30 years ago today, we moved from Quebec to Ontario...... it was a life changing move, for a 14 year old kid... probably was for an adult too....
I remember for weeks before we moved, I would cry myself to sleep, dreading leaving my friends, and my grandparents, whom we lived next door to...... dreading leaving the only life I'd ever known....
for weeks AFTER we moved, nearly every night I would dream about the impending move, only to wake up and realize we'd already MOVED .......
it had a huge impact on our lives..... ironically though, mostly all for the positive...
we missed our family a lot and still do..... though Grampie and Grammie are both gone, all of my uncles ( and aunts ) still live in Quebec .....
The cousins are scattered all over the place.... 2 in Alberta, one in South Carolina, 4 of us in Ontario, 1 in New Brunswick; only one cousin is still in Quebec.....
interestingly enough, when Christmas rolls around, that is when I REALLY remember living in Quebec....nearly all of the Christmas memories that I have, are from my childhood in Quebec.....
I have so many memories .....
Memories of the Spring program at the elementary school in Sawyerville, and every year, the river flooding over the top of the road.... one year, the flooding was so bad, we had a school bus come and get everybody in Randboro..... I remember the bus having to take the dirt road home because of the flooding .... and then the bus getting stuck in the mud .... I remember standing out in the mud with my suit on, and the pants rolled up above my socks, helping the other men push the school bus out of the mud....
I remember the huge amounts of snow we used to get..... and all of my birthday parties every january and ALWAYS my birthday party included toboganning down the monstrous hill by Billy Graham's house ( no really, that was his name!! )
I remember getting big bags of candy as gifts at the Christmas program at the church.... and sometimes there would be an orange with it... compliments of my grandparents store, I think....
I remember singing Christmas Carols using a little green Christmas Carol book....
I remember that big curtain they would use for the stage at the front of the church, the tallest member of the youth group getting conscripted to be stage crew to help pull the curtain shut....
I remember us getting stuck on French's hill in a snow storm, and Mom backing the car down to the bottom... and me, the brave hero, standing on the side of the road, too chicken to ride down with her!!
I remember Christmas Carolling with the youth group, and Gordie Hughes going into the ditch, I remember that same night pushing people up the hill by Wesley Bowker's farm in a snowstorm...... I remember us pushing someone 3/4 of the way up that hill, and their car slid off to the side.....and would go no further....
and a couple of seconds later, we heard the hum of a little green Datsun as Bruce Kaiser blew past us.... FRONT WHEEL DRIVE ... pfffffffffff!!!
I remember skating outside on the rink behind the old bowling alley.... I remember calling Bailey's meat market, from the elementary school, to ask them if the rink had been shovelled off... ( I mean, there's no point in staying after school to SKATE if the rink hasn't been shovelled off! )
I remember getting my hair cut at Zeph ( ZEF ? ) Rousseau's barber shop down near the river in Sawyerville..... I remember going to LOTS of church suppers, turkey suppers, ham suppers, pancake suppers, strawberry suppers, it would seem people back then didn't like having supper at HOME! ( I'm just saying! )
I remember biking to school past Tommy Nugent's old farm.... I remember the Dowd's house, with the chimney that was falling down... I remember going to swim at the river in Randboro, and often having to leave early cause one or other of us ( usually Carol ) got a blood sucker... ewww!
I remember riding my bike over to visit Leslie McCallum, and then stopping by John Jones' house...... he would always comment on my WHEEL ..... he never did call it a bicycle... always a WHEEL!
I remember riding in Grammie and Grampie's truck to go to Sherbrooke.... to go to the wholesaler's to get supplies for their store.... I remember having lunch at Louis' with them... best greasy fries in the WORLD!
I remember the Cookshire fair..... I remember signing up for the 4H club one year, so I could show a calf at that fair....I came in third place, somewhere in my boxes, I still have that ribbon!!!.... Was I EVER glad only 3 people entered that year, cause there was no ribbon for fourth!!
I remember Dr Lowry.... an icon in Sawyerville.... if I shut my eyes, I can still see the wooden cupboards going down the hall to his office, and him opening them up, and there being a veritable pharmacy in those cupboards.... and I STILL remember the smell of his office...
I remember going to J.A. Lowry's store.... it was a hardware store, grocery store, clothing store... you name it, they had it..... I think every elementary school boy bought his shoes at Lowry's ..... my favourite were those shoes with the little rubber studs on the bottom.... you were elevated 3/4 of an inch off the floor on those little rubber things, but BOY could you get traction playing floor hockey!!!
sigh.... I remember a LOT of things.....
but most of all, I remember a mom and dad who followed God's leading in their lives, and took us where they believed God wanted us to be....
After living more years OUT of Quebec than I spent IN, I can still truly say that I am thankful for my heritage.... and I am thankful for God's leading in my parents life, and for the new life we found in Ontario and the myriad of people we now call friends....
To quote Wayne Watson...."In spite of distance unexpected" .....I am thankful for a season in your path....
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