This letter consists of two sheets, each headed by a brief typed Thank You note by Linda and Charlie, with the sheets filled on both sides by Cyn’s actual news! Then she also included the Christmas Present List so Carol could see what everyone gave the family. I was interested to see the books the children got- we loved being sent the English Annuals (they were so different from anything North American, although we had lots of books and a box full of comic books – Disney and Archie, plus those ‘educational’ short versions of classic novels-) but the annuals were a lovely mixture of cartoons, short stories, non-fiction, puzzles, and articles on crafts or pictorials of famous places or buildings. As well, I was collecting as many L. M. Alcott’s books as I could, and Grannie had sent me an abridged ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ for Charlie’s birthday (foreshadowing? I wrote my dissertation on Bunyan twelve years later), while Charlie’s British Grade 5 teacher, Mrs. Cripwell, was carrying on the cross-cultural work (she introduced me to the Narnia books) by reading a “William” book to his class.
Dear GRANNIE, Thank you heaps for the SWEETEST CUTEST little twin babies that there ever was. They looked so funny when they peeped out at me on Christmas morning. Nobody was as thrilled as me but I was not as thrilled as Mummy when we opened the silk and braid clips. They look like little green slugs. My hair is not thick enough to hold one braid, two of them do quite nicely, in one clip. Love Linda
Thursday 18th. [Cyn’s note is handwritten, the children’s are typed.]
Dearest Mama, Just a note on these short but sweet thank you letters! We have been having a flu session- men only, so far, but we keep our fingers crossed. Charlie had a “throw up” at the beginning of last week then got better & went back to school on Thurs. In the meanwhile Cec got an upset tummy with diarrhoea and felt so miserable on Friday that he stayed at home, felt better on Sat. & then worse again Sun. & Mon. Charlie got the same thing again. Cec is back at work although not quite recovered, but I have had Charlie home all week & he was trotting to the bathroom so much day & night that yesterday I called Dr. K. and Charlie is so tickled at his prescription – a soft diet with a cup of hotstrong tea every hour! Also he takes four 222 tablets a day (codeine in them) & so he thinks this is lovely! Linda thinks she should take the tea too to prevent her getting it!
Mom & Dad plan to go out to Carp on Sat. – that is if Cec & Charlie are recovered. Lea has a big turkey she has been saving since Christmas so we are all to go out to dinner & leave Granny & Grandpa there. They will stay about 2 weeks & then return to us. The bed head is nearly finished & looks beautiful – Cec & Dad are to bring it upstairs tonight, so we will see how it fits in!
[Typed upside down at the bottom of the page in red:]
P.S Hugs and Kisses. L.
2043 Montreal Road, Ottawa 2, Ontario.
7 January, 1962.
Dear Grannie, Thank you for the racing car, the T-shirt, and the pencils like arrows; for Christmas, I use the pencils a lot. I enjoy the game “Geography Lotto” that you gave me for my birthday. We had a wonderful Christmas, with Auntie Merle, Lorne, JOHN, Bruce, Uncle Dixon, Granny & Grandpa COSTAIN. I had a lot of people to play the hockey game with. We made a toboggan slide and had a lot of fun. Daddy has just put a microphone on the radio, and we are having fun talking through it. Mommy is screaming at me so now I have to stop. LOVE Charlie
[Cyn’s handwriting continues.] It is very cold this week – below zero most days & was so windy that it made it worse, but today is much calmer though still cold. I went to the Coinwash yesterday & the day before to Emil’s new Beauty Salon over at the Shopping Centre. Did I tell you that he had moved his salon? It is a new shopping centre to the south of the city – about 10-15 mins. drive away – & he has a much bigger more elegant place with 2 or 3 assistants, & Mrs. Arndt goes as receptionist. It isn’t nearly so convenient of course, but it isn’t too far & he & I agree on my hair now! Mom & I went over to S-Sears just after New Year & I got a Car Coat on sale at Fairweather’s – a store there. It is a dark brown “Heeksuede” – i.e. looks just like suede, but isn’t really, & has a thick quilted lining & is very nice & just what I’ve wanted for the last few winters for the car. Of course I then had no skirt to wear with it, so the day I got my hair done I went to S-Sears again & on sale once more, got a thick sort of blanket-cloth skirt – gold or orange & brown sort of plaid with inverted pleats & an orangey – gold sweater to match. Of course I look like a tub, but it is warm & gay!! Mom C. had lost 15 lbs. before she came here & needs to put on weight so you know what this does to me! She has put on 2 lbs so far – me???!! Time for Charlie’s next cup of tea – must fly! Lots of love from us all. Cyn.
Dearest Mummy, Happy New Year! I am ashamed to say that this is the first time that I have written 1962! I am also so sorry to have been such a long time in writing to you – both to thank you for our lovely parcel and to tell you about our Christmas, but somehow each time one thing was over, something else turned up and I seem to have been on the go all the time. I haven’t even been to the Library for about a month, so you can see that I really didn’t have spare time – when I relaxed I slept! However, despite all the busy time, it was great fun, the only thing being that the time went so quickly! We didn’t have time to really savour it all, and before we turned around Christmas was over, the Moors had left and the children were back at school again. They went back on the 3rd Jan. so they didn’t have very long, especially as they didn’t finish school until the Friday before Christmas. They were both quite irritable and tired out the last week or so, and then on the last day of school Linda woke up and said she didn’t feel like going to school. I said “Oh, don’t you want to go today, you’ll have such fun” and she said “I want to go, but I don’t feel like it” and sure enough before very long she was sick, and had one or two goes during the day. She didn’t have a temperature, and by the next day (Saturday) she was up on the sofa and feeling not too bad and able to be up and around by the time the Moors arrived in the evening. Sunday she was O.K. except for not much appetite but in the evening Charlie began to feel ‘off’ and although he never was actually sick, he felt queasy all Christmas Day and neither of them had much appreciation of the Christmas Fare! Charlie was remembering last year when he had a Christmas dinner of broth and crackers – he doesn’t have much luck with the turkey does he? It seem to be a type of 24 hour flu, but it passed quickly and by the time they went back to school they were both feeling fine and so full of fun, and this past weekend they had a wonderful time playing in the snow and tobogganing, and then yesterday Charlie felt sicky again, and here he is back in bed today and throwing up! I hope that it is the same thing and will soon be over, and that Linda doesn’t get it, because it does leave them washed out and the winter is just beginning! And now to thank you for your lovely parcel! It certainly lived up to the reputation Charlie told you of last Christmas, and we all enjoyed it so much. Both Linda and Charlie were delighted with the birthday gifts, and Charlie is very intrigued with his game and Linda likes “Pilgrim’s Progress” very much. I must read this version because I remember disliking the whole book immensely as a child! Linda was just delighted with her twin babies! I had warned her that we weren’t giving her a doll this year, as she plays with them so seldom now, and she was quite sad at the thought, then here arrived the little babies from you and a pretty little English doll from Gunborg, and I think she was more thrilled and excited over getting them that if we had given her the biggest and most expensive creation going! She had a great bath day one day and tried on all the new dresses from Auntie Muriel and thoroughly enjoyed herself. The silk is lovely and I am going to have a lovely time getting a nice pattern and making it for her. She has set her heart on a smocked dress – I think that she is a bit too old for smocking now, but apparently it is still the fashion amongst her school mates, and she is always talking about it. I have no notion of trying that myself, but had vaguely thought that if I got a pattern and material and sent it out to you, you could get someone to make it for me – kind Mrs. Young is not there to do the smocking for me this time but I am sure that you will know someone who will do it beautifully. I think that I will make the silk up myself in a plainer style, as it has such a pretty pattern and really needs no other ornament, and that I will get another material for the smocking with perhaps a small pattern or plain like the blue one with the white smocking that Mrs. Young did for me, and if I send it out to you fairly soon then perhaps you could get it done for Easter- it is late this year. The only reason I am rushing over it is that I feel if she doesn’t get it soon she will be too grown-up for it! The silk you sent now I feel won’t date or get too young for her at all, if I make it in a simple style, but the other is definitely not a teen age style! [Linda is 10 at this point.] The little braid clips for her hair are so cute too, and she has them on. I got her to admit one day that it may be nice to have shorter hair in the summer, but I don’t know if I will really be able to get her to have it cut! I got her a black velvet hairband with pearls across the top, no less, and so she had a wonderful time doing the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with flowing locks all the Christmas holidays! Charlie enjoyed all his presents too. He and Bruce had great fun with the racing car and were zooming it around all day, and he was very taken with his arrow pencils and got them all ready to take to school the first day. Mummy was very pleased to see that T-shirt and come summer it will be so nice for him to have a new one to wear. I had decided to get the children some new clothes for Christmas as they had not add anything new in the ‘best’ line for some time, and then I thought I would give them at Charlie’s birthday so that if they needed any alterations or anything I could get it done in time for Christmas. For Charlie I got a tweed sports jacket! He needed something for going to Church and dress up, as the little blue blazer he inherited from Bruce is too small now, and it was between a suit, another navy blue blazer or a sports jacket, and we thought the latter was the most sensible. He looks nice in the navy blue but with Nicki in the house [white cat hairs] it seemed a difficult choice and I didn’t feel like investing in a whole suit now that he is growing so fast, so it had to be the jacket, and I got a very nice one in a blue-y gray tweed and he looks very smart. A bit swamped as it is rather big for him at the moment, but I hope it will do him for a good long time. Linda wanted a velvet dress for Sunday, and I looked at quite a few, but such odd colours – purple or a dull sage green or old gold, and of course red, but the last one she had from Leslie Forsythe was red so I wanted a change. In the end I got a pinafore type in a lovely sapphire blue with white lace around the waist, and I got a very pretty white nylon blouse with a collar edged with a frill and long bishops sleeves also edged with a frill at the wrist, and she looks very elegant and is delighted with herself. Her Auntie Merle and her big boy cousins told her that she was a picture on Christmas Day, so she had an extra Christmas present!
Uncle Wendell and John Moor on Christmas Day.
I got her a new snow jacket to wear to school earlier, with the leggings she had last winter. It is a bright turquoise blue with a lambswool edging around the hood, but she had nothing to wear on Sunday except the blue Spring coat, which is not really at all warm. I hate to pay a lot of money for a Sunday coat which she doesn’t wear out, so I thought that I might be able to make her a coat out of the one you wore last winter. The colour is quite suitable for a child and it wasn’t too worn, so I got a pattern and of course didn’t get any further with it. However, Granny Costain came to my rescue, and ripped it up and then I took it to the Coin wash and it washed very well, and now she has cut it out and is making it for me. I have got a windproof material for the lining, and I am trying to get some gray velvet to make a little stitched velvet collar, and I think that it will look very pretty. Grandpa Costain is into a project too – he and Cec have begun to make the headboard for our bed! Do you remember us talking about it? It is a regular piece of furniture, with cupboards behind and doors which come out to form backrests, and bedside tables on either side. It will be lovely when it is done, and she says that he only hopes that there is room for us in the room to when we get it on the bed! I hope that in the spring we will re-decorate the bedroom and I will get new curtains and bedcover because the old ones are going in holes all over, so we will be very elegant! Anyway, you see that we are keeping our guests busy!
Western Costain Cousin!
I seem to have digressed from the subject of Christmas presents, but while I thought of pieces of news I thought I might as well put them in. Cec wants to thank you so much for his presents too. He was very amused with his ‘Genius at work’ notice and hung it on the front of his shirt, and we will have to put it up in his study when he gets one. He likes his new tie and was very impressed with the new shell you sent him. He was showing it to everyone, and likes it so much – we really have quite a collection of “West Indiana’ now and it is so interesting to have and to show to people. We both like to the St. Vincent map Air Mail that you said to Cec and plan to put it either in our scrapbook or up with our other maps in ‘your’ room. Last but not least – thank you so much for all my lovely presents. When we opened your parcel and Cec kept handing out package after package for me the Moors were astonished and kept saying ‘How many more?” I love them all – the pink shirt blouse is so pretty and I think that I will have to get a nice new skirt to wear it with. I am quite out of spare skirts now, and I really need one to wear around the house, but which is nice enough to wear for coffee etc. too. I have already worn the pretty little white sweater with the skirt from my pinky suit, and had it much admired. It is very cute and is quite new here as yet, so you are ahead of the fashion for me. I was really delighted with both the blouse and sweater and you know how much I like to get things to wear. The little earrings are so pretty and you couldn’t have chosen better as I had written on my request list “gold and pearl necklace’ as they are all the fashion now – gold chains with pearls interspersed, and Linda gave me a very nice one, and here are your earrings to match perfectly. I wear a gold belt with my bright green wool dress, so they all go beautifully, and on Christmas day I was just like a Christmas tree! Merle had on a pretty red suit dress, so together we looked very seasonal! Last of all the fascinating wash-cloth sponge which Linda is longing for me to try! So far I have kept it for something special, but I can see that neither of us is going to hold out for long. It was a really lovely parcel, and we all enjoyed it so much. The burney sugar cake from May and Nora was a lovely surprise, and I will be writing to them in a little while. Tell Auntie Muriel too that I will be writing soon, but in the meanwhile that I am enjoying her talcum powder and that over New Year weekend we all had a great fun doing Charlie’s jigsaw puzzle! I did want to tell you though that I thought you did wonderfully with all the presents – they were all cute and unusual nice little things for everyone which we all had fun with. I also want to thank you for your cards and all your nice letters. I am sorry that I won’t have time to answer them today, but I was so glad that you and Auntie Muriel had a nice Christmas dinner at Uncle Fred’s and that you had a happy day. I wanted to tell you that I got Mr. Olmsted’s bill the other day for your glasses, $9.25, including the cost of Airmail to you, so I took your cheque and made it out for $11.25, got the money and paid him and then bought the enclosed cord for your earphone. I couldn’t remember how much they were, but I did recall that last time I underestimated, so this time I got the extra $2.00 to be sure, and found out that it was $1.75! I had parked the car in the parking building and it was 25¢ so I told Mrs. Costain that you had treated us to our parking that day! It was a bitterly cold day too, last week, but we had quite successful shopping. The material shop where I got my pure Italian silk was having a sale of woolens, so we went and got Mrs. Costain a very pretty soft wool material to make a dressmaker type suit. It is a nice soft shade of dark turquoise and we got a pattern, and when she has finished Linda’s coat she will have to start on this. I had got Cec a warm blue shirt for Christmas and when he came to try it on the sleeves were much too short, so I took it back and got him another – red this time, so he not only is warm, but he looks warm too! I must stop now as I am getting to the end of the paper, and I don’t want to get onto another sheet as I am sending the cord. Charlie has written you a letter though and I have our list of presents to send so we will write again soon and I will tell you all are doing over the festive season! I feel I am just beginning to get back to normal now, as last week after the holidays I had a huge washing – 8 machines full at the Coinwash! Lots of love from us all and big hugs , Cyn.
Dearest Mummy, Did your ears burn or anything this morning? I ask because we were all thinking of you in church when the Rector dedicated your “Fair Linen” which was on the altar and said it was “a gift from the mother of one of our members Mrs. C. Ewing who lives in St. Vincent West Indies”. The children were very pleased that he did it when they were in church and it looked awfully nice. Your package arrived yesterday morning just as Lindy and I were getting ready to set off to Ballet, so I opened it to take a peek and then took it straight away and left it at Mrs. Cravens’. Mrs. Pierce who is now Pres. of the Altar Guild, phoned to say how delighted they were to have a new altar cloth for Christmas & that Mr. Pulker was going to dedicate it today & she also said that the heavier linen hung beautifully, so you needn’t worry about that.
Mom and Dad Costain arrived on Friday at 5:15 and are both looking very well. We had planned to have Charlie’s birthday party that day so had to hastily change it to the Thurs. Cec took Charlie and 4 of his friends to a movie “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye & they loved it.
White Christmas
Then they came home to dinner – roast chicken with hot rolls, relishes, potato crisps etc. – then cake & ice cream. They were wildly excited & poor Cec was exhausted! Charlie’s real day is Tuesday of course – your parcels came & I am saving them. We have a little steam engine for him that really works!!! Also I have a new tweed jacket for him & a blue velvet dress for Lindy! Must stop & send my last Ottawa Christmas cards. Love to all from us all, Cyn.
I am sorry that I didn’t get a letter off last week, but now that I am back to normal there is so much to catch up with and I am so behind with everything concerned with Christmas. Of course I had no presents or cards or anything, and also I am very short of winter clothes and needed a hat and dress badly, so last week Linda had a dental appointment on Thurs. and so I decided that I would get Cec to take me downtown too, and I would shop and then come home in the bus. Of course you know what happened! I had both children home from school and we had to cancel the dentist as well as everything else! Linda had a bit of a cough at the weekend, but not bad, so she went to school on Mon. but Tues. it seemed worse so I thought if I kept her in bed a day or so it might clear it up, but by the Thurs. morning instead of being better she suddenly had a temperature of nearly 102 after not having had more than 99 the previous evening, so then Charlie decided he felt sick and throwy-up, so I kept him at home too. Actually, that afternoon he was to go to Dr. Kastner to have the dressing changed on his toe, so I called the nurse and told her about Linda and she said to bundle her up and have the car warm and bring her in too. We decided that we might as well all go to Dr. K. now as the children are getting big for the Paediatric Centre – Linda wasn’t too pleased but I think is resigned now! Cec came home and drove us over, and after a while I went in with the two children and Cec was most amused because in his (Dr. K.’s) usual whirlwind style he looked at Charlie’s toe (healing quite well, but still sore), got the nurse to put a dressing on it; looked at Linda’s ears and throat gave me a million instructions and two prescriptions for her; and then proceeded to give me a lightning quiz and give me a prescription for a tonic and bucker-upper – and we were all out and on our way home in about three minutes! Charlie’s toe continues to do well, but he still finds a shoe painful although I think he will be able to wear one soon as it doesn’t look red and inflamed now and the new nail seems to be doing all right. Linda took her medicine and the cold cleared up over the weekend. Dr. K. said that she could go to school this week, but no gym or going out at recess, so I gave both of them their lunches at school, so that she wouldn’t have to walk up in the cold, and Charlie has been taking his since his toe was so sore so that he wouldn’t have to walk. This has given me a lovely free week, and I have at last managed to get downtown and go to the coinwash and this morning I made my Christmas cake and it is in the oven now and smelling delectable! I made my Christmas pudding last week, so at least we will have some Christmas fare – I still haven’t made mincemeat, but I shall try to get it done next week, because I am so used to your grape mincemeat now that the bought kind tastes very strong and solid. Oh, I meant to tell you that Dr. K. said that I was doing fine, but that after a thing like this one’s haemoglobin goes down, so this would make me tired and so he gave me some mineral and vitamin pills, and I take one a day. How about yours? Blood, I mean? After your fall and the shock perhaps the same thing happened to you so I think you should get it checked and maybe you could use some pills too!
Poor Mama – you still haven’t heard all the ins and outs of this accident of mine! As you can imagine so many people have asked about it here and talked about it and everything that we feel everyone must be sick of it, but with having to write it to you I never did tell the full tale. Well, it happened on the 21st Oct. at 8:30 in the morning. Of course usually I would never be out in the car at that time on a Saturday morning, but this week the Cubs were to go downtown to a show and they all had to be at the school at 8:30 so Charlie got all dressed in his camp uniform and off we went. I left him at the school and then placidly drove back home again, having left Linda in her dressing gown and Cec asleep in bed as he had been working late the night before, and then as I drove up opposite our driveway and began to turn, with no cars in sight, I saw a small newspaper boy on a bicycle ambling along just opposite our house. I slowed down to let him past and then glanced along the highway again before turning across the road. I saw a truck coming from the Montreal direction just appearing over the hill, but thought “Oh, I have time to get off the road”, so drove quickly across and onto the gravel shoulder of the road opposite our driveway when suddenly the truck (what is called here a panel truck – we’d call it a van) drove smack into the passenger side of my car. Of course I just felt the terrific crash, and the doors on my side of the car burst open and I was thrown out onto the gravel. I wasn’t unconscious but the blow which broke my ribs had knocked all my breath out and I was wheezing and whooping trying to get it back. I was lying on the ground partly under our car and the man ran over and began helping me out and then I heard Emil’s voice, and I was so thankful as I could hear them sending someone for an ambulance and I was trying to say that I lived right here but had no breath to do so. Emil then said that I lived here and the two of them carried me in – I remember it all but I couldn’t open my eyes, and Emil says I kept saying “I’m all right “, and I did manage to say that Cec was still asleep. Poor little Lindy got such a shock as she saw them carry me in all gravelly and grubby, and Emil told her to go and wake Cec and he poor fellow woke up and found a house full of strange people and me were lying there and he didn’t know what had happened. I was on the sofa, and a lady who lives behind Emil’s and is a nurse and heard the crash dashed over and she bathed my face and put a cold cloth on my head etc. and then Cec phoned Dr. K. and he said to have the ambulance take me to the Civic Hospital. The ambulance came then, and Mary Orr who was passing and saw the commotion came and got Linda dressed and took her home with her, and they put me on a stretcher and took me off just as the police arrived. I was taken into the Emergency and undressed and then taken along and x-rayed and then all taped up with wide adhesive tape and by this time it was getting on for noon, and I was very sore as you can imagine, so I asked if I couldn’t have at least an aspirin or something, so at last I got a pain pill. There was no bed free so I lay there in the Emergency Ward with various companions such as a small boy who had fallen off his bicycle and a young fellow who had broken his collarbone playing football! Cec came in and stayed with me a while and as nothing was going on I told him to go home and see how the children were as Mary Orr was going to collect Charlie and take him to her home too after the show was over. After a little while I was taken up to the proper ward and got into a nice room in the new wing of the hospital. It was semi-private with two beds and I got the bed next to the window which was nice. Once in there I was looked after very well – I got a hypo needle to take away the pain, and Dr. K came in very soon and said he was sorry he was delayed, and said I was to have pain pills every three hours and sleeping pills at night etc. One of the shots they gave me I had a reaction against and threw up, but I dozed and slept and felt all right when Cec came in to see me in the evening. My companion in the other bed was a girl of about 13 or 14 who came in after I did having been thrown from a horse. She had a very black eye and various bruises, but she went home the next morning and then on the Sun. afternoon I got another lady, a Miss Gibson – a little older than me and a member of a large family of brothers and sisters nearly all living in Ottawa. She was very nice and we got on very well together. She had had a cancerous tumour removed 7 years ago and now had a small lump on her neck to be removed, so she wasn’t feeling ill and the first day or so she just had tests and x-rays, then the operation was small enough so that she didn’t feel poorly for more than a day or so. However when the lump was examined they said it wasn’t malignant but that she should have some treatment, and also she had been having gall bladder trouble and the doctors decided that she should have that removed while she was in the hospital, so she had that operation the very day I left hospital. Poor girl, I felt sorry for her, because with this cancer threat hanging over her it must be very worrying. I phoned her sister one day and she told me that she was very weak after the gall bladder operation but was getting on although still in hospital. Well, I think that seems to be the saga of my accident – as I told you everyone was terribly kind – I got more than 15 gifts of flowers and plants – all sorts of beautiful roses and pots of chrysanthemums and things and various boxes of candy and chocolate, and gifts of toilet water and talcum and soap, and fruit and cookies, and then of course Cec and the children were inundated with food and invitations and so was I when I came home – you can’t believe how kind people were. I got between 30 and 40 cards from all sorts of people – not counting the ones from friends and relations like Mill and Monie – also Christmas cards and notes from Peggy and Marie and Auntie Mill. Oh, I thought you would be amused to hear how well I was looked after by the clergy when I was in Hospital. Someone phoned Mr. Pulker just after the accident and he came right up and saw Cec and asked if there was anything he could do, then he came to see me twice in Hospital. As well the Anglican Hospital Chaplain came in to see me, and then Wendell, who was in seeing one of his parishioners came in one afternoon. Next, who should come but Mr. Cook – the United Church clergyman from here – you met his wife at Mrs. Rothwell’s, remember? I thought it was so nice of him to come and we had a nice chat about his baby who is a great big strong fellow of 7 or 8 months now. Last but not least, Miss Gibson is a Presbyterian, and one day when she was down for an X-ray her minister came in to see her, and when I explained where she was he sat down beside me and had a little visit, and then another day he came in to see Miss G. again and gave us both a little service. All that was missing was for the priest to drop in, but I never saw him!
I forgot to tell you that the man who bumped into me had no insurance on his truck. Our insurance man went to see the police and their report, and they had down that the crash took place about 10 or 12 feet off the highway and that the man must’ve frozen at the wheel. There were no skid marks or brake marks so he must not even have put on his brakes but just have driven right off the road into me. Apparently there is a fund that one can get damages from if the party to blame is uninsured, but one has to bring a court case first to apportion the blame and assess the damage, and they say court cases can go any which way depending on how the judge is feeling, which is not very encouraging. Our insurance company is interested in recovering some of their money if they can, so they are continuing to investigate and if they decide to take it into court then we would go along with them. We would hope to get my hospital expenses and perhaps the $120 which Cec had to pay to rent a car, but of course we wouldn’t get the difference we had to pay between the money we got from the insurance company and the cost of the new car. Our poor little Rosie was demolished. The right side was all smashed in and apparently the whole frame was twisted so that it couldn’t be repaired. I was so fond of that little car, and we all feel sad about it, but the new one is very nice too. It is also an Envoy but the 1962 model which is a little wider and longer – it is a pretty blue with a lighter blue side streak and top, and blue leather seats and carpet inside. Lindy said we should call this one Bluebird and I don’t know if you remember Mrs. Bird in our guild? Well, her daughter is called Bonnie, so now the car is called Bonnie too! On Sunday Cec took me down Rothwell Heights and I practised with the new car and then this week for the first time Cec went to work with Teddy and I had the car, so on Tuesday I drove downtown at 10 a.m. and didn’t come home till 3 p.m. I don’t feel nervous but just a bit suspicious of all the other drivers! Then yesterday I went to the Coin Wash and Shopping Centre and so I am getting quite used to it.
This week has been hectic – on Mon. evening Cec and I went to the Film Society – mostly because we haven’t been this year yet and we hadn’t been out for so long, and it turned out to be some very depressing films about Africa and the conditions under which the coloured people live there – not at all enjoyable, and both Cec and I got so sore and stiff from sitting! Then on Tues. evening I went down to the church for an Advisory Board Meeting. This is the Board which does all the church business and as Pres. of the Guild I now am a member – just me and Mrs. Pierce of the Altar Guild and all the rest men! It is really very interesting and Mr. Pulker is very businesslike and practical which is certainly a big change from Mr. Bowen! Wed. evening was a Guild Executive meeting in the house of one of the members and then last night we went with Margaret and Peter Savic to the Little Theatre to see a play called “The Pleasure of his Company’. We have tickets for a series of plays this winter – about 4 or 5 I think, and this one was quite good, but it was a pity everything came in one week. Tonight Cec has gone out to dinner and to a Stag Party with the men from work and I must say that I am delighted to stay at home! As you can see, I am really back in the routine again, but I do get tired still and my back aches, but usually I get into bed early in the evening and read and have my cup of tea! I had better go and get some dinner or my children will starve – Daddy out so we will have a very picnic meal!
Dear Gannie, I am fascinated by this RED ink. Charlie has just said that he loves you and I say the same. We are having exams in school now at least my class is. A minute ago Charlie said that he was having 10 exams next week and you should see his school – bag! I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and aHAPPY NEW YEAR! Love LINDY P.S. Charlie has just gone downstairs to weigh his school-bag! I run to make you a CHRISTMAS card. Good – bye! L. C.
Dear Grannie. As Lindy has said, I have lots of homework and my schoolbag weighs a lot, 9 lbs. 16 oz. to be exact. I am going to send you a copy of ‘Stoopid’ it may be the rough copy but I don’t think you’d mind. Mummy says it’s time to go to bed so I have to stop. HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a MERRY NEW YEAR. LOVE CHARLEY
Me again! Talking of Christmas – two weeks this weekend – horrors! – your parcel has come, and here I am just packing yours. I know that you will be amused at the house dress that I have sent you – Lindy says that it isn’t a “Grannie dress” so I said “Oh, well, don’t you think that it is a Grannie-in-the-West-Indies dress?” So she said “Yes, but not a dress for Grannies here!” So you will see that it isn’t a dull old womanish dress! Actually it is a sun-dress and I got it on sale, so it should be very good value! I tried it on, so I hope that it fits you O.K. Auntie Muriel’s present says on the outside ‘For Men’, but I don’t see why ladies shouldn’t find it handy too! [Curiosity led me to looking up Cyn’s Christmas present list to discover what this could be- Soap on a Rope!] I’m afraid that all my parcels and cards are going to be very late but nothing can be done about it.
Cyn’s Christmas Lists, in the agenda book she’d been using since 1932.
Recipients of Christmas cards and gifts- friends in England and U.S.!
You were asking about the Guild in one of your letters and of course we have had all sorts of functions this fall, but I haven’t been taking too much of an active part. While I was in the hospital we had the Rummage Sale, and if I had to miss any of the things I was happy that it was that one, as I can’t say I can rouse much interest in rummage! Then just after I came home there was an Exec. Meeting, but I got June to take that as I wasn’t going, but the next week we had a Guild Meeting and I went to that as usual. That week there was such a tragic thing happened – one of the young men belonging to the Church suddenly dropped dead at work one morning. He was only 34 and his wife is 32, and is left with 3 young children – the oldest 11 and the youngest 4. We were all so shocked and the poor girl, Hilda Cooper, was stunned. The funeral was held at the Church on the Sat. afternoon, and there were relatives coming from all over the country, so we in the Guild organized things and sent in a hot meal on the Friday evening, and then on the Sat. two of the ladies went over in the afternoon and had tea and coffee and sandwiches and cookies ready when everyone came back from the cemetery – a miserable cold wet afternoon too. We sent in a buffet supper for about 15 or so that evening so that she wouldn’t even have to think of food. The next Sat. we had our Skate and Ski Exchange and it did very well. We made just over $50, which doesn’t sound much, but the church just takes 25% of the sale price, so that means we sold $200 worth of secondhand skates and skis. Then last Sat. we had our Coffee Party and it was a big success – we made about $200, but for something which is mostly fun this is pretty good. Mary Orr and some of the girls who are taking millinery classes made some cute little hats – mostly just veiling and flowers etc. and I bought one with brown flowers on to go with my winter coat. I was so pleased as I hadn’t had a chance to go down town and get a new winter hat at all. Then last week when I was in town I looked for a dress but had no luck till I was at the Coinwash and went to my old standby Reitman’s and got a pretty woollen dress with 3/4 sleeves – it is a nice gay green colour – quite a change for me – and has a pleated skirt. I thought it would look nice and Christmasy with my gold belt and gold jewellery.
I don’t think that I have told you of all the excitement about Christmas. Cec’s Mother and Father wrote and said they thought they might come down East this winter, so we wrote and said this was lovely and for them to come for Christmas. They said they would, so we thought it would be fun to have a real Costain family party, so we called up Lea and she said that they could come on Christmas Day, then we wrote to Merle and her family and persuaded them to come up for Christmas too. We had her reply last week and they are going to come – they will arrive on the Sat. before Christmas and then be here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then leave on Boxing Day. We had said in our letter that if they had already asked Uncle and Auntie [Milton and Lily Costain in Toronto] to spend Christmas with them to bring them along, and Merle says that she phoned them and not to be surprised if they come! This means that we would have 17 for Christmas Dinner! Merle suggest that she and Dixon and Auntie and Uncle, if they come, sleep down at the motel and I think that is what we will do. Then Mom and Dad can have downstairs to themselves, we will put all the Moor boys in Charlie’s room and Charlie can sleep on the chaise in Linda’s room. In that way we will have the sitting room clear, and this will make it easier. Won’t it be fun though? The only thing we don’t know is when Mom and Dad are coming – by the way, Carmen and Leona just had another little son – 2 boys and a girl now. It is now Sunday and Cec has spent such a noble weekend – he has washed the ceiling and walls of the kitchen for me – it looks a different place as you may remember after you did one wall! We want to decorate all through in the New Year, but in the meanwhile this is a huge improvement. Charlie in his little note mentions that he is going to send you his rough copy of ‘Stoopid’. This is his speech which I very briefly told you about in one of my earlier letters. In the Public Schools each year they have Public Speaking Contests – Senior Grades 7 and 8, then Junior Grades 4, 5, and 6. Well, before my accident Charlie said he had to write a speech and there were various headings he could choose from – one was “A Faithful Friend”, so after lots of discussion he decided to write on this one telling about the little monkey Stoopid which Cec knew when he was on the aircraft carrier in the Pacific. Part of it is made up and part is true, but he wrote it all out quite well, and much to my surprise when I was in the hospital Cec told me that Charlie had been chosen one of 10 in his class to learn his speech and give it. Well, you know his memory! I never thought he would be able to do it, but Cec told him how to make short notes and then go in his room and say it over and over, and much to our surprise in a day or so he could reel the whole thing off, and time himself – nearly 5 minutes! Then at school they had various eliminations and he was chosen each time until he and a little girl were chosen out of his class to speak in the contest against 4 other boys and girls from the other grades. One of these was Janek Blachut who was chosen from Lindy’s class – poor Lindy was quite disgusted at first, as they did not get their speeches begun so soon, so consequently she hadn’t hers written before I went into hospital. She was going to write on “An Exciting Adventure” and tell about you as a small girl in the hurricane going down into the cellar and the little child with the cotton wool for brains! Well, what with me not being there to consult and all the upset of the accident and going out to people’s houses and one thing and another, she was late getting it finished and didn’t have time to learn it properly, so she wasn’t chosen from her class. However, when she got over her disappointment she was quite proud of Charlie! They had the finals in the evening and parents could go and listen and there were 3 judges from outside. There were 6 children speaking in the younger group and 6 in the older, and they began with the young ones. They drew lots for turns and each one went up onto the platform and made his speech – without notes. Janek was the only one who forgot, but he made a good recovery and managed to finish up well. Charlie was 3rd or 4th and we could tell he was very nervous – very serious you know and looking so small up there! But he did very well, and said it all nicely – it was a funny speech you know, and he had told us how all the children laughed when he said it, but he was too scared to make much of the jokes that night! Cec and I thought the little girl called Christine out of Charlie’s class was the best – she spoke about ‘Upper Canada Village’- the pioneer village which has just been opened down by the St. Lawrence Seaway. After they had finished the judges went out and then when they came back they reviewed each child’s speech and made suggestions and corrections and it was so interesting, and they were very nice because they found something good to say about each one, and were most encouraging. When the man was going over Charlie’s he talked for a while, and then was going to say something about speaking louder and he suddenly stopped and said ‘You are 10, aren’t you?” and Charlie said “No, I’m 8” whereupon the man looked so surprised and laughed and said “Oh well, perhaps we can’t expect a little fellow to speak much louder!” In the end of the Junior Group the little girl Christine was first and Janek was second, and I think Charlie was quite relieved as they had to go to another school another night and do it again against other winners, and he had had quite enough! But we were very proud of him. Especially as it was something we hadn’t even thought he could do, and he did it so well – imagine standing up and giving a speech to a whole hall full of people at that age! You asked in your last letter – for which thank you so much – if Sheena’s baby has come yet. It isn’t due until the end of this month so perhaps she will have Christmas at home. She is expecting her mother this week, so she is very excited. One nice thing about my accident it has healed old rifts as it were – Margie heard about it from Sheena about two weeks ago and called me up and we had a nice long chat and are friends again with many protestations that we must get together soon! But I am glad as I like Margie and Cy so much – Cy seems to be quite well again now, but apart from that Margie didn’t say anything about his illness. In answer to some of your questions Lindy hasn’t got any bands on her teeth yet – she had to get some more fillings done before they were put on, and Dr. Braden has just got some little ‘spacers’ in between some of her teeth at the back. The first bands she will get will be on her back teeth so they won’t be noticeable for a while. Linda doesn’t mind Dr. B. as he does no hurting work like fillings etc. and also he is a nice looking young fellow rather like Hugh Pembleton. Charlie’s eczema has been pretty good lately – he just had the two short treatments when I mentioned them earlier, but they cleared it up very well, and only this week I noticed he is beginning to scratch again a bit, but just as he always has you know – not the big infected sores he had a while ago. Dr. Jackson said to come back if it got bad again, but so far it is all right. Well, here I am nearly at the end of the paper, so I must stop. Please give my love to Auntie Muriel and all the other kind people who enquired about me, and thank them. I will try to write with my Christmas cards but goodness knows when they will arrive. I do hope that you have a happy Christmas and enjoy a nice Christmas dinner. You can think of me with my 24 lb. turkey, and be glad I have my nice new big oven to put it in! I meant to tell you we have had chickens as low in price as 19¢ a lb. – doesn’t that make you and Auntie Moo jealous? We have had chicken all week long – yum! –
Lots of love and happy Christmas from Cyn. [in hand writing] Did your glasses come yet?
I know, it’s a Taunus, but I was trying to get the colour right!
Dear Mom, I thought I would surprise you by starting a note. First, I can assure you Cyn is recovering rapidly, and not doing too much. She is still “uncomfortable” at times – at 3:00 am, for example, but is able to get around without much difficulty. We got the “value” of our car, less $100 from my insurance, and now have a nice blue two-tone 1962 Envoy. Most of it belongs to the bank, because half of the insurance went to pay the bank what we still owed on the old one. I wanted to tell you also that your Canada Savings Bonds have been sent to me – I bought them for you, to repay your loan to us, remember? I will keep them, but they are registered in your name, and I want you to put the amount and numbers with your “valuable papers”. They are Canada Saving Bond, 1960 series, maturing November 1, 1970. 1 $500.00 Number 515 – B 322075 1 $100.00 Number 515 – A 900883 They can be cashed for full value at any time – plus interest. The interest coupon for 1961 is $24, which I will deposit in your account. For ’62, it will be $25.50; ’63, $27.00; ’64, $28.50; 1965-1970, $30.00. So now you have some Canadian investments averaging 4 3/4%. I was cross with your bank manager, saying he didn’t “think” you could transfer money to Canada. He should know, or find out. Incidentally the Canadian dollar is now 3% below the American, so you would get 6% more dollars for your pounds this year. That should confuse you! Love Cec.
24th Nov. Well – is this a nice surprise to find that you are richer than you remembered! Cec put the $24.00 interest in your account today so it won’t be quite so low. Mr. Olmsted called me today & said your glasses were mended. I asked him to send them to you Air Mail & he is enclosing the prescription so that you will have it for any future mishaps. He is sending me the bill, so I will let you know how much it is later & how much money I make out your blank cheque for. I won’t forget the new cord for your hearing aid. Poor little Charlie had a bad time today. Way back in September the fattest little boy in his class stepped on his toe & when he came home we looked at it & found it all crushed & bleeding & the nail black, so we took him to Dr. K. who bandaged it etc. We cut off the front of his sandals & bathed it & went on & then I took him to Dr. K again just before the accident. Cec had to get him a pair of boots too big so he could get them on & finally took him to Dr. K. again yesterday & today he went to the Hospital & had it frozen & Dr. K took off the nail. The new nail was in growing under it instead of pushing off the old one & was quite a mess & the freezing wore off before Dr. K. finished poor fellow so it was very painful. However he is very good & brave & we hope it will heal well now. He is to go back to see Dr. K. next week. Lots of love, Cyn.
I would not normally include the children’s work in these letters but this speech addresses Cec’s war experience, one of the few times we, as children, ever heard him talk about it. There was a picture of the H.M.S. Indomitable on the wall, some musty smelling epaulettes and a hat with a tropical white cover in the basement, and that was all we knew. In fact, until my husband and I visited 30 years later, I had never known him to tell anyone details about his service- and he didn’t talk to me, but to Pat. There certainly was a lot of parental input into our speeches- Linda’s was based on one of Carol’s childhood experiences, as told by Cyn- but given that this was all happening while Cyn was in hospital and then home recovering, Charlie’s success was a commendable effort!
Stoopid.
My father had a Faithful Friend on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This friend was a little monkey called Stoopid, who was so small he could sit on a man’s hand. He had greyish fur and a beautiful long tail. But his eyes were sad and he had a little worryed face. Every morning my father would take him into the shower and give him a good scrub. Stoopid didn’t like this and scolded when he was getting dried. He was friends with everyone except the ships cats. He would sneak along and pull their tails then run away as fast as he could, climb over the edge of the ship into a port hole, and sometimes come up with a pen in his mouth. He used to like to visit the officers’ wardroom where there was a notice board. Stoopid thought the notices made lovely parachutes. He jumped at them and rode down as they tore. He liked to look at the letters and sorted them out as he thought, with some in the wrong places and the rest on the floor. The officers had a terrible time finding their mail. Every morning when the smell of breakfast was around Stoopid would go to the table and sit on my father’s shoulder and wait for his food. One day there was a bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. After everyone had left the room Stoopid jumped up on the table, grabbed a banana, and ran away behind a coil of rope to eat it. When he was finished he through the peel on the deck. Soon the captain came along deep in thought. Suddenly there was a crash and all 250 pounds of the captain was sitting on the deck. The captain was furious and wanted to keep Stoopid locked up in a cage but my father said he would keep an eye on him. One day the captain saw him running along the deck and said to a sailor “You know how to knit?” And the sailor said “Y- yes sir” “Well, said the captain you had better get busy and knit that little monkey a sweater.” He looked so sweet in his little red sweater and cap when they sailed south into wintery weather. Stoopid was a very sad little monkey when my father had to leave. He was well looked after by the other men, but to no one else was he such a faithful friend.
In her October 12th letter, Cyn promised to write Carol a follow-up, telling about the overnight guests they had while she was trying to make herself a new silk dress, the Thanksgiving weekend, and the Gander’s new cottage they had visited. Alas, we will never know the details! Accidents will happen.
Thursday 26th Oct.?
Dearest Mummy, I am sorry that I have been awhile in writing to you but I have a real good excuse this time! You know how we have a joke that every 2 years I pay a visit to the Civic Hospital – well this year I thought I missed it, but no such thing – it was just waiting around the corner for me & here I am sitting in bed surrounded by lovely flowers, candies & get well cards! And of all things, what do you think is the matter? A nice selection of broken ribs! I am all taped up but Dr. Kastner is taking off the tape tomorrow & says I am doing very well & will be home next week sometime. I took Charlie down to the school at 8:30 on Sat. a.m. to go to a show for the Cubs and then on the way home I turned to go into our driveway at the top of the hill and a panel truck coming from Montreal way slammed right into the side of the car. He was right off the road on the shoulder & going very fast & of course my main feeling was amazement & surprise. I was thrown out of the door on the driver’s side & rolled under the car but wasn’t touched. I was so lucky especially that little Charlie wasn’t in the car as the whole side is demolished. Also, that we had safety glass as my hair & all my clothes were just impregnated with little crumbs of glass, but I only got one tiny little scratch on my hand. I have 8 or 9 broken ribs but no other damage at all & Dr. K. says Someone was looking after me. He says I’ll be home in a week & I am doing fine so don’t worry & I will write soon again. The children & Cec send love- With lots from Cyn.
As I said in the essay that opened this project [Family Letters] distressing events that occur are minimized in the letters that follow because no one wants to upset their mother, and the writer has obviously survived the crisis! Cyn’s car accident was seriously upsetting for the whole family but Carol, far away in St. Vincent, couldn’t do anything but worry about her daughter, so Cyn gives the facts here, emphasizes the recovery, and doesn’t mention the pain or the emotions she must have gone through. Certainly both Charlie and I, aged 8 & 10 at the time, remember it- Charlie because she was hurt after driving him, so it was partly his fault! and Linda because I was there, dressed for my ballet class in tights and leotard waiting for my turn to be driven to my Saturday activity, when two of our neighbours carried my mother in, groaning with pain! My father was sleeping in, and I rushed to wake him as they jostled her up the stairs and laid her on the sofa. What a rude awakening for him. Cars in those days had no seatbelts, and obviously ‘not moving the crash victim’ was unknown or ignored, perhaps because she’d crawled out from under the car on her own, but I can’t help thinking now that she was lucky they didn’t cause a punctured lung. I was removed to a neighbour’s house at a distance, so I have no memory of ambulances, police, or crashed cars, only of the girls at the friends’ being curious and Charlie turning up in the afternoon, and I presume Cec collected us later with the news that Mummy was in hospital but would be all right.
Years later when new housing developments had been built further east and the houses at the top of the hill on the Montreal Road were demolished, Mrs Cardinal’s replaced by a strip mall on one side of the highway, and a dental service surrounded by parking on the site where we had lived, the road was widened into 4 lanes and they somehow flattened the hill, so that it sloped more gently and visibility was better, with turning lanes that made left turns safer. Not that Cyn didn’t have a few more accidents turning left… when she was older… and they might have been her fault then… but she was never injured as badly, thank goodness.
Historical events pop into these letters about personal lives and domestic details very briefly and without explanation. For example, the defecting Soviet chemist, Dr Klotchko, that Cyn mentioned in her August 21 1961 letter, would have been connected in Cyn and Carol’s minds with the defection of the ballet star Rudolph Nureyev in Paris the previous June, but neither bothered mentioning it, knowing that the other would have been interested and informed about it and would make the connexion. In her September 20th letter, Cyn makes a brief mention of the West Indies Federation, which had been formed in 1958 as a political union that would achieve independence from Britain as a single confederation, but was gradually shaking apart in the summer of 1961. Canada, as a colonial power that had achieved independence, was sympathetic and had given the Federation two ships to be a link between all the islands, and in this letter, Cyn thanks her mother for an article about one of them- The Federal Maple. But foremost in their lives was the parish supper that their respective churches were hosting, and those details feature much more prominently in their letters!
3rd Oct. 1961
Dearest Mummy, Thank you for your last week’s letter and the enclosures about the “Fed. Maple” and your supper. I was tickled about the “Dinner – Dancing – Bar”– I can imagine our church advertising that! Our supper was a great success though – and only .25¢ each! We are going to be about $5 in the hole but as it was to welcome the Reverend Pulker and his family we don’t feel that it matters. We had 220 people buying tickets – more than 1/2 children & it was from 5:30 to 7:00. I expected we’d get them coming gradually. We set up long tables with the food on at the top & card tables & chairs all around the hall to seat 92. We had cold turkey & ham, hot casseroles, (mac & cheese, beans, meatballs, scal. potatoes etc.) salads & rolls, then on a separate table desserts – cakes, pies, & little tubs of ice cream. Milk for children – tea & coffee for adults. To my horror everyone poured in between 5:30 & 6:00, so we were kept rushing to replenish the table with food. Cec & the children came just after 6:0 & I was afraid there would be nothing left for them! However, everything was just fine even though we found some of the boys did help themselves to 6 & 7 desserts! Our greatest trouble was water – the pump was broken & I found this out the day before, so you can imagine my agitation. The plumber worked all day & got it going just at 6:30 as the dirty dishes began coming back! I have both children home this week – Charlie with a bad stye & snuffle & Lindy with a real wooshy cold. Two are easier than one though! Made apple jelly yesterday & spiced crab apples & chutney at the weekend – my cupboard looks nice! Love to A. Muriel & lots for you from us all – Cyn.
Dearest Mummy, I can hardly believe that it is really just 2 weeks since the children began school. It already seems like two months and I am sure that they feel the same! They seem both seem quite content with their new teachers though – Charlie has the English teacher, Mrs. Cripwell, that Linda had last year – Cec and I did not think too much of her as Linda seem to get worse in Arithmetic after having her instead of better, but the children like her all right. Linda has Mrs. Tyler and all summer she was moaning and groaning about how much she hated Mrs. Tyler, but of course after the first day she has changed her mind and thinks that she is O.K. now! Of course they both have homework now and so in a way it is easier than when only Linda had it, but they are both still quite slow and what with half an hour’s practice on the piano they seem to have no time for play much to their sorrow! However they both like their piano lessons and Mrs. Scott says that they are doing very well – Linda is more self-confident and goes at it as if she knows all about it, but actually they are both doing just the same so far. I go down and listen to them practising most days, and they are really very cute with it and I am learning something too! They go every Thursday for their lessons – Linda 4:30 – 5:00 and Charlie 5:00 – 5:30 – it is a dollar fifty a lesson, so we’re paying by cheque every month. Fortunately our weather has abated, and is now more like Sept. weather – nice cool nights and lovely sunny days. We had a very slight frost one night but not enough to damage anything – in fact the gardens are all looking lovely and everything is still so green and pretty – hardly any of the trees are changing yet and it looks fresher and greener than lots of our usual summer months. I hear that there is another hurricane heading for the U.S. and might even reach Long Island, so I expect Monie and Margs will be anxiously watching the weather news – it seems to be a bad year, but I hope none of them will be heading your way. In the news this morning I heard all the worry the W.I. Confederation are having about Jamaica – I wonder what will happen. It hardly seems as if they had given it a fair trial yet. I told you in my last letter that I had begun a letter to you, but when I came to continue it today, it was so disjointed and garbled with many interruptions, and not even getting on very quickly, so I decided that I might as well begin all over again, and try and get this written up this afternoon while the children were at school. When they come home what with practising and homework and dinner, and then when that is over scrub Charlie with his soap every night and bandage his legs up, so that I seem to be fully occupied from 3:30 till about 9 o’clock! Did I tell you that just as school began poor old Charlie broke out in a wretched lot of boils again? I took him back to the specialist, Dr. Jackson, and he told me to continue using the ointment he’d given me (it has cortisone in and some antiseptic) and to keep his legs bandaged all the time and wash him every night with a special soap, and wash all his clothes and towels every day – including his trousers. He had some horrid big boils but they did drain and heal quite quickly, and now I am only bandaging his eczema at night so he won’t scratch, but continuing to scrub him and his clothes every day. I took him to Dr. J. again on Mon. and he says he is getting on fine and gave him some type of new treatment for his eczema – like x-rays he says – just for a very short time and we are to go back next week for him to see if it did any good. What with the skin specialist and Linda’s Orthodontist we are really busy these days! We went last week to the new Orth.whose name is Dr. Bradon and he is to do Linda’s teeth- they will take at least 2 years! Fortunately Linda likes him – he is young looking and has a bit of a look of Hugh P. and has a very nice way with children. Linda and I were horrified in a sort of giggly way, because after examining her teeth, he shook his head and said “Linda, you have got everything wrong with your teeth that it is possible to have!” Apparently, her teeth are big and she has a dainty little mouth he says and they are just all pushing each other out of shape. Her back teeth have got pushed forward till they don’t bite against each other and her front teeth are pushed out and her bottom teeth overlap! She is to begin by having bands on the back teeth to pull them back into place and then will have some incisors out to make room for the others and will then eventually have bands on the upper and lower front ones. Isn’t it a performance? Of course this will be done one thing at a time, so she won’t find it bad, but this is why it will take so long, but by the time he told me all the things to do I was relieved to hear it would cost around 750 dollars – I was expecting thousands! Cec and I are wondering if we’ll have to enjoy Linda’s teeth instead of a trip to England! She begins next month with three appointments to make the bands and fit the first one and then after that we go every three weeks – we pay $175 deposit and after that $60 a quarter. Let us hope she will be a raving beauty before she begins High School! Apart from rushing back-and-forth to Dr. and dentists we have done one or two nicer things this month! Before the children went back to school we went to see a film that we all enjoyed very much “The Parent Trap”– a Walt Disney film with Hayley Mills in it – the little girl who played Pollyanna. It was very funny and the children really laughed and had a lovely time. [Linda already had the book the film was based on but decided she could live with the Americanized changes.] Afterwards we went and had a Chinese dinner – or at least Cec, Charlie and I had Chinese and Linda had roast pork!
On the very day that school began Cec and I went to hear the Red Army Choir sing. They were in Ottawa for 2 performances, and of all places they held the performances in the Auditorium – a dreadful old barn of a place where they have Ice Hockey and Circuses etc. Of course it holds a lot of people but it is due to be pulled down and it is dirty and smelly and just temporary old wooden flooring over the arena part and wooden chairs and for this we paid six dollars each. On top of this it was a roasting night and there wasn’t a slightest bit of ventilation! I sat with perspiration dripping off my brow so how the choir and dancers could stand it I don’t know – I was ashamed for Canada! The singing was wonderful and the dancing too – it was really a first class show, but Cec and I were slightly amused at the Russians singing “God Save Your Gracious Queen” and asking to send her victorious! — Cec took Charlie to his first football Game the Sat. before last. It again was a terribly hot day and their seats were on the sunny side of the Grandstand, so it was very uncomfortable, and sad to say, Ottawa lost! Ken and Mr. Watt went with them, and old Mr. Watt thoroughly enjoyed it, sitting in his waistcoat and thick suit, and never minding the heat at all! Cec has been working away at his outside chores every weekend, but it wasn’t until this past one, that the weather was bearable. He has taken down the old clothesline and cemented me in one of those new umbrella type, that can be lifted out of its socket and brought in during the winter. Then he has replaced all the flagstones along there and cemented them and now he is painting the window frames and puttying the windows and painting the black roof trim. He has to do some work on the roof but is going to do only part this year. My big job of course has been the Guild. [Cyn is now President of the Ladies Guild.] Our new rector and his family have arrived and are settling down. They all wear glasses, Linda says! Mr. Pulker seems very nice – a more practical man than Mr. Bowen, but not with the same charm, but I think he will be easier to work with. Mrs. Pulker is a little dark-haired lady, and reminds me a bit of Merle, and she also seems very nice and friendly, and there is a High School boy, a 12 year old girl and a 10 year old boy. We invited her to our first Exec. meeting, but she couldn’t come as there was a choir practice and she is going to help the choir. However both she and the rector came to our first Guild Meeting and seemed very pleased with it and thought the Guild was a busy bee! Both meetings went well I think, but of course I seemed to hear an awful lot of my own voice! Our first big effort is a Parish Supper to welcome the Pulkers and introduce them to the people and I am organizing this with a committee of 4, so you can imagine the phoning and to do. It isn’t only the Guild, but the Parish, so we have had to phone over 100 people and take bookings and everything. We are having it on the Pot Luck idea – each family is bringing something – a salad, pie, cake, rolls or casserole, as well as paying 25¢ per person, and with the money we are buying a turkey and a ham and cooking them and serving them cold with other things, and also milk for the children and ice cream, tea and coffee. It is our first attempt at this so I hope that it turns out all right and we have enough to eat! We are serving it Buffet style from 5:30 to 7:00 with a long serving table and eating at card tables, and by tonight we should know the numbers, which should be interesting! Greta Cooke, the treasurer, nearly made me faint by making 450 tickets, whereas I planned on about 100, but we shall see who is right! What with the Guild meetings and going to send out notices about the supper and committee meetings, my time has vanished, so I will be glad when the supper is over next Wed. and things will be calmer – I hope. However I had coffee with Fanni this morning, and it was nice to be away from Guild for a little while. Also on Mon. evening I went to Scientist Wives Meeting, but I was very disappointed as it was supposed to be pictures of Upper Canada Village, the newly opened sort of village museum of old Canada, but instead the man just talked about it, and I’d already read so much that nothing he said was new. I took Margaret – poor Eddie is back in hospital again, and we went to visit him first. Finally last week they took x-rays of his tummy and found he had a new ulcer, and also the scar tissue on the old one which had healed had nearly obstructed the passage from the stomach so this was why he could take nothing but milk. They put him in hospital right away and are giving him some treatment – tubes down his nose to drain the acid from the stomach and a special formula every hour and are seeing if this will heal the ulcer quickly, but if not he will have to have an operation to remove part of his stomach. Isn’t this dreadful for a 16-year-old boy? Poor Margaret and Peter are so worried, and having to trail over to the Civic twice a day to see him is quite a thing too. I had the car yesterday so I took Margaret in the afternoon, but of course she doesn’t drive and it takes one hour there and one hour back by bus – if you’re lucky! Cec and I still admire your typing and really looking at some of your older letters and then at your last the improvement is immense and I am so glad that you are persevering. I am so glad that at last you got the parcel of shoes and batteries. I always meant to tell you that I was so sorry that I had not had time to get you something for the Bazaar. What happened was that it was all done in a rush to get it off to you as soon as possible, and just after your letter and cheque came I found myself just outside your bank, which is usually out of my way, so I thought “Here is my chance – I’ll go in and cash it”. So in I marched and thought “How much will it all be?” And in my hurry I thought “Oh $10 will be enough – and Mummy said she hadn’t much money in her account!” So that is all I took out. Then when I went for the batteries they came to over five dollars I think and the shoes were about seven, so my guess wasn’t very good! However, Cec and I still owe you $50 on top of the Bond so don’t think about that, but it just happened that with the bank, the batteries and the shoes are being in different places, it took me longer than I thought to get them all, and also I couldn’t see anything much in the way of novelties, so I sent the parcel off and hoped you wouldn’t mind. The two nets were really for you, but I don’t mind a bit if you sell them at the Bazaar if you don’t need them. I just thought they might be something new. I am glad the shoes were O.K. and that hope that you will find them easier to get into as you wear them. I’m glad you approve of my scuffing them up! Linda is now wearing my shoes! She wears a five Missy and I wear a five Adult, but she puts on my slippers and is pleased as punch! I am so glad that your supper went so well – hope that it is a good omen for ours. Ours of course is not to raise money, we just hope not to lose! I see it is 3:30 so the children will be home soon, so I will finish this I think and answer about the Christmas parcels in my next, and now I will get this mailed. Not that I have any bright ideas about Christmas yet! Love to Auntie Muriel & hello to Doris. Lots of love & kisses from us all to you – Cyn P.T.O.
I can’t imagine what you told that poor girl in Toronto about me. I have had a letter from her but haven’t answered as I don’t know what to say. I see no point in her spending her money coming to Ottawa to see me when I’ve never even met the girl. You’d better write & tell her I’ve moved to Timbuctoo! Love Cyn.
I can only think this ungracious Post Script refers to the family mentioned a few letters back, where the mother (whom Cyn apparently knew) was settling her daughter in a job in Toronto with Bell Telephone after another had fallen through. [June 3 1961] I suppose the small circle of relatives/acquaintances in St.Vincent had encouraged Carol to assure the lonely young woman in her 20s to get in touch with her daughter who would be delighted to befriend her- but Cyn, in her 40s, busy with all her responsibilities, was anything but delighted. And I don’t think Carol realized the distances in Ontario- a bus trip to Ottawa and back on a weekend would have taken practically the whole 2 days!
Here we are, back in Ottawa again. It is just over a week since we returned and already we feel as if we had hardly been away and are all involved with home things once more. When we got back we found both your letter and your lovely parcel of Yummies waiting for us. Thank you so very much – we all enjoyed them so much – particularly me! The children and Cec liked the chocolate and I even let Cec have a little of the Burney Sugar Cake, but he isn’t crazy about it, so what is the point of squandering it on him? Believe me I had no trouble at all in eating it by myself and already it is all gone! I felt I had to eat it quickly and then I could get on with my dieting with no distractions! Yes, I am up to 134 lbs again after my holiday, so I must really begin the big effort once more and try to get down again. Of course, I have never lost what I gained when I was trying to fatten you up, so I have a long way to go. Tell me, how is your weight keeping? I hope that you are able to maintain it and haven’t lost any of your good Canadian fat! By the way, Cec and I both think that you are doing very well with your typing and hope that you will keep it up. Now that you are not having lessons you should try to type as many of your letters as you can and also practice once in a while, because it is very easy to forget and you will find that if you keep at it it will get easier and you will get quicker all the time. I know that at first it is very hard to think and type at the same time and you feel your letters tend to be stilted, but already I can see the improvement in yours and think they are quite natural now. Oh, I was going to tell you about the guavas. When we open the parcel we found that the jar of guavas was fine, but sticky, as if it were leaking, so I took it to the sink and washed it off. Then I noticed that it looked a tiny bit bubbly and the metal top was bulging a bit so I called Cec and asked him what he thought, and he took it and very gently eased the top a bit, and immediately the whole thing turned white with millions of little bubbles! He gradually unscrewed the top and it all began foaming over the top like champagne so I dashed and got a bowl and we put it in. Cec and I decided the only thing to do was to cook it again, so I put it in a pan and gently brought it to the boil and let it simmer till the effervescing stopped. I had to add a little water, so it actually it is now more like jam then stewed guavas, but it still tastes delicious and we are enjoying it very much. The guavas don’t seem as firm this time – I don’t know if this is the action of the fermenting or if they were not as firm to begin with. Anyway, don’t let this deter you from sending some more another time – we love guavas, bubbly or not!
The second week at the cottage just flew by of course, and we could hardly believe that there were the same number of days in each week. The Moors arrived about 10 on the Sat. morning – Merle, Dixon, Lorne and Bruce. John as I told you was away, and apparently he is looking after a Mission Church and Sunday School for the summer and gets all his expenses paid and a small salary for it. He is having the time of his life and thoroughly enjoying it, so Merle is very pleased. He has done all right at the University this year, so has one more year for his B.A. then he is going to McGill University in Montreal for his Theology, so we hope to see more of him then. He doesn’t get outstanding marks, but has managed to get by, and apparently the subjects he does really well in are things like Greek which he will need in his Theology, so it sounds as if he will do all right. I was really disappointed to hear from you about Alan not finishing his year at University. I am sure that Marguerite and Bill must have been very upset, and the thing that is so worrying is that having gone through practically the whole year he didn’t stick it out for the exams as now he will get no credit for that year’s work at all. I suppose they will try and get him into a University nearer home. Lorne, the second boy is now 18, and he was anxiously waiting the results of his exams but apparently there is not much cause to worry as he is the Costain type like Cec and Carman and does well. He is going to McMaster University in Hamilton, and although it isn’t too far away he will live in residence. He has a girlfriend that none of them care for very much, so Merle is hoping that they will both get new interests when he is away! He has a job as a Lifeguard at an Open air swimming pool this summer, so he is as brown as a berry, and as he is a fine figure of a young man and has nice curly hair he is quite a sight to behold! He is an awfully nice fellow too, and played with the children, and helped them with their swimming and is just as easy and natural as can be. He had to be back at his job on the Monday morning, and the whole family was going to leave on Sunday evening, but we found out that there was a bus going to Toronto from the main road nearby and he could catch a train from Toronto to Brantford, so he set off home by himself on the Sunday afternoon and the rest of the family stayed until Tuesday.
Merle was very tired, as she had been staying in Toronto attending this course and had had exams at the end of it and of course the weather had been hot and close, so she really was glad of the rest, and so was Dix as he had been housekeeping for the last few weeks! We all had a really nice time – two swims on Sat. which was a lovely day, and then Sun. turned out rainy, but we still swam twice and we adults chatted and the children played card games etc. Brucie was a real dab at what we used to call “Pelmanism” but he calls “Memory”, but L. and C. gradually caught on and didn’t do too badly – even absent-minded little old Charlie! Monday we swam and rowed and the boys fished with no luck, and then on Tuesday Cec set out at 8 o’clock, and drove over to Gravenhurst and brought back Uncle Milton and Aunt Lillie for the day. They arrived before lunch a while, and we showed them around, and then had a Buffet lunch. I had bought a ham, which we had had for dinner the evening before, so we had cold ham and salad and I made a hot dish of Spanish rice with tomatoes and onion and celery and mushrooms and bacon in it, and then afterwards we had watermelon, which Merle and Dixon brought, and fruit cake which I brought from home. We all had a swim in the afternoon, except Uncle Milton, but Auntie is very fond of the water and had a lovely swim. We had tea afterwards, and then the Moors got ready to leave and they took Auntie and Uncle back home on their way. We were sorry to see them all go and of course it seemed quite flat that evening, so I brought out a huge 800 piece jigsaw puzzle I had brought and we set to on that. We should really have had the Moors help with it, but we had to put it on the dinner table and while we had such a big family we really couldn’t do without that table. It was quite a struggle getting it done before we left on Sat. but Cec stuck with it and we got it done on Fri. evening. We didn’t even go back to Minden that week, we found a little store 4 miles away and got what we wanted there, so the children couldn’t even get P.C.s to send to you as we had planned. In fact we didn’t send any at all, as I had just assumed we would be back again. The weather was lovely and we had a lovely time the last few days and had such fun in the water. Linda liked being under the water more than on top and Charlie was getting very keen on jumping off the dock and beginning not to mind getting his head all wet. The last couple of days we began to play a sort of water polo with a ball in the water Linda and me against Cec and Charlie, and it was a riot – we all grabbed and got dunked and had a great time.
Cousins: Charlie, Linda, Bruce.
We left on Sat. about 12, and this time went home a more direct route through Peterborough, and a better road too. We had a picnic lunch and got to Peterborough afterwards, and called up Joyce and Les Hayward who live there. Do you remember them? They are old Sask. friends of Cec’s and have 3 girls – Linda, Carol and Lois. Joyce told us to come over but said Les was just a week home from hospital after an operation, and when we saw him we were shocked. He had lost 25 pounds and still looked a very ill man. He had had an operation for the removal of his large intestine (polyps growing in it) and then he had had a stone removed from his gallbladder, but this had gone all right until about 4 four days later his whole incision split open and he went into deep shock and nearly died. For two weeks they didn’t know if he would live and he was very low, but thank goodness he has got through it. We stayed and had a cup of tea and a chat really longer than we had planned, but we were so glad that we had called. We had dinner en route and drove through a most torrential thunderstorm and arrived home about 9 o’clock. Apparently the evening before Ottawa had had an even worse time – a baby hurricane they called it, so we missed the big one. Nicki appeared very soon after we put on the lights and we all had a nice reunion! Last week seemed to be spent mostly in coping with all the dirty clothes! I cleaned up on Monday, and then on Tuesday we took Cec to work so that we could have the car and went to the market and had fun there. We can got all the usual meat and fresh veg. and also peaches, blueberries and tomatoes, and then at the fishmongers I got fresh tuna! It was a curiosity of course, and I can’t say I would repeat it as it is very solid and rather tasteless, and we all agreed we preferred the canned! In the afternoon we took all our personal clothes over to the coin wash (4 machines full) and as there is a nice one at the McArthur Shopping Plaza now we went along and looked at the shops and I bought Linda a pretty little dark cotton dress for school. It is a slaty-grey colour with a little red paisley pattern on it and it has a red belt and a yolk with red piping and then pretty red smocking. It has a little white collar and 3/4 length sleeves, so it is very cute and she looks nice in it, but of course she had her eye on a much paler grey plaid with white lace trimming and mauve velvet bows, so she was quite disappointed! It was a very pretty dress, but more expensive and definitely a ‘Best’ dress – also a bit big for her – I wonder how long before I don’t manage to win these arguments! The next day I canned some of the peaches and blueberries, and made dill pickles for my two men! I still have strawberry jam left from last year, so I won’t make any jam, but I will try and do some more fruit I think. On Thurs. I went across to Emil’s and had my hair done as it was quite a wreck after all the swimming. I meant to tell you the last time I went to him before I went away, I just trotted over with a sweater and told the children I would be an hour and a half and left them playing with Jimmy. Just as I was ready to leave, all beautiful and curled, it began to pour with rain so Emil went to see if he could find me an umbrella and I was looking out at the downpour, when out of our house emerged two little figures in raincoats with umbrella and carrying my coat! They troddled over in the rain to my rescue – wasn’t it sweet of them? On Friday I went to the Coinwash again with all the bed clothes this time (5 machines full) and while they were washing wandered down along the shops again, and this time bought a dress for myself! Cec says this Coinwashing is really expensive! It was in that dress shop Reitman’s and you remember what bargains they have at the end of the season, and I thought I would see if I could find something in a dark cotton too, as people wear darker cottons in Sept. and there I found such a pretty black cotton dress in an 11. It was a nice fine cotton with a silky sheen (but not a glazed cotton) and it had a full skirt but the fullness was in flat inverted pleats, and the top had a kind of double breasted effect with a collar and two buttons. The buttons are white and on top of the black collar is a white linen collar which you can take off to wash, and it’s sleeveless. I didn’t know if an 11 would be too tight for me, but it fit very nicely except for the length, and it cost 5 dollars reduced from 14.98, so I got it! The Savics got back on the Tues. so on Fri. afternoon she asked me and L. & C. over to tea. They had been to England you know – Peter on business, and Margaret to see her sister and family who are in London, but poor things they really didn’t have a very good time as Eddie’s ulcer acted up all the time, and he was sick and in pain, and living on crackers and milk nearly all the time. He is so thin now & he used to be a plump boy. They went to Paris and he was so bad that they flew back to London the next day and really the whole trip was ruined for them as well as the constant worry about Eddie. They couldn’t get him to a specialist in London – it is really hard for visitors to get much medical attention at all now because it was so abused by foreigners previously, so they were all glad to be home. Peter and Margaret came over and had a drink with us on Sat. evening and then yesterday evening we drove over to see the Ganders and return the sleeping bags which they lent us, and get back the case we lent them! They had been to Edmonton to see Jim’s family and to Vancouver to see Lee’s and got back about the same time as we did. They have bought a lot up on a lake in the Gatineau and are having a cottage built this fall, so they are very excited about it. It is near McGregor Lake where we were that time.
Our big excitement this week is Lindy’s birthday of course. I was so tired of the usual party that I talked her into inviting 2 smaller groups of girls this time, and going out for a little expedition instead of games etc. so tomorrow the girls are coming at 10:30 and we are driving out about 15 miles to a place called Clarence past Orleans, where they have started a little Zoo, and then we will come back here for lunch and birthday cake. Then on Thursday we are taking a few more at the same time to the park at Hog’s Back for a picnic, and I only hope that it is fine! On Thursday there will be 4 little girls, but tomorrow I think only 2, as some are still on holiday, but I think this will be a good number to cope with. I thought I would just let them play by themselves at the picnic and perhaps have a Treasure hunt for various flowers and leaves etc. which I would list and give a prize to the winner, but otherwise no effort from Mamma! We had such a job getting Lindy a present this year – in the end after trailing through town all day on Sat. I found a thing Cec and I had thought of – it’s called ‘Pitch-it’ and is a bouncy net in a frame which you set up on the grass and it bounces the ball back when you throw at it.n I also got her ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ which she dearly loves, a doll’s dress and petticoat, and a new pair of shorts and a top to wear at the picnic. Charlie is giving her a little Dolly’s Toy Shop, and I have your parcel and one from Nan that looks like a book, so she will do very well. She got Auntie Muriel’s card and hankie and was very delighted and will write later. I gave her your card too and she got one from Charlie Stainthorpe, so she has an array already.
This is also the week of the Exhibition [a summer fair with rides, midway, and food, combined with the exhibition of prize animals, veg, etc] so we will be going one day, and on Friday we are having a sort of Farewell Party for Alex and Phyl who are going to McMaster University for a year. This is a new Council policy to have people go and take the place of Profs. who are going away on sabbatical leaves, and Alex is the first one and will take the place of a Prof. McClay. They have rented their house and will leave next week to get settled before the children begin school. We will miss them. Talking of the Council you will have heard of the Russian Scientist, Dr. Glotchko, who defected to Canada last week? Well, he and the rest of the Russian group were at the Council the day before and saw round, and had lunch there. Boris and Alex were at the lunch and Boris sat next to Dr. G. and said he was very nice and seemed perfectly normal, except that he was just dripping with perspiration all the time, and it wasn’t a hot day. Then the next morning he just walked out of the hotel early and went to R.C.M.P. headquarters. Don’t we live in the midst of the world news? I must stop now as Linda has Joanne here and it is lunchtime, so I must feed them, and then make a birthday cake this afternoon – not to forget all the ironing still left! My love to Auntie Muriel, and hello to Doris. Thank you again for the lovely parcel, With lots of love from us all, Cyn.
A Family History in Letters 