There are times when this blog is frivolous and I contemplate relieving my readers of this daily load. But yesterday it felt very meaningful and I thank Jo-Ann, Barry and Kathy for their contributions to our discussion.
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I'm sure many of us have interesting stories to tell about our family. Mine relates to my paternal grandmother.
My dad left his Niagara Falls home as a teenager and went to live with his aunt and uncle in Toronto. I never met my grandparents until I was eight years old, when they held a welcome home party for my uncle who had returned from serving in WW2.
My grandmother was not a loving person, but I didn't find out till years later why that was. I learned that she had been a "Home Girl", sent to Canada with her sister when she was age 12. She bounced through nine homes in three years - a terrible childhood, which explained her personality.
Her older sister, 14 at the time of her arrival in Canada, went through 14 homes in two years, but finally was placed in a good one at age 16. She was very loving and took my dad in. She died when I was four years old so I have no memory of her, but my uncle Charlie came to visit us on occasion and he was like my dad's father figure.
Compared to what those two young girls went through, and what Barbara and Jo-Ann's ancestors went through, we have it pretty good!
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Changing the theme very slightly, today is our first national (it's been held in some places since the late 1800's) Emancipation Day, celebrating the abolishment of slavery in the British Colonies on August 1, 1834. Interestingly, Indigenous people were very active in helping escaping slaves from the U.S. move to Canada via the "underground railway". Not surprising!
Like our Indigenous people, people of colour are still fighting for a better version of equality.
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Happy Emancipation Day!
Blue Jays won again. Life is good.
Stay well.
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