As some of you know, I was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1969. When I was two and a half, we moved to a town near Edmonton, called St. Albert. When I was seven we moved back to Saskatchewan. I lived on 80 acres west of Saskatoon until I left for University in Regina in 1988. The year we left St. Albert (1976), it became a city.
I had not been back to the neighbourhood that I lived in for 31 years!!! The few times I have been near there, there was never time to go look at the house or school or anything.
When my parents came to see Jock play hockey a few weeks back, they took us out there!!! All these years I had envisioned the school I went to and the hill I used to toboggan and crazy carpet down. I pictured the fence near the school and the sidewalk next to our house that led back to the alley behind all the houses. I was desperate to go back and see if it was just like I still pictured in my mind all these years later.
IT WAS!?!? I COULD NOT believe it! The house is a different colour, but I picked it out from all the other houses. I remember driving away from there and being so sad, but excited to go to this mysterious place called Saskatchewan, where they told me I had been born. The only thing that changed in that time, besides the house colour, were the trees! They are now everywhere and HUGE! When we lived there of course they had all just been very small and young. It looks very nice.
We drove to the school and I was certain that the hill had been big and amazing only in my seven-year-old mind. Dad had barely stopped the van, when I pushed past the kids and ran to the side of the school that the hill is on. SURE ENOUGH! It is a HUGE hill and goes way down into a field and then there are trees at the other end of the field. I remember it seemed like I would slide WAY down and it was a long walk back up. Well, NO WONDER! I even remember one time this boy trying to take my crazy carpet from me and being very annoyed, but not knowing what to do. I was absolutely shocked that everything looked just the same so many years later. I was certain that my child's mind had remembered it in a different way than it actually is. It was just fascinating and thrilling to me that it is JUST like I imagined it and recalled all these years. Every time I would think about it, that is what I pictured! I wish I could have gone IN the school. I remembered the gym being down some stairs and to the left when you walked in the main doors. Sure enough, it was clear that the gym was down beside the hill and built into the hill. So pretty clear that you had to go DOWN to get into it once you entered the school.
It was so amazing to show to Stud and the kids. There were only two problems that make me sad...
1) Jock was not with us. He was at the Water Park in West Ed Mall with his team. Of all four of the kids, so far, he is the one most interested in Stud and I's past and our childhoods. He would have gotten something out of it. In fact when we told him later, he was pretty sad that he missed it. That was our only chance to go, though. Cryptic is not at all interested in that type of thing and is quite bored by the whole deal. I remember when I was a kid, I LOVED for my Dad to drive us all through the fields where he grew up and point out where he played with his cousins and which Uncle owned which quarter sections etc. I LOVED IT! I would try to picture my Dad as a little boy, playing in the dirt on the windblown prairie. Jock must be like me:) AND HE is the one who missed it all:( Clown and Princess were quite excited, though. They ran over and exclaimed about the hill and were jealous that I got to play on something so awesome:)
2) We forgot our camera in our van at the hotel the hockey team and my parents were staying in. THERE ARE NO PHOTOS OF MY CHILDREN ON THE HILL THAT I PLAYED ON!?!?!? *sigh* Ok, I am fine. I can go back one day, but what I would not give to have a photo of my kids standing on that hill, or standing in front of the house I lived in.
So there you go, just wanted to share. I don't know if the time on here will be when I started this post, or now, later on Saturday night, when I came back to it. All of us cleaned and organised today. We have a yard sale coming up in two weekends and need to get rid of all kinds of stuff. We spent the day doing that and then Stud and I went out to see "The Reaping". We just got back. It was certainly interesting. Kind of predictable, but I don't want to say anything to ruin it for anyone.
Off to bed. Church tomorrow and then we will try and go up to the Tulip Fields! Check here to see what I am talking about. We have not gone in five years! Clown was a wee toddler and fell in a puddle and Stud freaked out and vowed we would not go back. I have convinced him that the kids are at an age where they now handle it better:)
I will leave everyone with a photo of my baby sleeping on the couch the other afternoon...*sigh*. Is he the CUTEST!?!?!?!
5 comments:
Awww he is so sweet!!
I'm really glad you got to go back and see some of the places from your childhood. I've always hankered to do just that but alas for me those places are all over eastern Canada and I'm out west.
Thanks Jude. I can't get over how much I love this little guy. When we were up there in your neighbourhood and had to board him in a kennel down here...it was torture for me to leave him there. I seriously was a nervous wreck at the idea of leaving him. I was almost crying and held it together for the kids' sake. The whole time we were gone, I just missed my Brommy. I was SO GLAD to get him back:)
Wow, yes it is hard to get out East, eh?? I want to visit Eastern Canada so bad. I have heard it is beautiful. Been as far as Toronto, which I wasn't thrilled with. Too big! I want to go to PEI, Nova Scotia, etc. The Maritimes, you know. Hope you can get back out there sometime!
So how did your adorable little bundle of fur do at the kennel? Have you found a good one? It's a little like finding a good daycare or babysitter, isn't it? You just have to go with your gut instinct.
It is great that you got to visit some of your old haunts. But it's really too bad Jock couldn't be with you. How sad, especially when he is the one who would have appreciated it the most.
So it appears some things don't change. That's refreshing! Although, I bet my old "neighborhood" hasn't changed much. I should take my kids there some time as it's only in the middle of the city.
LM-He did alright I guess. Stud found the CHEAPEST place and he was indoors for the entire time. They did not take him potty AT ALL, he had to go in the run he was in. Thusly, all the hard work the kids and I put into training him here at home was out the window and we are starting almost from scratch. *sigh* He seems as happy to see us as we were to see him:) I looked and looked, spent hours searching for a place and then Stud found one in a few minutes. I wasn't too thrilled with them, but as far as I know, they were not mean to him or anything...still. Thankfully the plan has always been to bring him with us when we come up this summer:)
I know, I am really sad that Jock wasn't there. I am REALLY sad that we have NO photos of the water park at West Ed. The camera was in the locker in the guy's locker room and it was like pulling teeth to get Stud to go get pay for some tubes for in the wave pool. I was not about to ask him to get the camera as well. Although I am not sure why he brought it if we were not going to use it?? *sigh* I guess we must pick our battles, eh??
Vince-Wow, you live that close!?!? I can't imagine. I can only dream of living anywhere close to where I grew up...wow...
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