Cape Breton's Magazine

her. And she came up here one evening, and she said, "What did you ever do with all the poems you have?" I said, "They're in the basement." She said, "How many have you got?" "Oh," I said "between three and four hundred." "Well, I live alongside of a publisher," she said, "down in Boularde? rie. I'm going to get him to come up...." (After the first book was published) Mrs. Lukas took 250 to Boston with her. They bought them in the church there. She's a professor in Harvard University.... (Your mother, what was her name?) Christine. Christie. MacLeod. She was born at the place on the top of Smokey. That was her home. (How did they find each other?) She went to Sydney, too, and she was working as a housemaid. They were all heading for Syd? ney then, once they got old enough. That's where the money was. (Did the fact that your father had this drinking problem-- that didn't stop her from marrying him.) Oh, no. No, he was a good provi4er. But at the end of it, the home broke up. TAKE IN COUNTY DAYS 1994, AN ACTION-PACKED, FUN-FILLED PROGRAM OF ACTIVITIES BEING HELD IN CAPE BRETON COUNTY COMMUNITIES THIS SUMMER! COMMUNITY FESTIVALS, FOOD SOCIALS, DANCES, CARD GAMES, CHILDREN'S FUN DAYS, PICNICS, CONCERTS, SENIORS SOCIALS, DAY CAMPS, FUN VANS, SWIM AND TENNIS PROGRAMS ,,., YOU'LL FIND THESE AND MORE IN COUNTY DAYS '94! For information on County Days '94, contact the CAPE BRETON COUNTY RECREATION DEPARTMENT, 865 GRAND LAKE ROAD, SYDNEY, N.S. B1P6W2 TELEPHONE US AT 563-2700, EXT. 110 (How long were they together?) Oh, I couldn't tell you. I came to my Aunt Mary's when I was nine. She was an old maid. She was another person that--she stayed with her father, and then she had a brother and he was born--he was Mongoloid or whatever. But she promised her father that as long as (her brother) was alive, she'd stay with him. And she did--sacrificed her life. She was a wonderful person. A lot of the poems in there: "Aunt Mary's Little Red Churn," "Aunt Mary's Old Spinning Wheel." There's a number of the poems: "Aunt Mary's Little Notions." There's a number of the poems in there. That's the Aunt Mary. She was my grand-aunt (Mary MacLeod). (And where did your father go when the family broke up?) Well, he still stayed over there, and then eventually he came back to St. Ann's and he lived with my Aunt Mary. He was doing carpenter work. He used to come to Baddeck and Middle River. He was a housepainter along with every? thing else. (You grew up with your Aunt Mary.) Yeah, in St. Ann's. (And where did your mother go?) Well, she landed in Sydney River. There was an asylum there. But if it was today, they would have treated her. But then, there was no place for her. And she was there for, I think a year, and then she came back to the top of Smokey. She was there. (When she was unable to keep the family together.) Oh, she couldn't do it. In 1932 we bought an old house down in North Gut and she came to live with us there. (Who is "we"?) My brother Jack, and Norman. Well, less than a year, she was dead with cancer. And she's buried down there. County Days '94 (You don't feel she had a very hap? py life.) No. The whole family broke up. I had two sisters that-- well, one of them stayed with my grandmother. But Tena--that Tena-- TrAS/iAAgenci) We plan it all for you. 794-7251 ISS QUEEN ST., NORTH SYDNEY f acta!