Page 95 - With Jessie Morrison of Cape North - A Cape Breton to Alberta Pioneer

ISSUE : Issue 66

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1994/6/1

average rooms, a large pantry, and a large common room--again back to the early days on the prairies when the twelve-by- fourteen room served as living room, din? ing room, kitchen, pantry, so forth. Again, no phone, and the roads weren't really good, either. They were comfortable in this log house. And in some ways--in many ways--it was very pleasant. Father was not in good health. The result of years of hard work on the prairies, the trips back and forth to Chinook behind the sleigh, freezing his toes, freezing his hands, freezing his nose. And he developed a circulatory problem in his feet and legs to the point that he had to be admitted to the Royal Alexander Hospital. It would've been in 1938 or '39, and he had part of his left foot amputated and from then on had to wear a special boot. And the wound never healed. I know he suffered greatly. Well, they decided to leave the farm be? cause by this time my brother had left. Was in B.C. He had joined the B.C. Provin? cial Police which later was taken over by the R.C.M.P. Anna had left. She was work? ing in a nearby town. She later went to the Prairie Bible Institute at Three Hills. She was away from home. Muriel stayed until they decided to leave the farm. She went and had a job near Red Deer. She later married, of course. So my mother and father sold the farm--they got very little for it, I might say--and moved to the little town of Sunnybrook, And Fa? ther took this big grainary and remodeled it and built a very comfortable little home for them in Sunnybrook, Now the summer of 1942--I guess because I was overseas--Father took a visit back East and he spent some time with his sis? ter Mary Campbell, Mrs, R, E, Campbell-- she was a widow--and her daughter Chris? tine in North Sydney. Visited in Cape North a while and other friends and rela? tives. He had a heart condition which also became quite serious and he died September the 13th of 1948. He was one of the thousands who made pos? sible the comforts that we enjoy this day. He loved the West. He loved the openness and sense of freedom. And in the early days he enjoyed making things happen. He was a good organizer. A good man--a good and upright man and I am proud of my fami? ly heritage. I was in Montreal when he died. So I fin? ished my term as an instructor with the Montreal School of Nursing Aid. I came back to Alberta and resumed employment with the Department of Veterans' Affairs in Edmonton this time. And I had the pleasure of having my mother with me until she died--August of 1971. She had happy years in Edmonton. And among the pleasant experiences was becoming ac? quainted with Mr. and Mrs. Roper--the old Cape Breton connection again. Looking back over that long span of years from the early morning hours of September fifteenth, 1904, when I first saw the light of day at the MacKinnon home in Cape Congratulations Beatrice MacNeil! • WINNER • 1994 City of Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction The Moonlight Skater bv BeiUrice MacNeil Published by BRETON BOOKS (Cape Breton's IVIagazine) f The Moonlight Skater $7.95 ' ' (plus 7% G.S.T. plus $3.50 shipping) J SUBSCRIBE TO And a Dandy Video. • Cape Breton's Bras d'Or Lakes • A Sailmg Tour with Silver Donald Cameron r Narrated by Silver Donald Cameron Filmed by Charles Doucet 30-MINUTE VIDEO • $24.95 (plus 7% G.S.T. plus $3.50 shipping) • NOVA SCOTIA RESIDENTS add $2.94 Prov. Sales Tax • "Beatrice MacNeil's short sentences combine with I colorful imagery to create a vivid character in just a few paragraphs." • Cape Breton Post i Cape Breton's MAGAZINE NOVA SCOTIA Edited & Published by Ronald Caplan with the help of Bonnie Thompson Belle Maclntyre ? Paul Cranford JUNE 1994 4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTION in Canada I outside Canada $17.00 I $22 .00 (or $25.00 Can. Currency) r SUBSCRIPTIONS, VIDEO, or Moonlight Skate nd payment to: CAPE BRETON'S IVIAGAZINE Wreck Cove, Nova Scotia BOC IHO CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY: Phone 1-800-565-5140 (industrial Cape Breton phone 539-5140)

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