Page 3 - Margaret Neil James - A Love Story

ISSUE : Issue 60

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1992/6/1

ers. But they all died before they were 26 years of age. So no one was married but my father. And my father looked after them all. And then after they all died, then he married my mother. So, he lived on the place that his father lived on. His father was Angus Beaton, and he was Neil Beaton. And */- he buried all his brothers, and then he married my mother.... But anyway, the people were very good to help us out. As luck would have it, my father had enough money saved--and that was right after the Depression--that he was able to pay a car? penter to build the outside of the house-- you know, build the shell of the house, and stud it. (And there was no insurance.) No such a thing. Look--that's where I think I learned so much about being good to your neighbour, and doing for somebody else, instead Margaret's parents: of being selfish and Scotch Lake, wanting to do for yourself all the time. Because my mother was the kind of person, when anybody was sick, she went and helped them. And she got people ready when they died, prepared them for (death)--put them in their coffin. My father was one of those, if there was a baby born and it wasn't well, my father would quit work at the quarry and go to Bras d'Or to have that baby baptized, regardless if he lost time or not, it didn't mean a thing to him. He was a very religious--oh, yes. The ro? sary was--well, if you didn't say the ro? sary, forget it. You were going to be giv? en one hell of a tongue-lashing. And you had to be there to say the rosary. You just didn't decide you were going to go and you wouldn't have time. The rosary had to be said. And I often heard my father say that the day that he got hurt--he often thought about it after that. He had a sick cow that day. And he was down in the barn a lot longer than he intended to be. And he hurried back home to have his breakfast, to get off to work. And he always took his cap off, when he went outside of the house, when he was going to work. I remem? ber seeing him doing that. No matter what weather there was, he took his cap off and he blessed himself, and he said some prayers. On his way to work. And he'd be walking, of course, all the time. And--it was only about a half mile to his work. But that morning, he said, he didn't do it. And he always said, "Look what happened. So whatever you do, don't forget your prayers in the morn? ing." So, prayer meant an awful lot to us all, because of him telling us that story.,.. Our neighbours were really good. There was another family there, and the man, Jimmy MacLellan, dug the cellar. I think so much of him. He dug the cellar pretty well by himself. He worked every evening with the boys holding the lantern, and dug the cellar pretty much by himself while my father was in the hospi? tal. Because the boys were--the oldest at that time was only about 14. And he'd dig Neil & Isabel Beaton, July 28,1951 THE TREASURE COVE GIFTS AND HANDCRAFTS High quality gifts and crafts from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and abroad 1-902-564-8158 Children's books and toys - pre-school to 12 years 1-902-539-3035 Open Mon.-Sat. 9-6, Thurs.-Fri. until 9 74 Townsend St.. Sydney, N. S. Bl P 508 brake service drums & rotors resurfaced DISCO TIRE 2&4 wheel alignment Including 1-ton trucks and motor homes SYDNEY computerized engine analysis and tune up (DISCO TIRE only) LTD. 539-4070 CANSO TIRE PORT HAWKESBURY LTD. 625-3125

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