Plenty of Reasons to Celebrate
Choosing Canada led to six decades of adventure and prosperity
“There is gold to be found on the streets of America.” This is what my family in Horsens, Denmark, heard in the 1950s, when my parents were considering immigrating to Canada. Canada was chosen over two other countries: Australia, which we were told was wild and not what we were used to, and the United States, where we would need a sponsor, which we didn’t have. So Hamilton, Ont., it was! After months of planning, my dad Knud Fabricius, an electrician, came to Canada first to find a job and a home in preparation for our arrival.
On July 16, 1957, my mom Grete, older sister Joan, younger brother Per and I all left on the ship SS Stockholm from Copenhagen. I was only 13 years old, so I didn’t think of it as leaving my homeland but more as an exciting adventure crossing a huge ocean and arriving in a new country. On July 23, 1957, we arrived in Halifax harbour at Pier 21. None of us spoke English, so we had tags around our necks to let the immigration officers guide us to where we should go. Everything went smoothly and then it was time to board the train. We were all given a sample box of Corn Flakes and a loaf of white bread. In those days, bread was wrapped up in waxed paper and no one knew what was inside. Two young men sitting beside us on the train used the bread as pillows, as it was nice and soft.
It was an old steam train with wooden seats and a porter coming down the aisle, sweeping with a corn broom. Dust and soot was everywhere. My mother couldn't believe it saying, “What did Dad get us into?”
After switching to another more modern train in Montreal, however, she was quite relieved and more relaxed. After changing to still another train in Toronto, we were finally on our way to Hamilton. Waiting for our arrival at the station was my dad and his new Danish friend, who had a Studebaker truck. Wow, a “dollar smile” truck—how exciting for my brother and me! “Dollar smile” truck was a nickname given to huge American cars with grills that looked like a smile. In Denmark, we were used to bicycles, with only a few small cars on the road.
For the next 20 years or so, we lived in the Golden Horseshoe region, where my youngest sister Annette was born. We all learned English very quickly and became Canadian citizens in the ’60s. When I turned 16, earned my driver’s licence and got a job, I bought one of those dollar-smile cars.
Eventually, my siblings married, had children and moved to British Columbia. When my dad retired, my parents also moved to British Columbia.
I stayed in Ontario, married my sweetheart Martha in 1967 and have wonderful children and grandchildren as well. We had many great vacations travelling across this beautiful country on road trips to the West Coast and the Yukon, where we even picked up some gold nuggets.
My parents have since passed away, but we will be forever grateful to them for moving us to Canada to live exciting and prosperous lives here.
This year, I am celebrating three anniversaries: Canada’s 150th birthday; the 60th anniversary of my family coming to Canada, and my and Martha’s 50th wedding anniversary. What a fantastic life I have here in this great country of ours!