“My mom loved her job at CIBC. She was so social and loved working with people, helping them whenever she could. But probably her favourite part of the job was dressing up for it each morning. She was super into fashion and always trying new looks.
My mom immigrated from Hong Kong quite young. She wasn’t always effusive like Western parents, but she showed her love for me and my brother in so many ways, food and clothing especially. She loved buying me dresses and shoes. It thrilled her to see me dressed up in things she’d picked out for me.
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I was in my third year of university when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She beat it, but it returned 10 years later — much more aggressively — as uterine cancer. She was hospitalized at Princess Margaret. It was early COVID, so everything was chaotic and we could barely get in to see her. And, once she got out of the hospital, everything happened so fast. On March 27th, 2021 — one week after her 60th birthday — my mom passed away at home.
I knew she would want me to be okay. To live my life and be happy. I tried. For three years, I bottled up my grief, kept it all private. Only a few friends knew how badly I was hurting. Finally, I realized the only way I would truly heal was by opening up and sharing my mom with others.
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I started with her closet, which had sat untouched since the day she passed. I knew that she wouldn’t want these beautiful outfits she’d loved so much to hang unused. We donated a bunch of clothes to an organization that helps disadvantaged women return to the workforce. My mom would’ve been so proud to help these women through fashion. Then, with the rest, we set up a vintage shop at St. Lawrence Market, with the proceeds going to breast cancer research and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. It was such a lovely experience, seeing pieces of my mom go home with all these different people. Friends, family, strangers.
My mom’s name was Kitty, and we named the vintage label Nine Lives because it’s just that, a way for her to live on. To this day, people will text me like, ‘Guess what I’m wearing today?’ It warms my heart every time.”
