WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

Back in the 1950s, there was a house on Bold Street in Hamilton, where a family lived who would take in Christian young men who had left their homes and families in Holland and immigrated to Canada. These young men could stay in this house until they found a permanent place to live and gained fulltime employment. My dad was one of these men. He enjoyed this place because it was a little taste of life back home. Plus, his bedroom was the only one in the house with a sink in it. He could wash up every day in the privacy of his own room. Eventually, my dad found lodging and employment elsewhere so he moved out. Over time, the house was sold and bought again.

Fast forward 28 years, this home on Bold Street was no longer a place for young men recently moved to Canada. Rather, it became a home for a young family with three small children.

In 1982, my now husband,

Ron, and I began our courtship.

My parents were interested in learning about this young man who had stolen their daughter’s heart. So one day, Ron brought some of his family pictures to my parents’ home.

One of the pictures was a photo of a very young Ron standing on the front porch of his parents’ home. My dad took one look at that photo and asked, “Does that house have an upstairs bedroom with a sink in it? “Yes,” replied Ron. “It does, that’s my bedroom.”

“It used to be my bedroom, too!” exclaimed my dad. After carefully scrutinizing the picture, we could make out the house number on the front porch pillar. Both men had shared the same room albeit in different decades!