Life goes by so quickly and sometimes seems like a blur. It just seems like yesterday we were starting out having our four. They are the joy of our lives. Not that they were not some bumpy times and disagreements as we lived daily walking on the road of life together.
My dad was very strict and walked very correctly standing straight and tall. Like my flowers. He taught me to be obedient, to work hard at school, to enjoy reading and singing. He put a great amount of time and effort into the boy scouts that allowed him to live his dream of coming to a wild, outdoor country and learning to live in nature free of modern conveniences. He loved to learn all about native culture and to teach his scout group. He was honored for his many years in serving as a Scout leader.
Dad was great at reading out the letters and numbers of bingo making the game fun and making us laugh; so we did see another side to him. When we went to church he would sing very loudly, sometimes to my embarrassment. He could play a piano by ear and also an organ. If he knew a song he could play it and he loved playing and did it with enthusiasm.
As a child he did not notice me much except when I misbehaved so I was left to enjoy my friends and games. He was afraid of dogs and would not allow us to have animals saying he was allergic to them. He was a good father and he loved my mom respectfully. They were equals and each knew the role they had to play; one the provider and the other the home maker. Our home was spotless and meals were on time and always started with grace.
He wrote letters back home to England very regularly but did not speak very much about his family life. He and his dad had a bitter argument when he did not follow his dad into business. He lied about his age to join the army, stayed in Germany after the war for awhile. He was good at languages. Eventually he came to Canada and started working for the C.N. Railway.
Dad started smoking at an early age, 17, I believe when he joined the army. Because of this he suffered with allergies and asthma. His nerves were very bad and he took something to calm himself later in life.
He loved to paint and left our family some of his paintings.
4 comments:
Bumpy roads? And just think how boring life would have been with out them? AND how much more empathy you must feel for others who go through simular trials. See you tommorrow.
sandra
Thanks for the skype chat today . Matthew is not well as we expected , he fell asleep on the sofa after pancakes.
Ken
What about Grand-dad Bowron's time in Argentina? You left that out.
I think the "straight and tall" observation was especially good.
Love,
Rick
Dad never talked to me about that except at the very end when he was sometimes confused. My mom did not like to talk about it so it is a mystery to me.
I always believed he came straight to Canada to live with his Aunt.
I regret not asking questions earlier. Although I spent many hours visiting with him he talked about England and about the scouts and about his mom and his sisters who he wrote to regularly.
love mom
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