It's hard to believe I've been blogging since 2018! I really started blogging as a form of journaling...it is very therapeutic for one thing. A place where I can share bits and pieces of our life. I don't have paying ads....or sponsored posts, as some of the more well known blogs do...and I'm okay with that. I don't share photos of my grandchildren...their faces are not intended to be shared with the world....
Today...I will share about me, my loves and losses. I am not an Islander...neither born nor raised here. Neither is Mr. Seventies. We moved here to PEI for employment opportunities. I was not thrilled to be coming...but I came with him. The heart wants what the heart wants.
We are both from southwestern New Brunswick...him from a small town...me from an even smaller village. I adored my little village...when I grew up in the 60's...it had everything we ever needed for the most part. It was a "railroad" village...most men worked for Canadian Pacific Railway, as my Dad did. He was an engineer...he drove freight trains...mostly across Canada and into the U.S....he was not home much until I was in my teens. My Mom....was a school teacher. Ironically, she would have been my Grade 7 teacher...had her health not forced her to retire that year.....hmmmmm
This is my Mom...with our youngest daughter...eight months old at the time. Little did I know five short weeks after this photo was taken, I would lose her to a heart attack. She had been in poor health for a number of years...even battled cancer (as did I at the same time)....and she was the centre of my world. She died February 1, 1985 at the age of 62. She had written me a letter on January 31st...(as we did in those days)...and it was sitting on the kitchen counter to be taken to the post office. It never got mailed. I still have it. Not a day goes by I don't miss her terribly....still.
This is my Dad....on my wedding day to Mr. Seventies. We were close he and I. He had a very dry sense of humour.... his face was serious in this photo...he wasn't a man to smile much I lost him in May of 1994......suddenly as well. He was 73 at the time. He is laid to rest next to my Mom in the village cemetery....
I am one of three children...my sister was six years older than me...then my brother was three years older than me....and I was the baby of the family. I was around four years old when this photo was taken...I still remember the name of the doll my sister received that year....Jeannie. Don't ask me why I remember her doll's name...and never any of my own....
And this is my beloved brother, Reid. He had about 19 lives that boy did! And he lived each one his way! He grew up....married a couple of times....divorced a couple of times....and sadly lost his battle with COPD in 2000 at the age of 43. He had the most amazing sense of humour...we all got that from our Mom. It was very difficult watching him suffer....but now in the arms of our parents. He would be proud to know he has two grand sons...one who shares his name...Reid. He was laid to rest next to my parents.
I forgot to include this photo!! Reid would chuckle about that!! I can't remember what the event was we attended...but this was taken before he took sick...he looks so much like my Dad. This is my favourite picture of the two of us!!
And my sister, Pat. The sun rose and set on her...as far as I was concerned. Her sense of humour knew no bounds! She was a teacher to elementary children with special needs...it was her calling & a privilege she loved. My world crashed again in February, 2016....when she lost her battle with lung cancer. Coming to terms with her loss has been a continuous struggle. This photo was taken at Halloween...when she was designated "Employee of the Month".....
We always knew what the other was thinking....without having to even speak! Just a look is all it took! She knew heartbreak as a new bride....her husband of barely three months was killed in a trucking accident. Her wishes were to be laid to rest beside him..they are together again. Next to him (his name was Kent) in their wedding photo are two of his brothers...and my brother Reid. My cousin is next to Pat, then a university friend...and me...happy to be in this wedding at the age of 14? Um no. Such a brat I was. And that sweet little flower girl...is Kent's sister. When Pat died...the remaining members of Kent's family were with us every day...like the years had never melted away. She and Kent were married on July 17....our Dad's birthday....350 guests attended the wedding!!
There's a lot of sadness here, isn't there? It is said God will not give you more than you can handle...but again....my life came crashing down. Also, in 2016....August to be exact... we lost my oldest daughter Ann Marie, to ovarian cancer...at the age of 42...after a five year struggle. This is one story I hold close to my heart...so I'm just going to leave this precious photo of my girl when she was one year old....
I also lost my best friend, Christine to a brain bleed....losing her was hard. She is looking down from heaven waiting for her daughter to deliver her first grand daughter in July. I miss our conversations, our tea visits....and trips to the mainland. I miss everything about her...and loved her dearly....
Someone suggested I should be in grief counselling. Honey....I could teach grief counselling....I've had my fair share...
Along with all the sadness....there have been many, many happy times. Like the day Mr. Seventies and I married! It was a snotty, rainy snowy day...as it usually is in late October. But it didn't ruin our day...we were married in St. Paul's United Church....the church I attended, was baptized and grew up in....
Prior to marrying Mr. Seventies....I was a divorced mother of two girls....so we became an instant family! This face, belonging to daughter Sarah Catherine...rocks my world. She was three years old when I met Mr. Seventies....and although not her biological father...(now deceased).....he is and always has been her Dad...in every sense of the word...
She is a divorced mother of three daughters.....my grand daughters. A hard working animal lover...spending long hours working in an animal shelter in Nova Scotia....
A happier woman...you will never find...she lives every moment of every day. The good ones and the bad ones. See that adorable scar on her nose? She was mauled by a dog when she was two years old...and bears the scars. It was not our dog...she snuck into a neighbour's yard...when my back was turned for all of two seconds!! Thankfully, a few stitches later and an overnight hospital stay....she is still an animal lover...
And this is Sarah's UK significant other! This photo says it all....a real life Superman. He is a great guy...and the girls love him to bits. There are rumours of nuptials...this six year engagement is beginning to drag on a bit. Right, Steve? As long as they are happy...that is all that matters....
And this is the baby of our family! The most beautiful soul...with her Dad on her wedding day.....
And with her beloved husband Nathan...who has been with her every step of the way....enduring birthing a Covid baby.....and months of hospital visits and stays until their little one had open heart surgery at the age of 12 weeks....(she is fully recovered and a busy, busy toddler!).
My life has been anything but boring...it saddens me my extended family are gone...but having Mr. Seventies, my girls and grand daughters...I am very blessed. I came across this photo of our seventies split not long after we purchased it. Let's be real...it was the only thing we could afford...with three children...and both of us working full time. I remember the day we dug up those ugly shrubs...I swear the roots descended almost into China!! Took us all day to dig them out. There was a dilapidated car port on the left side....the roof leaked like crazy and co workers used to take bets when it would fall off. Mr. Seventies tore it down...it served no purpose as it was...
And now....currently....(before I began painting the lamp post)....
So that's a bit of my life story, in a nutshell! And I've left a lot out. My mother-in-law used to say I should write a book about my life! I don't think anyone would find it that interesting! If I did write one...I would title it "Life Behind the Gates".... as I've spent so many years with dachshunds....who couldn't do stairs...and we needed a gazillion gates to keep them corralled. We've currently have five to keep Liesel in check!
Til next time folks...if you haven't nodded off already!
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