles Village. We thoroughly enjoy the majority of our time together. I do my best to keep her engaged in what’s important in my life. I took this photo in my industrial backyard two months ago. My healthy mother will be 90 very soon. This submission is my tribute to her and her overall charmed and successful life.