When we finally docked in Montreal Canada,
all the newspapermen were there taking our picture and gushing over these two little girls that crossed the Atlantic alone. We were quite the little celebrities. Nowadays, I'm sure they would lock my mother and father up for doing that, but times were different then. So, we settled in Canada and got used to the biting cold and snow.

Answering an ad placed by their mother in the local British Newspaper asking for someone to accompany their daughters, on the trip.

Two (2) retired schoolteachers were hired to Chaperones the girls but once the ship got underway the two retired schoolteachers became very seasick and didn't leave their cabin to protect and care for the two girls for the entire trip. The girls were left with the run of the ship.

They rarely went to the cabin except to sleep because of the odor of "sea sickness". so for the five days of crossing my sister and I ran around the ship like we owned it. Susan remembers running up and down the deck full speed. (Like most little children do)

So, we settled in Canada and got used to the biting cold in the snow, we had a little dog called Buffy that used to run and play with us. We lived on the shores of Lake Ontario and our summers were filled with swimming, beach parties and hikes through the woods, and my mother's wonderful cooking. Winters we spent again on the shores of Lake Ontario, hiding in the ice caves, It was the best of
two worlds. (Below, giant ice cycles).

Where we lived, it was called the banana belt and because of glacier deposits, the soil was very  fertile the farmers grew everything from asparagus to grapes, apples, peaches, cherries, you name it they grew it, and from the age of 10, and up, we would go out and make money picking all these various fruits and vegetables.

Building our house from scratch My father, who was an accountant, and my mother, who was a homemaker decided they would build a house. My father bought a plot of land and sent away for plans, and the two of them  proceeded to build a house from scratch. That house is still there all these years later. How many people today would decide in their circumstances to build a house from scratch? They were two amazing people.

A few years later, my dads, father, and his brother who came from England to join us, decided to go into business building homes, and at that point, I was in my teens, and I would help them build these houses. I have done everything from mixing cement for the basement to standing on the roof hammering, nails for the shingles.

Sssss "Please be quiet" We were on the roof of a house and the minister asked us to stop hammering until after the Sunday Service. (We were hammering in time with the music).

On one occasion we were all on the roof, hammering nails, and the church was across the street my father, who was an atheist, told us hammer in time to the music. which, of course, we all did. Moments later, the minister came out and asked us if we would please refrain from hammering until the service was over. My father thought that was hilarious.

At a very young age, I made the mistake of falling in love and ran away from home because my parents would not let me get married. He was older than I and had a good job, and I thought he was the love of my life, silly girl. I haven't changed much; I have always been determined.

They finally relented I got married, and a few years later with two babies, my husband walked out on us. He just left one day and never came back. I had no money or credit cards, I had neither money nor credit cards, or anything at that time. I had to rely on the goodness of my neighbors to provide milk for my baby, but one of my aunts found out and called my mom and dad and they came and got us all. I had visions of having to prostitute myself to feed m children, but I managed to find an apartment and a job within a week, put the children in daycare, and got on with my life.

I spent a lot of time and energy taking my husband to court to get him to provide child support payments. He would pay for a couple of months, and then he would stop paying. You would think he would want to provide for his children, but how wrong could I be? I would have to go back to court get an order from the judge, he would pay another couple of months, and then stop.

It was a vicious circle and very depressing. You would think he would want to provide for his children, but how wrong could I be? I look back on that time as the best thing for me. I look back on that time as the best thing my first husband ever did for me was to desert us  because the rest of my life was such an improvement.

One thing I do remember is my mother sent us all these lovely presents from Canada for Christmas and the neighbor lady stacked them all on a chair and wouldn't let us open them until her son and daughter had opened all their presents, which we put under the tree. I thought that was such a mean thing at the time and I still do.

A year later we were all set to join my father when they examined us and as we were going through the required medical examination to enter Canada the doctor discovered what he thought was a heart murmur (wrong diagnosis) in Susan who was 5 years old at the time and wouldn't allow us to enter Canada. So, my mother decided I was the elder and could look after her better than my brother.  The two of us had to stay behind with the neighbor.

How was our stay with the neighbor? Years later my mother asked about our stay with the neighbor, and I said she was a horrible person. Her children came first in everything, there was no sharing.

We sang and danced for the passengers who gave us money, and then I remember going into the gift shop and buying little gifts with the tips the passengers gave us and would save in the little Scottish purse our mom had given us before she left us for Canada. Susan would ask: "Let's get some ice cream" with the money.