Happiest of Times

My most satisfying moments in life are those when all my children are together under one roof. These events happen with less frequency as all three live in different parts of the country and all are busy with their lives. So when we do gather, I am filled with many emotions. Pride is probably the first ranking emotion. I am very proud of my kids. I like that my kids like each other. Each one has a great sense of humour so when we gather we do a lot of laughing.

I am glad to say that I have a very good relationship with all my children and we talk often. If I was granted any do-overs in my life, my one wish would be that I could have been closer with my parents and my many brothers and their families. I have the opportunity to try for that with some of my brothers, but it is too late for my parents and three brothers. I realize that there are very few people who are fortunate enough to have a close relationship with their entire family; usually, some are closer than others, very much like friendships. What I had working against me was the great difference in ages.

Sadly, there was not even one occasion when all my Mother's children were together under one roof. Due to the age spread, the oldest boys were grown and gone by the time the last of us came along. I am guessing, but I think that the largest number of children under one roof at one time may have been five.

After the oldest left and went to cities to establish careers, they did return home for visits; some with new wives. Now, those were happy times. I remember helping my Mother prepare for those visits. There was cleaning and cooking and baking; everyone had his favorite food and my Mother would be sure there was some of that on hand. Of course, it was great for us still at home because we too would get to eat this special food. I remember home made sausage, cabbage rolls, perogies, crab apple fruit, roast chicken with that very yummy stuffing, poppy seed buns, and much more. I remember being so excited about my brothers coming that sometimes I would get sick and spend an evening throwing up. The visits were not that frequent as distance and expense of travel were always factors, but when they did happen they were celebrated.

My parents did not travel often. My mother once did go to a city in another province. I am not sure how she travelled and even why she went, but I do remember missing her a lot while she was gone. It was her first absence and it seemed to be a very long one. Besides remembering how much I missed her, I remember we had potato pancakes for supper one night. My father made them, and he was not noted for his kitchen skills but these pancakes were delicious. To this day, I still love potato pancakes as do most of my family.

Another trip my Mother took was to visit me after I had my first baby. It was a wonderful visit. She came with two other lady friends and they seemed to have the time of their lives. I remember them giggling, something I had never heard my mother do. She also gave me all kinds of advice about babies. The one that sticks in my mind is after giving baby my bath, I should take him out of the water and just wrap him up in the towel and feed him and put him to bed like that. She worried that he would get chilled in between the bath, drying off and being clothed. Although I did not agree with this procedure, I tried it. We both laughed when in mere minutes the baby had kicked off the bindings of the towel and was free. My Mother said that babies were different than when her children were babies. I explained to her that we lived in a warm draft-free house and did not have to worry about getting chilled. She admitted that perhaps I was right in what I had been doing all along.

Although it had been many years since she held a baby, she had not lost her touch. After supper was the traditional fuss time for baby and she looked after him, while we cleaned up after supper. It was a good time for each of us. Sometimes a baby needs a Grandmother's touch.