Memories of a father.
Hard-working man gave his family a good life
Last month, I wrote a column to celebrate mothers and shared personal reflections of my mother. The narrative opened with the Robert Munsch children's story “Love You Forever.”
The storyline for that book is about the evolving relationship between a son and his mother.
For Father's Day, Canadian author Robert Munsch has another book “The Lighthouse” that reflects on the relationship between fathers, grandfathers and the children in the family.
Most of the Munsch books have a connection to a child that he has met along the way.
“The Lighthouse” has a personal connection for me. The little girl in the story is someone I have known since her birth because her mother, Miriam Beaton Gillis, was my roommate at Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish many years ago.
In 1993, Miriam took her young daughter, Sarah Patricia Gillis, to a reading by Robert Munsch in Antigonish. At the end of the presentation, Patricia gave the author a drawing of a lighthouse in the dark with her name printed on the back.
Years later, he called the library in Antigonish to track down the little girl. The librarian had a good idea who the little girl was because she was an avid reader and a regular visitor to the library.
Eventually, he turned the picture into a moving story of love and remembrance for anyone who has ever lost a family member.
The story is about a father taking his daughter to the lighthouse in the dark after the grandfather's funeral.
By the time Munsch wrote the book, Patricia was in high school. She wanted to use her grandparents' house in Mabou as the backdrop for the story so they packed up the car and headed to Mabou where Munsch stayed with the family for three days.
When the book was published, Munsch came back to Antigonish to do a book signing at the Cape George Lighthouse.
Many of us who no longer have our fathers in our lives use Father's Day to reflect on the memories of the man who raised us.
Like many men back in the day, my father was a true character. When my siblings and I get together, we have many memories to share. Makes us happy just thinking about the good life that this hard-working man gave us.
At dad's funeral, the soloist sang Rita MacNeil's “The Working Man” as the family left the church. He would have loved his send-off since he spent 44 years underground.
Like all the other fathers in the neighbourhood, working in the coal mines or the steel plant wasn't an easy life.
Fathers were different back then. Their way of showing love was by putting food on the table and making sure we were safe. They were not a generation that expressed their love with words.
His loves were many ... his family, working with his fellow miners, cheering for his beloved Maple Leaf team, fishing and enjoying some time with “The Captain” on the weekend. So many memories of a wonderful father.
Dad always enjoyed a good feed. There was always a pot of cooked potatoes in the fridge so that hash could be made at a moment's notice.
Being an avid fisherman, smelt and trout were two of his favourite meals with lobster thrown in for good measure. A meal of fried bologna was another favourite. Salads were referred to as “rabbit food” and not worthy of human consumption.
I remember when my parents were older and not able to prepare food for themselves, the family would take turns showing up with a home-cooked meal.
One day, dad called me to talk about my menu selections. He was asking about those coloured things on the plates. I asked, “Would that be vegetables.” To which he replied, “Yes … I think that's what they're called.”
The gist of the conversation was that he didn't want those coloured things on the plate any more. He found it too much work scraping them into the compost bucket. He was strictly a meat and potatoes man … and this man lived to be 92 years old.
His death was unexpected. He had planned on living to be 100 so that his picture could be on television. But that was not to be.
Some of us still have fathers in our lives; others look back at beautiful memories.
Happy Father's Day!
Yvonne Kennedy is a retired family studies teacher and a member of the Homeville Women’s Institute. She lives in Homeville.