It was funny and yet it was serious, at least at the time it all happened. It concerned the old ice house with the big earthen pit and the huge bricks of ice that were occasionally put down in the hole to keep everything cool. We didn't have a fridge as of yet in the house and the put was used to keep the dairy products, meat and other perishable items from spoiling. In the summer time, we children used to use the building as a play area.
Mother and Father used to ship cream in cream cans and it was here that the cream as well as the eggs were kept until it was time to ship it all to the creamery and wherever it was the eggs went. Well, somehow or the other, the door of the building had been kept open or he had dug his way in into the pit below the building. I suppose the skunk fell into the pit and couldn't get back out, but there is was busy feasting on the food that was down there.
When my father went out to the ice house to get our morning supply of cream, milk and butter, a bellow erupted from the interior of the ice house. a lively and heated discussion took place as to who was to blame, but the fact still stood that the skunk was down in the ice house pit and we were out of our dairy products for breakfast and a few days after.
Dad decided the only was to get the animal out of the pit was to shoot it. I could never figure out why he just didn't trap it. My mother was quite adamant that he not shoot the creature as it ruin the put when he did. In the end and after a period of waiting to see if the slunk would vacate, Dad shot it.
It was weeks before the pit was cleared and his clothing were irretrievable. It was soon after this that a brand new refrigerator was sitting in the corner of the kitchen.
That's all for today. Enjoy.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Going To Grandma and Grandpa's
Once a month the family would gather at my Grandparent's home in La Riviere Manitoba. We would all gather there and have lively gab fests and terrific meals.
Each family had to bring an item or two to eat, as these meals were pot luck within a certain limit. I remember my mother and her sisters and my grandmother, discussing what each would bring for the next meal. This way the burden of feeding over 20 people at one time did not fall on just one persons shoulder.
My older sister, Yvonne remembers far more than I do on these trips but I will mention what I remember. I will leave her memories to herself. The earliest one I really remember is the year in which my Grandfather died. I was 8 years old at the time, (I checked back on the family tree for this). I remember thinking how cold his hands were, as he was in bed and apparently he didn't last too much longer after this. My parents insisted that I say hello and goodbye to my grandfather. To this day, all I can really remember were his cold hands.
In July of 1950 when grandfather died, my mother was with grandmother helping to look after him. She was on her way home when the steering wheel shaft broke or came undone, don't know which now, and she landed in the ditch. She was not hurt, but had some bruises and scratches. Someone was following her to tell her that her dad had died. It was definitely not a good day for my Mother. A person couldn't drive very fast in those old cars. She was driving one that was much older than the 50's.
Thereafter, as I mentioned, once a month we descended on my grandmothers' house. As I grew older and into my teens, my cousin and I would walk the sidewalks hoping to find boys. Alas we found none.
One time we went there after a tornado had hit the area. It was awful, sheep were stuck up in trees that had been bent and broken. Animal parts hung on the barb wired fence and machinery was upside down, and buildings were tossed far away from where they should have been. We learned first hand as to what a tornado can do. Another time, we walked the railroad track into La Riviere because there was a flood. The only time I remember # 3 highway was every flooded. As I crossed over the railway track I became terrified as I watched the roiling and boiling water down below me through the cracks in the tracks. Almost lost my shoes if I remember right.
Thinking back, those days at my grandmothers, drew all of the family closer together more than at any one time. After she moved into another home, we never did gather together and began loosing touch with everyone. There were over 20 over us that gathered together, swapping gossip and exchanging ideas and recipes and other tid bits. The language spoken was mainly french with the woman as that was what they spoke more easily than English. The men spoke English, as there was a mixture of Flemish and french and English among them. Mom and Dad used to argue with each other about speaking their other language instead of English as Dad nor Mom could barely understand each other's language. Wish they had taught us their language as we were growing up.
Meals were eaten in shifts with the men usually eating first. The the children in the second shift and the men were then suppose to look after the kids while the women ate and cleaned up. I never in all the times we went ever saw one of the men help with the clean up. They never knew what they missed during those cleanups after a meal. Now at a gathering, we feed the kids first to get them from under our feet.
Food was sumptuous and plentiful. Warm creamy mashed potatoes, roast beef or roast pork was served, or maybe it was chicken or a ham. Once in a while there was turkey to feast on. Butter drenched vegetables, just out of the garden or home canned, warm fresh home made bread or buns that had been kept warm in layers of towels on the way down. Desserts to dream about, from puddings to pies or maybe cakes that melted in your mouth.
I will continue this at a later date, as I have to go and licence this car so I have one to drive. Take care everyone and I will finish this another time.
Each family had to bring an item or two to eat, as these meals were pot luck within a certain limit. I remember my mother and her sisters and my grandmother, discussing what each would bring for the next meal. This way the burden of feeding over 20 people at one time did not fall on just one persons shoulder.
My older sister, Yvonne remembers far more than I do on these trips but I will mention what I remember. I will leave her memories to herself. The earliest one I really remember is the year in which my Grandfather died. I was 8 years old at the time, (I checked back on the family tree for this). I remember thinking how cold his hands were, as he was in bed and apparently he didn't last too much longer after this. My parents insisted that I say hello and goodbye to my grandfather. To this day, all I can really remember were his cold hands.
In July of 1950 when grandfather died, my mother was with grandmother helping to look after him. She was on her way home when the steering wheel shaft broke or came undone, don't know which now, and she landed in the ditch. She was not hurt, but had some bruises and scratches. Someone was following her to tell her that her dad had died. It was definitely not a good day for my Mother. A person couldn't drive very fast in those old cars. She was driving one that was much older than the 50's.
Thereafter, as I mentioned, once a month we descended on my grandmothers' house. As I grew older and into my teens, my cousin and I would walk the sidewalks hoping to find boys. Alas we found none.
One time we went there after a tornado had hit the area. It was awful, sheep were stuck up in trees that had been bent and broken. Animal parts hung on the barb wired fence and machinery was upside down, and buildings were tossed far away from where they should have been. We learned first hand as to what a tornado can do. Another time, we walked the railroad track into La Riviere because there was a flood. The only time I remember # 3 highway was every flooded. As I crossed over the railway track I became terrified as I watched the roiling and boiling water down below me through the cracks in the tracks. Almost lost my shoes if I remember right.
Thinking back, those days at my grandmothers, drew all of the family closer together more than at any one time. After she moved into another home, we never did gather together and began loosing touch with everyone. There were over 20 over us that gathered together, swapping gossip and exchanging ideas and recipes and other tid bits. The language spoken was mainly french with the woman as that was what they spoke more easily than English. The men spoke English, as there was a mixture of Flemish and french and English among them. Mom and Dad used to argue with each other about speaking their other language instead of English as Dad nor Mom could barely understand each other's language. Wish they had taught us their language as we were growing up.
Meals were eaten in shifts with the men usually eating first. The the children in the second shift and the men were then suppose to look after the kids while the women ate and cleaned up. I never in all the times we went ever saw one of the men help with the clean up. They never knew what they missed during those cleanups after a meal. Now at a gathering, we feed the kids first to get them from under our feet.
Food was sumptuous and plentiful. Warm creamy mashed potatoes, roast beef or roast pork was served, or maybe it was chicken or a ham. Once in a while there was turkey to feast on. Butter drenched vegetables, just out of the garden or home canned, warm fresh home made bread or buns that had been kept warm in layers of towels on the way down. Desserts to dream about, from puddings to pies or maybe cakes that melted in your mouth.
I will continue this at a later date, as I have to go and licence this car so I have one to drive. Take care everyone and I will finish this another time.
It Takes a Awhile To Let Go
Over the past few years, I have watched my husband struggle with his health and for a time he was able to keep things under control. But it didn't last. On Sept 1, 2010 he died peacefully beside me in his sleep.
His Doctor called him a walking miracle as he had high blood pressure, diabetes, congestive heart failure and more. I watched him in the last six months go down hill and take more and more pain killers. We always thought it was for his hip which was giving him trouble. It wasn't.
Three months ago he recieved a kit for to check for colon cancer. He fulfilled the tests and sent them in. A reply came back that a colonoscopy was to be done. As a matter of fact, a scope was done from top and bottom. Blood had been found in his stools. Nothing was found when the tests were completed but Ron began to feel more and more ill. He found his appetite decreasing and he couldn't eat because he couldn't keep the food down. He began to throw up more and more. Within a short time, he decided he had better go and see his Doctor, who prescribed some antibiotics as the Dr. thought he had contacted an infection. Ron began to have severe problems with throwing up, one of the medications he was given compounded it with side effects of the medications which said that a side effect was to throw up.
After two days of this Ron quit taking the medications and went in to see a Dr. at a walk in clinic. This Dr. took the medication away. He prescribed something else. It didn't work either. Two days later he went to another walk in Dr.
The walk in clinic was full that day and there was a number of people ahead of us. Ron was really feeling sick by this time. After waiting for over an hour, I went up to the desk and asked the receptionist if there was any way she get Ron in faster as he was threatening to leave so he could go and lay down. She asked me to wait a moment and went in to see a nurse, who called Ron into the nursing station to take his blood pressure. It was not good, and she went into see the walk in Dr. right away. Within a short period of time the Dr. came and took Ron and I into his office.
He took one look at Ron and told him that he needed to go to the hospital immediately. He suspected it was his gall bladder. Why did I not see the colour of Ron's skin? It was almost an orange yellow. To me it was a very sallow grey until the Dr. pointed out the colour. Of course, now I could see it.
The Dr. proceeded to do up all of the paperwork needed to admit Ron into the hospital. All Ron had to do was to show up which he did.
Ron told me that he might not leave the hospital. I told him that yes he would. A number of years ago his father died in the hospital with liver cancer and Ron had always held the view that he also would not live to a ripe old age. How right he was.
They did test after test after test and all they could find was a 3-5cm stone that had ended up in his stomach and a ripped tube from his gall bladder. It was sending out toxins into Ron's system and causing untold devastation. While he had been having some severe bouts of throwing up, he had forced the stone out of his gallbladder. This stone was blocking the entrance from his stomach into his intestine and causing him to throw up more also.
The first night he was in the hospital, they almost or did lose him. His kidneys and his liver had shut down. He revived and they began a series of tests. They were reluctant to give him anesthetic to take out the gall bladder because of his heart condition. His heart was twice the size of a normal heart and probably also had fluid around the heart as well.
They used a laser to blast the stone to pieces and then went back in later to see if it had all be gone. It wasn't, but they were able to fish out the piece that remained. Ron had not been able to eat anything up to now, he couldn't keep it down, so he had been fed with an intravenous and a liquid diet.
With tubes running from him in every direction, he was being kept under close observation. Eventually a shunt was put in to help drain the toxins from his liver and a catheter was put in to help monitor his liquid input and output. His yellow colour was slowly decreasing but not fast enough and the Dr. became concerned about that.
Eventually the tubes were coming out and he could begin to eat normal meals. He was anticipating his coming home. The Dr. had a final MRI done, this time from another direction. This test was the last one to be done. On Friday night, The Dr. told Ron to call in the family. That in itself as devastating news as usually the only time that is done when the news is not good.
The news was not good, he was told he had liver cancer and it was not operable. He could try cancer treatment but the results were not guaranteed. The family gathered and we tried to prepare for the worse. We weren't prepared at all for the news. He had from three weeks to six months to live. I cried and still crying as I write this. Why did such a wonderful gentle man have to die so early at the age of 67. We were going to celebrate our 50th anniversary in two years.
They put in a shunt going from his liver to his lower intestine so the toxins would continue to drain in the hope that it might extend the time he had left. He was sent home.
His friends and family rallied around him to give him the support he needed. He was surprised and humbled at the extent they showed their caring. We spent what time we could to start going through all of the business of our lives to put everything in my name. We only succeeded in a few items. One of the things we did together was to get the phone put in my name. We both made the call together, and had everything set up to be switched over on Sept 1. All that had to be done was to "pull a switck" so to say.
On Wednesday morning about 6:10 I arose and went to the bathroom as that is usually the first thing I have to do. I wandered back to the bedroom and automatically looked at Ron to see if had a comfortable night. I realized with sadness that he had died in his sleep. As I cried, I checked his pulse and his temperature. I then asked a friend that had been staying with us to check also which she did.
We needed help, but to our horror, the phone was out, we had no phone until I was reminded that I had a cell phone. The RCMP were called and arrived along with the ambulance shortly after. I would not let the ambulance workers in as Ron did not want to be resusitated. I eventually let one in to check and make sure my assumptions were correct. They were.
Eventually, after the RCMP and the ambulance crew notified him, the undertaker arrived. It was not easy watching my husband being carried away in one of those black bags. It tore my heart to pieces. During all this time MTS still had not connected my phone. After giving them a blast or two they did get it connected. They couldn't find the information that had been previously given to them. I suppose they since have found it.
I'm tempted to sue them.
The RCMP and ambulance crew were terrific and wonderful to me. I could not have asked for better courtesy from anyone. I give them an A+.
Then followed the phone calls that had to be made. I am sure we missed some people and for those people, I asked forgiveness, you were not forgotten, just missed.
Over 150 people attended his graveside funeral. It was unbelieveable. To date cards are still coming in.
I feel humbled and grateful for the condolences and thoughts of comfort arriving daily.
His Doctor called him a walking miracle as he had high blood pressure, diabetes, congestive heart failure and more. I watched him in the last six months go down hill and take more and more pain killers. We always thought it was for his hip which was giving him trouble. It wasn't.
Three months ago he recieved a kit for to check for colon cancer. He fulfilled the tests and sent them in. A reply came back that a colonoscopy was to be done. As a matter of fact, a scope was done from top and bottom. Blood had been found in his stools. Nothing was found when the tests were completed but Ron began to feel more and more ill. He found his appetite decreasing and he couldn't eat because he couldn't keep the food down. He began to throw up more and more. Within a short time, he decided he had better go and see his Doctor, who prescribed some antibiotics as the Dr. thought he had contacted an infection. Ron began to have severe problems with throwing up, one of the medications he was given compounded it with side effects of the medications which said that a side effect was to throw up.
After two days of this Ron quit taking the medications and went in to see a Dr. at a walk in clinic. This Dr. took the medication away. He prescribed something else. It didn't work either. Two days later he went to another walk in Dr.
The walk in clinic was full that day and there was a number of people ahead of us. Ron was really feeling sick by this time. After waiting for over an hour, I went up to the desk and asked the receptionist if there was any way she get Ron in faster as he was threatening to leave so he could go and lay down. She asked me to wait a moment and went in to see a nurse, who called Ron into the nursing station to take his blood pressure. It was not good, and she went into see the walk in Dr. right away. Within a short period of time the Dr. came and took Ron and I into his office.
He took one look at Ron and told him that he needed to go to the hospital immediately. He suspected it was his gall bladder. Why did I not see the colour of Ron's skin? It was almost an orange yellow. To me it was a very sallow grey until the Dr. pointed out the colour. Of course, now I could see it.
The Dr. proceeded to do up all of the paperwork needed to admit Ron into the hospital. All Ron had to do was to show up which he did.
Ron told me that he might not leave the hospital. I told him that yes he would. A number of years ago his father died in the hospital with liver cancer and Ron had always held the view that he also would not live to a ripe old age. How right he was.
They did test after test after test and all they could find was a 3-5cm stone that had ended up in his stomach and a ripped tube from his gall bladder. It was sending out toxins into Ron's system and causing untold devastation. While he had been having some severe bouts of throwing up, he had forced the stone out of his gallbladder. This stone was blocking the entrance from his stomach into his intestine and causing him to throw up more also.
The first night he was in the hospital, they almost or did lose him. His kidneys and his liver had shut down. He revived and they began a series of tests. They were reluctant to give him anesthetic to take out the gall bladder because of his heart condition. His heart was twice the size of a normal heart and probably also had fluid around the heart as well.
They used a laser to blast the stone to pieces and then went back in later to see if it had all be gone. It wasn't, but they were able to fish out the piece that remained. Ron had not been able to eat anything up to now, he couldn't keep it down, so he had been fed with an intravenous and a liquid diet.
With tubes running from him in every direction, he was being kept under close observation. Eventually a shunt was put in to help drain the toxins from his liver and a catheter was put in to help monitor his liquid input and output. His yellow colour was slowly decreasing but not fast enough and the Dr. became concerned about that.
Eventually the tubes were coming out and he could begin to eat normal meals. He was anticipating his coming home. The Dr. had a final MRI done, this time from another direction. This test was the last one to be done. On Friday night, The Dr. told Ron to call in the family. That in itself as devastating news as usually the only time that is done when the news is not good.
The news was not good, he was told he had liver cancer and it was not operable. He could try cancer treatment but the results were not guaranteed. The family gathered and we tried to prepare for the worse. We weren't prepared at all for the news. He had from three weeks to six months to live. I cried and still crying as I write this. Why did such a wonderful gentle man have to die so early at the age of 67. We were going to celebrate our 50th anniversary in two years.
They put in a shunt going from his liver to his lower intestine so the toxins would continue to drain in the hope that it might extend the time he had left. He was sent home.
His friends and family rallied around him to give him the support he needed. He was surprised and humbled at the extent they showed their caring. We spent what time we could to start going through all of the business of our lives to put everything in my name. We only succeeded in a few items. One of the things we did together was to get the phone put in my name. We both made the call together, and had everything set up to be switched over on Sept 1. All that had to be done was to "pull a switck" so to say.
On Wednesday morning about 6:10 I arose and went to the bathroom as that is usually the first thing I have to do. I wandered back to the bedroom and automatically looked at Ron to see if had a comfortable night. I realized with sadness that he had died in his sleep. As I cried, I checked his pulse and his temperature. I then asked a friend that had been staying with us to check also which she did.
We needed help, but to our horror, the phone was out, we had no phone until I was reminded that I had a cell phone. The RCMP were called and arrived along with the ambulance shortly after. I would not let the ambulance workers in as Ron did not want to be resusitated. I eventually let one in to check and make sure my assumptions were correct. They were.
Eventually, after the RCMP and the ambulance crew notified him, the undertaker arrived. It was not easy watching my husband being carried away in one of those black bags. It tore my heart to pieces. During all this time MTS still had not connected my phone. After giving them a blast or two they did get it connected. They couldn't find the information that had been previously given to them. I suppose they since have found it.
I'm tempted to sue them.
The RCMP and ambulance crew were terrific and wonderful to me. I could not have asked for better courtesy from anyone. I give them an A+.
Then followed the phone calls that had to be made. I am sure we missed some people and for those people, I asked forgiveness, you were not forgotten, just missed.
Over 150 people attended his graveside funeral. It was unbelieveable. To date cards are still coming in.
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