Desperate to help his 96-year-old mother to speak her mother tongue again, Keith McDermott made an appeal on social media and was met with a flood of kind responses. The old lady, Ray, was moved to tears after talking on the phone with one of the enthusiastic respondents in Welsh.
Ray moved to America after meeting her husband when she was only 18, hence waving goodbye to her life in Wales. She continued to speak Welsh with her mum- keeping a little bit of home. But she lost her beloved mum four decades ago and hadn't spoken Welsh since.
Despite suffering from short-term memory loss and sometimes not remembering what she has done recently, Ray's childhood memories in Wales remain crystal clear. "She wants to return but I know, given her age, such long-distance travel is out of the question." said Keith, "Once she mentioned ‘I wish I could speak Welsh again but l suppose I never will' It was then that I thought I should make her-wish happen."
So Keith, 70, posted on social media in the New York Welsh area asking for any Welsh speakers that could speak Welsh with his mum. And he was touched, as-well as-a little shocked, to receive over 30 responses within half an hour. Keith thanked everyone and eventually asked Melisa to give his mum a phone call. Speaking with Melisa, her (Ray's) Welsh was a little rusty. A few more Welsh conversations and I think she'd be fluent again," added Keith.
"When you have a parent in their nineties, you-will find you two have something in common: you're both old, So I am very sympathetic to my mother? feelings of loneliness and isolation (孤立). I'm feeling it myself." Keith hopes to set up more Welsh phone conversations for his-mum and Melisa has promised to send Ray some short stories in Welsh to remind her of her life in Wales.
